By Steve Thorpe
Legal News
Blogs have quickly morphed from being a quirky, offbeat — and seldom seen — form of communication in the legal field to a regular part of the reading day for many law professionals.
From amusing satire to serious, laser-focused looks at a narrow portion of the field, many blogs now have an influence that could be dreamed of a decade ago. Recognizing this evolution, the ABA Journal now calls out what it considers to be the “cream of the crop” in its annual “Blawg 100” feature.
The publication now has a directory of more than 3500 law blogs and the editor says that pruning that number down to the 100 best has become tougher each of the six years the publication has done it.
“Some of them have become such permanent, even required, fixtures in our everyday reading that we're introducing the ABA Journal Blawg 100 Hall of Fame to recognize those blogs and bloggers that have set the standards for this vast, vibrant network for legal news and commentary,” Journal Editor and Publisher Alan Pusey said in a statement announcing the choices.
Some of this year's honorees:
• Law and the Multiverse (lawandthemultiverse.com) answers some of the most important questions in the law, like “Does the Second Amendment cover Wolverine's claws?” and “Is Homer Simpson's contract with the Devil valid?” Attorneys James Dailey and Ryan Davidson created the blog and write it, although they caution, if you're one of the fictional characters they're writing about, what they offer is strictly commentary, not legal advice.
• The Koncise Drafter (koncision.com/category/blog) is invaluable for any attorney who works on contracts, with the Devil or any other CEO. Blogger Ken Adams is a black belt on the contract process. He also offers e-mail updates and an RSS feed.
• Lowering the Bar (loweringthebar.net) is a valuable source of the weird and wonderful of the legal world. In addition to near daily posts, author Kevin Underhill also has many departments, including “Comical Case Names.” A recent one: Robin Hood, et al. v. US Gov. Banking Industry, et al., No. 3:12-cv-1542-EDL (N.D. Cal. filed Mar. 27, 2012). Also, don't miss the Attorney Ad Gallery.
• The Volokh Conspiracy (volokh.com) is one of the pioneers of law blogging. With a conservative, libertarian slant, the blog has a cast of regulars who offer their opinions on issues of the day.
• SCOTUSblog (scotusblog.com) has attained the rare status for a blog of being virtually indispensible for those interested in the Supreme Court and constitutional issues. In existence now for a gnarly (by blog standards) 10 years, it's one of the few blogs that can boast of 5 million hits in one day, in this case when the high court ruled on the health care case earlier this year.
The ABA Journal also now honors what it considers to be the top tweeters in a list of their own called The Blawg 100 Twitter list.
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