Alberto Gonzales, American Bar Association / ABA, Contests, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Media and Journalism, Monica Goodling, Patrick Fitzgerald, Reader Polls, WSJ Law Blog

ATL Lawyer of the Year: Nominations, Please

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Part of a blogger’s job description is to shamelessly rip off stuff from the mainstream media. So we’re going to follow in the footsteps of the ABA Journal and the WSJ Law Blog, and name ATL’s first annual Lawyer of the Year. (Of course, it’s not that original an idea to begin with, insofar as it’s inspired by Time magazine’s Person of the Year.)
The WSJ crew is still accepting nominations, so we don’t know the identity of their pick. But the ABA Journal’s honoree for 2007, Alberto Gonzales, has generated some controversy. The Journal’s editor and publisher, Edward A. Adams, explained the pick to the Washington Post: “It’s about who has had the most effect in the world of lawyers this year. We’re not saying Gonzales is good or bad. We’re just saying this is the leading newsmaker in our part of the world.”
Additional discussion, plus how to submit your nomination for ATL’s Lawyer of the Year, after the jump.


Gonzales had some tough competition. The runners-up included former Cheney chief of staff Scooter Libby, who was convicted of perjury and lying to federal officials; his pursuer, Plamegate prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald; and the fantabulous Monica Goodling. But here’s our favorite runner-up:

The Lawyer-Blogger

… [L]aw blog superstars like David Lat and Tom Goldstein have been churning out content for a while now, but the last year saw a plethora of law blogs begin to insert themselves into the most significant daily news and legal issues debates alongside their counterparts in journalism and academe.

From the Duke lacrosse team fiasco in North Carolina to the high-profile “Family Secrets” Mob trial in Chi¬¬cago, bloggers made their presence known with a flourish, sometimes to the chagrin of the judges and lawyers involved. But the influence of the lawyer-blogger goes beyond that.

Whether by a single practitioner who wants to share his or her problems and experiences opening an office, or a BigLaw associate who wants to dish the dirt about the practice, the lawyer-bloggers are finding an audience for their work, and we salute them.

Why thanks, guys! And please don’t forget to vote for ATL in the ABA’s Blawg 100 contest, which you can access over here.
Oh yes, so what about the ATL Lawyer of the Year contest? Here’s how it will work. We’re a highly interactive site, so we’re going to do things a little differently. Instead of picking our own choice, we’re going to turn the process to you, the readers.
Please submit your LOY nominations in the comments to this post. We’ll review the submissions, select some contenders, and create a reader poll. Then you’ll vote, and the winner will be crowned Above the Law’s 2007 Lawyer of the Year.
What are the criteria for being our Lawyer of the Year? Since you’re doing the nominating and voting, it’s really up to you. But we’d hope that the ATL pick will be more fun than the ABA’s, which is based on who “had the most effect in the world of lawyers this year,” or the Wall Street Journal’s, which we’re guessing will be similar.
We’re hoping for someone who has provided us with lots of entertainment and fabulosity during 2007. We could toss out a few names, but we don’t want to skew the nomination process, so we’ll keep mum.
We look forward to reading your submissions. Thanks!
Lawyers of the Year 2007 & 2008 [ABA Journal via Volokh Conspiracy]
Journal Grants Gonzales A Superlative [Washington Post]
ABA Magazine Names Gonzales Lawyer of the Year Amid Lingering Inquiries [AP via Law.com]
The Law Blog Lawyer Of the Year: Submit Your Nominations! [WSJ Law Blog]

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