ABA Journal Lists Annual Blawg 100 (And Includes Me Again)

I’m flattered. I don’t know how else to say it.  The ABA Journal, the official magazine of the American Bar Association has picked my humble little blog as part of its 100 best law blogs in the country. That’s three years in a row now.

If you’re a new reader looking to see what this blog is about, you can read my 1,000th post where I discussed highlights of the past four years and gave links to those I thought interesting.

Turning to the ABA list, it will of course be criticized. Because really, picking a “best of” when it comes to a blog is not just a case of comparing apples to oranges, but of comparing apples to carburetors. Or chairs.

They will also get criticized, if the past is any indication, for having people vote for their favorites. Each blog is put into a category (mine this year is Torts) and folks have until the end of the year to vote. This voting thing has led in the past to ballot-stuffing, as happens in these types of online polls where some get a little too enthusiastic. (It’s also why I’ve picked Paris Hilton as my campaign manager, as discussed below.)

When the ABA Journal first created the Blawg 100 in 2007, I was pretty harsh because they had ignored the entire personal injury field; both plaintiffs and defendants, both small cases and mass torts. It wasn’t the ABA Journal‘s finest hour, but they did learn from it.

The second year they added two personal injury blogs — mine and the defense-oriented Drug and Device Law blog —  and included me in a “Regional” category with law blogs regarding China, South Florida, Los Angles and Texas, all writing about different stuff. Like I said, it’s comparing apples to carburetors.

Last  year six out of the Blawg 100 dealt with personal injury law. That was a big change, and a nice development, given that the ABA is the largest bar association in the nation and doesn’t always spend enough time with the consumer end of the law (personal injury, criminal, immigration, matrimonial) as it does with the big business interests. The category that time was called “Geo” and was once again based upon what part of the country (or world) the blog focused on. I was grouped again with some blogs that had nothing to do with this particular field.

Now this year the ABA Journal has a torts category, and I think they finally hit the nail on the head from an organizational perspective. Using the practice area as opposed to the regional area is a more logical approach. And they’ve picked some great blogs:

• Abnormal Use: Lawyers at the tort defense firm Gallivan, White & Boyd write on products liability and conduct occasional “Abnormal Interviews” featuring Q&As with law professors;
• Boston Personal Injury Lawyer Blog: Ignore the stock personal injury template that Alan Crede uses and concentrate on the writing. He’s a newcomer to the blogosphere and well worth the read;
• Drug & Device Law: BigLaw firm Dechert has a group blog that focuses on the defense of, well, drug and device cases;
• FDA Law Blog: Another newcomer to the blogosphere, the firm of Hyman, Phelps & McNamara focuses on government regulation of the food and drug biz;
• Jackson on Consumer Class Action and Mass Torts: Another BigLaw entry, this by Russell Jackson at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, focusing on the defense of mass torts;
• Marler Blog: Plaintiff’s attorney Bill Marler is the nation’s Grand Poobah of tainted food cases;
• The PopTort: One of my favorite, blogs, put out by the plaintiffs-side Center for Justice and Democracy; they don’t sit still when the tort “reform” types try to protect big business from their own negligence.

Paris says to vote for this blog. Because it means little. And she knows a lot about that.

Now before I get to the obligatory “Vote for me” stuff, I note that by including me they have used up a valuable spot that could be taken by others. Two blogs, off the top of my head, that deserve to be included in the 100 are Overlawyered, which was also overlooked last year, and the irreverent Popehat. I don’t always agree with what their authors say, but there is little doubt that they are both exemplary law blogs that ought to be on any one’s “best of” list.

Even if you don’t want to vote, it’s worth perusing the names in the Blawg 100, as you are bound to find some new and interesting law blogs that you hadn’t heard of in the past.

I’ll also note that the BigLaw entries have a ready source of voters…all of the employees at those big firms, each with their own email address to use when registering. So expect one of them to “win” the vote.

Now we get to the Vote For Me nonsense. Bear in mind that this is all a meaningless. But, since beauty pageant’s are supposed to be fun, I’ve once again trotted out Paris to be my campaign manager to help hustle a vote here and there. I figured she was the right one to pick for a beauty pageant.

(Paris Hilton photoshopping by Dan Turkewitz)