THEY SPORTED YANKEE PINSTRIPES, BUT THEY WEREN’T
feted by a ticker-tape parade or handed keys to the city.
Still, this team was most welcome when they arrived in New
York to honor their end of a losing bet on the World Series.
Philadelphia City Solicitor Shelley Smith and her staff came
to pay up after she and New York City Corporation Counsel
Michael Cardozo agreed that lawyers from the losing ballclub’s
city would grit their teeth, don the winning team’s jerseys and travel
to the victor’s turf for some pro bono work. The Philly-to-NYC
trip happened Jan. 7.
“While I am obviously heartbroken that the Phillies fell to
those tenacious Yankees, I am nonetheless pleased that my
legal team [had] the opportunity to provide service to the
New York community,” Smith says. Cardozo, a lifelong
Yankees fan, declared the outcome of the friendly wager a
win-win scenario and thanked Smith for being such a good sport.
The two law departments partnered up to do volunteer work, including judging high school competitions on constitutional topics. The
Philly Payback
program was sponsored by
We the People, a nation-
wide educational program
focusing on the U.S. Consti-
tution and the Bill of Rights.
Cardozo playfully offered up a
suggestion for his guests to do “some
lawn mowing and various grounds-
keeping jobs at an unspeci-
fied location in the Bronx.”
Smith, meanwhile, in-
vited Cardozo and his
deputies to Philadel-
phia next year to return
the favor, “after the Phil-
lies reclaim the World Series
trophy from the Yankees.”
—Jackie Rothenberg
THE RESULTS ARE IN
More than 3,000 readers registered to vote
on ABAJournal.com for their favorite law
blogs in our third annual Blawg 100. Here
are the popular choices in each of the 10
categories:
NEWS
Above the Law
Routinely credited by the mainstream media
for breaking news of law firm layoffs and sal-
ary freezes, this self-proclaimed legal tabloid
is a must-read for those who want to know
the latest industry gossip. ATL star David Lat
has rejoined editor Elie Ying Mystal, and they
are the primary contributors, aided by anony-
mous tipsters and forwarded e-mails. In re-
sponse to industry woes, the blog added a
“Notes from the Breadline” column last year.
LEGAL THEORY
The Volokh Conspiracy
The Volokh Conspiracy is named for its
founder, UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh,
but it is authored by nearly 20 contributors,
mostly law profs with a passion for con law,
government policy and each other’s observa-
tions. One fan, Vanderbilt law student Alex-
ander Denton, praises Volokh contributors
for “engaging posts on a variety of topics,
thoughtful interaction ... and writing styles
CAREERS
Ms. JD
The law students who run this legal blog
know where to find feminist essays, work-life
balance studies and interviews with women
who are leaders in the profession and can
reconcile their goals and desires.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime
The A-team at TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime
—Jeralyn Merritt of Denver, T. Christopher
Kelly of Madison, Wis., and Armando Llorens
of San Juan, Puerto Rico—take a shame-
lessly liberal view of crime and justice news
and issues.
LIGHTER FARE
Bitter Lawyer
Bitter Lawyer is a category killer for legal
humor websites, complete with video pro-
gramming, daily reports from the Bitter
Newsroom and frank interviews with law-
yers with unusual stories to tell, such as
the lawyer-founder of a dating agency for
marrieds looking to cheat.
PRACTICE SPECIFIC
TheCorporateCounsel.net
This blog takes coverage of mainstream
news of corporate governance issues and
the Securities and Exchange Commission
a step further with extra legwork and clear,
concise analysis. Editor Broc Romanek still
finds time for lightheartedness—like sharing
short summer vacation videos from Paris
with his readers.
IMHO
The Legal Satyricon
San Diego First Amendment practitioner
Marc Randazza and his band of “Satyricon-
istas” prove time and again that no topic
is off-limits.
LEGAL TECH
TechnoLawyer Blog*
TechnoLawyer Blog covers the latest tech-
nology for law practice management and
highlights the best of the legal blogosphere.
Many posts are merely teasers for content
only available on TechnoLawyer’s free elec-
tronic newsletters, but posts from those
newsletters are thorough and solid.
*TechnoLawyer Blog drew the most votes in this
category only after it ran a sweepstakes campaign
offering readers who claimed to have voted for it
the opportunity to win one of two $500 first prizes
and five $100 second prizes. Had the sweepstakes
offer not been made, the likely winner would have
been e-Lessons Learned.
BUSINESS OF LAW
Mendelson’s Musings
Mendelson’s Musings drew our admiration
when Boulder, Colo., lawyer/venture cap-
italist Jason Mendelson tackled a weighty
project: Law Firm 2.0. Over a 10-month peri-
od, Mendelson discussed frustrations with
startup lawyers, redesign of the organization
and what clients need to do to get law firms
to implement change.
GEO
China Law Blog
If it’s law-related in China, Seattle-based
Dan Harris and Shanghai-based Steve
Dickinson have it covered. Posts are timely,
thorough and often practical, focusing on
what it takes to have successful U.S.-China
business relationships.
The editors of the Blawg 100 would like your
suggestions about how to improve the Blawg
100 in 2010. Send suggestions to Molly
McDonough, mcdonough@staff.abanet.org,
keeping only this goal in mind: The Blawg
100 should draw attention to high-quality
legal blogs written primarily by lawyers for
a legal audience.
—Molly McDonough and Sarah Randag
