The ABA Journal maintains the definitive directory of law-related blogs — "blawgs" — with over 3,000 entries. At the end of every year, the editors of the ABA Journal pick their 100 favorite blogs in 12 categories and include them in the ABA Journal Blawg 100, which is the cover story for the December issue of the ABA Journal. Readers are then invited to vote for up to 12 of their favorites, and the winners in each category are announced in January. The contest is fun, but the real value of the list is that it helps lawyers become aware of 100 great websites. Every year when I go through the list, I discover lots of well-done websites that are new to me. (For example, I learned about First One @ One First, which looks like an interesting blog related to the U.S. Supreme Court.)
This year, I am thrilled to see that in the "Legal Tech" category, there are two iOS-related sites listed: iPhone J.D. (yeah!) and Josh Barrett's Tablet Legal. I'm a big fan of Tablet Legal, and a few weeks ago when I got an iPad, I went back to the first Tablet Legal post and read through every post again to get up to speed on how I can use my iPad in my law practice. I don't know how many blogs out there focus on lawyers using smartphones that run the Blackberry, Android, Palm, Windows Mobile, or other operating systems, but the fact that no such sites were among the nine listed in the Legal Tech category says a lot to me about the enthusiasm that many lawyers have for their iPhones.
I encourage you to take a look at all 12 categories of sites on the list to learn about some great sites. While you are there, if you already have an ABAJournal.com account, you are probably already logged in and can just start voting. Otherwise, simply register (which is quick) and then the website will let you vote. Obviously, I would be honored if you would vote for iPhone J.D. You can vote for up to 12 sites (and you can vote for multiple sites in the same category, so feel free to vote for both iPhone J.D. and Tablet Legal). A few of my favorites on the list: SCOTUSblog, Above the Law, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, The AmLaw Daily, Drug and Device Law, Jonathan Turley, Taxgirl and the always funny Lowering the Bar. You can also see the list and vote by clicking this very subtle (ahem) picture helpfully provided to me by the ABA Journal:
Thank you to the editors of the ABA Journal for naming iPhone J.D. to the list for the second year in a row, and thank you to all of you who take the time to vote. I know that all of us who publish blogs appreciate the recognition.
