Now I know what you’re thinking with that headline: How could I have anything good to say considering that:
1. I had expressed complete ambivalence about SuperLawyers;
2. It had been bought by FindLaw and therefore, presumably created a conflict of interest?
Well, here’s the thing. They called me a couple months back as they prepared a story on the 10th anniversary of September 11th. There will be many such stories when the time comes, so that is not the part that impressed me.
What impressed me is that someone actually called me last week to fact-check the quotes for that part of the story I am in. And you know what? Very few media companies actually do that. I’ve been quoted many times in the papers. Often, I am unaware of it until publication actually occurs and Google Alerts tells me there is a Turkewitz mention.
But SuperLawyers did call. And so, though I’ve been critical of them in the past, I tip my hat to them today for doing something (fact-checking) that seems to oft times be lacking today in the media world. (The NYT running with my gig as White House law blogger does spring to mind, but it was not the only instance of a failure to check.)
If I’m going to be critical of a company, it is only right that I applaud them when they do something right. Fair is fair.
Very cool that Super Lawyers does this! In one of my previous jobs, I was a fact checker for Mother Jones Magazines. I was amazed by how difficult it is to track down the true facts that can easily go mis-reported. I know of a few other magazines that have great fact check departments, first among them The New Yorker. But I’m glad to hear that Super Lawyers goes that extra mile to ensure that their facts are reported correctly.
Thanks for sharing.
I counsel law firm clients not to hype this designation, because it preys upon lawyer egos to publicly praise themselves, and leads to expensive advertising campaigns.
So basically, Norman, you’re saying you didn’t bother to read the post?
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