Just a quick reminder about an interesting event, previously mentioned in these pages, which is taking place in a few hours. The ABA Journal, which just profiled U.S. News "rankings czar" Bob Morse, is hosting a live chat with him this afternoon. From Edward Adams of the ABA Journal:

Morse will be taking questions from the public on ABAJournal.com on Friday, April 11, from 3 to 4 p.m. ET. We hope you and your readers will participate.

More from the Journal:

Robert Morse, the man who created the law school rankings for U.S. News, offers an olive branch to law school deans who have long complained about the effect of the rankings on legal education. “Deans are welcome to call me or come by my office in Washington,” Morse says. “I want to work with them to improve the rankings.”

Some deans and former deans think they should engage the magazine, rather than just complain about it. “I think rankings need to be changed, and the only way that will happen is if law school deans sit down with Bob Morse for honest discussion,” says Nancy Rapoport, who resigned as dean of the University of Houston Law Center after her school dropped almost 20 points in the rankings. “I would attend a meeting like that without hesitation.”

So unhappy law school deans, here's your chance. You can already submit "questions" -- defined in academia as rambling screeds, concluded with "and what do you think of all this?" -- by clicking here. Or just visit the ABA Journal's home page at 3 PM Eastern time.

Additional links about the U.S. News rankings not mentioned in our earlier coverage, after the jump.

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.

The ABA Journal has put together a well-intended list of 50 ways to market your [father's] law practice. Here's just a few to get a conversation started with the older partners in your firm:

1. Join your local chamber of commerce. It’s great for networking and community credibility.

5. Offer to write an article for your local paper on a topic such as why everyone should have a will or questions to ask a contractor. Make sure the byline includes the name of your firm and, if possible, your e-mail address.

7. Try to get a local reporter to use you as a legal expert. Send an e-mail offering commentary on a court case. Learn to translate legalese into English and reporters will love you.

18. Advertise in school and church newsletters and local marketer newspapers. This sort of advertising is usually cost-efficient and such publications are surprisingly well-read by their target audiences.

19. Post your business card on the bulletin board at your barbershop, beauty salon, grocery store, community center and house of worship.

22. Donate last year’s Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory or other slightly outdated law books to your local library with a bookplate bearing your name and firm name.

23. Donate magazines to your local jail, nursing home or school and hand over your business card when you drop them off.

32. Send out press releases. Small local newspapers are especially interested.

38. Write down a 30-second description of your practice and commit it to memory. This is called the elevator speech. Use it whenever someone asks, “What type of law do you practice?” Everyone in the firm should have a copy of the description.

And my favorite way to market a law practice:

50. Give vinyl or nylon briefcases to clients at their first visit. This will encourage clients to keep important papers for their case in one place and to bring everything to each office visit. Add a pen, key chain, pad of paper and some business cards to the case.

Read all fifty and let us know which ones you think are the most ridiculous. To be fair and balanced, do let us know if you find any of them worthwhile.

Oh, here's a tip you won't find anywhere in that list of 50 ways to market your practice: blog.

While you're visiting the ABA Journal's website, check out their Blawg Directory, which the authors of that list of fifty ways to market your practice failed to notice.

It's not nearly as entertaining as the Promiscuous Firm music video from those Canadian law students. So don't get your hopes TOO high.

But this video, in which a lawyer aspires to the legal-geek distinction of making the cover of the ABA Journal, has its moments. So we'll pass along it to you, and you can check it out depending upon how bored you are today:

(The two moments that we chortled at were the least politically correct lines. We suspect that the ABA, one of the more PC organizations on the face of planet Earth, would be less amused.)

UPDATE: In our opinion, this video is far more entertaining -- even though, as a videotaped deposition, it really shouldn't be. We will refrain from further comment because we will only get ourselves in trouble.

Bob Noone & the Well Hung Jury Live at the Greenbrier Resort [The Billable Hour]
Cover of the ABA [YouTube]
What Is It With Texas Depositions? [Sui Generis]