ATL Lawyer of the Year: Nominations, Please
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]
(72) 
I nominate L2L or Loyola2L (however he goes by) as lawyer of the year, even though he is not a lawyer yet.
Or if we need a true lawyer, I think we should find out if FRAT STUD is a lawyer and give him the prize, it would be no big deal.
Charney, of course....
Can we nominate Nixon Peabody? Because everyone's a winner there.
Yeah, as far as this blog is concerned, it really has to be Charney. Wasn't his complaint filed in January? So it truly has been one full year of Charney in here.
What about law firm? If so, hands down the winner is Nixon Peabody.... because everyone is a winner at Nixon Peabody.
William Unroch. You can turn the comments off now, Lat.
George Mitchell, DLA Piper
aquagirl. no question. .... or was that last year?
If law firms, we should nominate Simpson Thacher, for moving the nation to $160K!!!
I nominate WGWAG (assuming he is a lawyer). I am a big fan of his posts about white guys with asian girls. He did succeed in getting Boalt renamed this year...
I am going to go outside the box with my nomination:
..
Jim Tatum, the spur wearing, 45 packing Colorado lawyer who inspired not one but two wives to shoot him, the second fatally.
..
Best Tatum quote, spoken to his first wife before she winged him with a 22 pistol: “Oh, honey, this is Texas. You can't make a man give up his girlfriend.”
..
In the book Sleeping with the Devil, a 1991 account of a Houston murder in which Tatum is mentioned as serving as a lawyer for some of those involved, author and lawyer Suzanne Finstad described Tatum as a "criminal lawyer with a major reputation in Houston" in the 1980s. Finstad said he was referred to as "the cowboy of the legal profession." She said he wore cowboy boots to court "with his blazers and shirt boldly unbuttoned to reveal a muscled, machismo chest."
..
Dick DeGuerin, the Houston lawyer who represented Elizabeth Tatum in the divorce, said this about Tatum:
..
"He was a talented trial lawyer because he had absolutely no fear of any man or beast, but he was also mean and crazy," DeGuerin said. "He'd fight at the drop of a hat. He was always armed, and he ran with some really rough known criminals. He often had a .45 stuck in his belt."
charney
Definitely shouldn't be Gonzo. I don't care how they spin it, "Lawyer of the Year" implies excellence, not infamy.
Atty Sean Conway Florida. For having the courage to call Judge Aleman out and sign his name to it on JAABLOG. Here is the link to the story the Ft. Lauderdale paper ran on the Bar's prosecution of Conway due to his blog statements.
Lawyer may lose license for blog entry on Broward judge
By Tonya Alanez | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 13, 2007
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-flblawyer1212sbdec13,0,3203146.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
Oh come on... the ABA totally ripped off Time Magazine's idea to name Hitler Man of the Year in 1939.
Time to get original ABA....
Uhh, I nominate LAT.
Can I be your Facebook friend without being your real friend?
Atty Sean Conway - Florida. For having the courage to call Judge Aleman out and sign his name to it on JAABLOG. Here is the link to the story the Ft. Lauderdale paper ran on the Bar's prosecution of Conway due to his blog statements.
Lawyer may lose license for blog entry on Broward judge
By Tonya Alanez | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 13, 2007
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-flblawyer1212sbdec13,0,3203146.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
roger clemens
3:14 - I'm sure you can. I doubt that Lat personally knows all 850 of his Facebook friends...
I nominate Laurie Lin for writing the best feature on ATL and doing it really well.
Billy Martin; he repped Michael Vick AND Larry Craig.
Throw a few divas into the mix:
-- Shanetta Cutlar
-- Monica Goodling
I nominate anyone but Laurie Lin because LEWW sucks!
I nominate that 1L Hofstra girl.
I disagree with the nod for Laurie. She didn't put my wedding on there. I'm anguished over it.
Loyola 2L for exposing the life crushing fraud.
Neil Katyal
Aqua Girl!
Second for Jim Tatum.
See, http://www.stpns.net/view_article.html?articleId=76341028728647088
for the latest news on this nominee
What about that New York lawyer who is suing her wedding florist? The one with the "Party Pants"?
How about that ALJ who sued the dry cleaners?
Hof1L for lawyer of the year - being hot, she is destined for a stellar career.
Aqua Girl.
Roy Pearson
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
"I'm sorry Pres. Jackson, I am FOR REAL!"
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
D. MARVIN JONES!!!!!
"I'm sorry Pres. Jackson, I am FOR REAL!"
If it's not L2L then it should be Jim Sandman, the guy who almost stopped the raise to $160k.
Judge Kent...
How about that kid who got the People's Court beatdown? Not a lawyer yet, I guess, and may never be.
"Good because you don't have it in you!"
L2L: brought the underbelly of legal education (read: the plight of TTTers) to the fore.
2nd nominee: FRAT STUD
FRAT STUD is played out.
TB Andy.
L2L/Tom the Temp/ anyone who exposes the fraud of T2/3 law schools.
or anyone who singlehandedly closes every t4 school in the nation.
That Phillip Pile kid who went to UGA then got busted for soliciting a minor online while he was studying for the bar.
definitely FRAT STUD. He took this place to a new level
WHY IS NOBODY NOMINATING ME? Seriously people.
Me. Duh.
Guys at my high school were nominated for lawyer of the year all the time, it was no big deal
Charlene Morisseau
P'ta Mon, the thug lawyer
P'ta Mon, the thug's lawyer (or was that thug lawyer?)
hungry girl
or a broad category of people - the poors
What about the guy with the crazy website postings about his wife cheating on him with another attorney? Or the lady who puts smiley faces in her motions about missing deadlines because she was drunk?
Michael Clayton!
L2L deserves this. He or she has really helped to open the world's eyes to the non-top tier law school scam.
Maybe a separate category for L2L, since he (or she) hasn't graduated from law school yet? Perhaps Aspiring Lawyer of the Year?
Or a forward thinking award, a la the ABA Journal, naming L2L (now L3L) Lawyer of the Year for 2008.
Cass Sunstein - the greatest law prof ever!
heather gerken
GONZO gets my vote.
Ari Henry Barnes, who works in a New York law firm, is so devoted to his cat, Romeo, that he wipes the animal’s behind every time he does “a stinky boom boom.”
When the cat became an extended houseguest at the home of good friends, Mr. Barnes found it stressful, because despite his wishes, the cat was allowed outside. “I think anybody who is taking care of someone else’s child or pet, they should protect the parent’s wishes.”
Who is this person Lat?
The dude who went on the plane with smallpox or whatever.
The dude who went on the plane with smallpox or whatever.
How about Tom Yannucci at Kirkland? His leadership has propelled Kirkland to the top firm in Chicago and in the top tier nationwide. Tom also has pioneered a top drawer telecommunications system.
How about the Florida judge who presided over Anna Nicole Smith's baby custody trial?
L2L
or
TB Andy
How about a presidential candidate or two? Hillary Clinton? Barack Obama? Rudy Giuliani? Mitt Romney? John Edwards? Let's face it, a lawyer is going to take over the White House one way or another. I suppose you could wait on that one until next year, but Hillary Clinton in particular has had quite a year in the news.
I also second Judge Larry Seidlin. That dude is funny.
Jim Cramer
no seriously, CHARNEY
I nominate Alberto "Smiley" Gonzalez and the Goodlings (boy, people didn't like them, duh, wonder why. . .) for a live waterboarding! Pay per view, baby! They will be fine, and the money can go to McCain's campaign! I used to work at the WTC, and UBL and the rest of his guys need to be barbecue-roasted. That being said, when the marines stick some guy's head on a tank, like they did at Tarawa in World War 2, well, hey sh_t happens in a war, BUT when our AG and his staff of top neo-con lawyers are writing briefs about how to do it, we've got problems. Well, time to duck under my desk before the rounds start flying. . .
See this re Goodling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Goodling
I nominate Alberto "Smiley" R. Gonzales and the Goodlings (boy, people didn't like them, duh, wonder why. . .) for a live waterboarding! Pay per view, baby! Let's see them take the Fifth then. . .They will be fine, and the money can go to McCain's campaign! I used to work at the WTC, and UBL and the rest of his guys need to be barbecue-roasted; I have got buddies overseas in the service, including one of my best friends who until recently was an intelligence officer in Afghanistan, and I could list some other stuff, and I am not some bleeding heart. That being said, when the marines stick some dead guy's head on a tank, like they did at Guadalcanal in World War 2, well, hey sh_t happens in a war, BUT when our AG and his staff of top neo-con lawyers are writing briefs about how to do it, we've got problems. Well, time to duck under my desk before the rounds start flying. . .
See this re precious "power couple" half Ms. Goodling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Goodling
Did I stutter? Yes, ma'am, but the second one has all my wa, wa, wa words. Back to saving deals. . .