White House spokesman Ben LaBolt denied today that I’ve been given the job of official White House law blogger, according to the WSJ when reporter Ashby Jones called for confirmation.

Politics can be a funny thing. As noted earlier today at Simple Justice, a source inside the Press Secretary’s office had already said that they were irritated that I would be working for the office of the WH counsel and not be answerable to the press office. Scott Greenfield wrote:

I’ve heard from an old pal inside the White House press secretary’s office that they are none too pleased by the newest member of the administration. They are scared to death that they now have a loose information cannon on their hands after reading his body of work.

So I guess I’m not surprised that the press office gave that comment to the WSJ. Before I even start, they are already trying to squeeze me out.

As noted earlier, Orin Kerr at The Volokh Conspiracy has also confirmed my appointment with his own sources.

And, The New York Times has likewise succeeded in confirming the appointment. In today’s City Room Blog, they wrote in When Lawyers Blog:

After all, as Mr. Turkewitz, a Manhattan lawyer, writes on his New York Personal Injury Law Blog, he is about to be sounding off on all manner of legal issues as the Obama administration’s new White House law blogger.

“Excited about new blogging gig as White House law blogger,” he tweeted this morning. “But hope I don’t have to spend too much time in D.C.”

Spoken like a true New Yorker.

So, to my friends that were concerned I’ve lost the gig, rest assured that I will be showing up for work shortly at the White House. Except, of course, for those times I’m able to telecommute from New York. And yes, I will expect LaBolt to buy me a beer as payback for talking out of school in his too-quick, and uninformed, response to the WSJ.

Since word is already dribbling out among my friends, I thought I should let you know here: I’m closing down this blog in the next few weeks to start up a new one at the White House as their official law blogger. I’ll have the opportunity to both expand the scope of my writing and serve my country at the same time. As blogging gigs go, it doesn’t get any better than that.

Here’s the back story, since most people assumed the job would go to one of the professors that were in the running instead of a practicing attorney. I first came to the attention of President Obama and Democratic Party officials last year with my posts regarding Sonia Sotomayor. I had plucked from her official questionnaire to the Senate the information about her having a private practice as a solo practitioner, and noted that the name Sotomayor & Associates was misleading as to the size of the firm for a solo. The Washington Times picked it up in an editorial and eventually the New York Times ran with it (without attribution to me, I might add) and the White House was forced to put out a defense of her conduct. All of this lead a Senate staffer to call me regarding the issue.

While people inside the administration told me they weren’t too keen on the story I was telling, they at least appreciated the fact that I was writing fairly on the subject — given that I made sure to note that while this was an ethical transgression it was nonetheless minor. So some saw me back then as an honest broker who, perhaps, might be able to reach people that weren’t necessarily on the same page politically as this administration.

And White House readers returned again (as did some from the Senate, the House and the Supreme Court) for the letter from Justice Scalia to my brother on the issue of secession. In particular, they liked my analysis on how secession could (in theory) come before the court, not because anyone thought it would actually happen, but because this little personal injury blogger from New York had no problem coming up with a theory where Justice Scalia fell short.

You can see a track of these high profile visits to my blog to the left.

All of this came to the attention of new White Counsel Bob Bauer — recently profiled in the Washington Post — who told me when we spoke that he hoped to see the new law WH law blog have greater involvement in getting the message out to people regarding pending legislation and its relationship to SCOTUS opinions of the past. In particular, this had to do with simplifying the message for complex issues, which was the very essence of this blog when I started.

There was, and I hope I’m not talking out of school on this, some disappointment in the way the health care legislation was handled at the top level regarding the failure to make sufficient preemptive strikes on constitutional challenges that arose from various politicians disgruntled at having lost.

Bauer also told me that during the vetting his office did, they particularly liked my analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision in Philip Morris v. Williams as well my thoughts in the judicial recusal issues raised in CBC Distribution. For reasons that still escape me, he actually liked what he saw and asked if I would consider coming aboard.

But he also noted that my posts regarding the torture-endorsing John Yoo , or the mockery of democracy that took place with Bush v. Gore, might rankle a few people from the other side of the aisle, and that this job might not be for the squeamish. In other words, while they liked my writing style, they knew that my presence in the administration might raise an issue or two and that the fit, while good, wasn’t perfect.

My appointment, which I hope will become final in the next few days, will clearly toss me into the political fray as I venture a bit more into political issues, an unavoidable circumstance given the nature of the position. Whether I am ready for prime time or not after 3+ years of blogging remains to be seen, and I fervently hope that I don’t step on the wrong toes.

With the job comes two perks. First was the 30 second meeting with Obama during the interview process and the photo that you see here that I’ll stick on my wall. (And yes, Mrs. NYPILB has already given me grief about sitting with my legs like that.)

But there is actually one thing more important, that I know every blogger would love: I get an intern that will proof-read my stuff before it goes live. Regular blog readers know that, because blogging is usually a sideline instead of a career, rushed content often results in errors (though I’m happy to see the President has the same problem). My intern will also help me sift through the avalanche of email the position will no doubt generate.

To the political bloggers that have already started to send me stories: Please stop. My gig hasn’t started yet and I’m already being swamped. That which is relevant today may have no relevance in two-three weeks time, and I’m also going to have to port much of this stuff to a new account that will be subject to federal record-keeping rules. Logistics can be a pain and I don’t have help yet, so please bear with me.

As to the name of the new blog, the leading candidate is White House Law Blog, which is very descriptive but I think a bit of a yawner. It’s also too similar to the existing White House Blog. Mine will have a different angle as I’ll be confining myself to legal issues.

In addition, I’ve already tried using a descriptive name with this blog — a subject about which I have very mixed feelings — and am hoping for something a bit more creative. (I had dumped a descriptive name for Twitter by using @Turkewitz.) If you have thoughts on a good name for the new blog, you can leave them in the comments and I’ll bat them around with the new bosses.
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Update: Apparently my appointment has set off a big problem inside the office of the WH Press Secretary since I won’t answer directly to him: Turkewitz: Honest Broker or Loose Cannon?

And I just got my first taste of a right-wing hit job: I Guess John Edwards Wasn’t Available (this post is coded “nofollow” so that it doesn’t get link juice)

And people inside the beltway are already questioning the wisdom of a hiring a medical malpractice attorney as law blogger, calling it “an incredibly stupid idea”: Medical Malpractice Attorney Named White House “Law Blogger”

Update #2: I know some are concerned because the news happens to fall on the first of April. But Orin Kerr @ Volokh has also first-hand confirmed the appointment: How Did the White House Pick Its Law Blogger?

Update #3:

• A Deconstruction of the day’s events
• Numerous blogs have discussed this posting

OK, I’ve had it. As I mentioned briefly last month, writing this blog over the last two and a half years has simply been too much work. And if its work, it isn’t fun. I’ve hit the wall. I can Twitter much easier, since I’m limited to only 140 characters anyway.

So rather than let the blog die a slow death, after putting so much effort into it, I’m going to sell it while I still have a readership. Any new blogger that comes in can easily replace me, and with a bit of savvy, do it in a more efficient manner and with only a modicum of decent writing. (Potential buyers can see some of my more popular posts here.)

I’m auctioning it on eBay, and starting the bidding at $1,000,000. Yes, I know some folks will think that is high, but let me explain a bit. If the new owner decides to monetize this blog by using it in an advertorial manner, then s/he only has to get a couple of decent cases to make the investment pay off. If done right, it could pay for itself in as little as a year or so. I therefore believe the actual sale price could be significantly higher.

How to monetize this blog to make it pay? That’s easy, as I’ve been reading search engine optimization sites recently and those SEO sites are loaded with good tips. I’ve also canvassed a few other personal injury blogs and picked up some pointers there. Here are some suggestions on how to improve this site to make the investment more than worthwhile:

1. Use a lot of keywords in the subject heading. Google loves keywords. Sticking keywords someplace at the start of every new post, like this, is great for Google. I generally suck at this part, as you can see if you look back in my archives. It’s easy to make this blog better with that tip alone.
2. Load the actual post with lots of keywords. Similar to the first one, and a technique I should have used in the past. I look back on some old posts and am stunned to see posts that have few, if any, of the keywords necessary to make the blog jump to the top of Google rankings. When people looking for a personal injury attorney see the same phrase repeated over and over and over they will know they have struck gold.
3. Cover all the local accidents as soon as you can. Want to know a secret about people in accidents? They often Google themselves to see if the accident was in the local papers. If you cover the accident on this blog, victims will likely find you and hopefully hire you. If you simply cut and past stories from local papers you are almost guaranteed to have an instant client base. And if you do it with style, you can look classy, too. Especially if you use the name of the victim (and this is another fine example) in the subject heading. Just make sure to put a reminder at the end of every post, “If you or a loved one have been injured, call us at this number…”
4. Outsource the actual writing. This is an easy way to create good content with little effort. Students, interns, paralegals and others can easily scoop up stories from the web to post under your name, or hire this guy. The cost is minimal, and in fact, can be lowered still more if it is simply outsourced to India. The blunt reality is this: No one will know. You can still practice law, see your family, watch TV and have time left over for eating and sleeping. Unlike me.
5. It’s a great place to talk about yourself. By continually recounting various cases, clients and appearances from your past, you’ll be able to strut your victories for other lawyers and potential clients to see. And since it is your forum, no one can stop you.
6. Link frequently to your website. This is another technique I’ve been lax about, but a new owner can really optimize here. Remember that Google loves inbound links. So when you use keywords in a post, which should be often, you also use them as anchor text for a link back to your web site, like this. Google sees these repeated links and the website skyrockets to the top of search listings. It’s easy. Just four links per post, and just five posts per week gives you 1,000 inbound links per year!
7. Get added to link farms. Since my blog has had high visibility, I get a lot of email about linking opportunities. I’ve never taken full advantage of that as you can see by my limited blogroll, which is obviously a mistake. But since Google loves those inbound links you can improve your SEO exponentially in mere weeks.
8. Attorney search company opportunities. Once again, due to having a high profile blog, I get a ton of opportunities that come in via email and phone, with various attorney search companies offering me exclusive rights on their service to personal injury leads in my geographic area. They are calling me ahead of others because of this blog. And only the best ones contact me. I know this because they tell me so.
9. Run Google Ads on the blog. It’s no secret that many people look for lawyers on the web. Why waste valuable real estate with content when the whole idea of blogging is to make money? Lots of Google ads equals lots of money.
10. Edit out the names and links I’ve provided to others in my area. It was probably a mistake for me to mention or link to others in my geographical area, as I could lose a potential client to them. The beauty of a blog is that you can go back and edit old posts. With a few minutes work, those names and links can be vaporized.

That’s it, I’m exhausted. My wife will finally get a husband back and my kids will see their dad once this blog is disposed of. And I’ll actually get a chance, perhaps, to play with the dog and go running again. I’ve simply run out of words for this forum. It’s time to hang up my keyboard, except for the bits I can put up on my Twitter account.

So this is really a spectacular opportunity for someone who wants more cases and can use an established web presence for their benefit. Of course, if you have all the business you can handle then don’t bother. Not everyone wants more cases.