One of the law professor blogs I enjoy reading is Susan Crawford’s blog, which I highly recommend.
Sometimes, as I’ve commented before, you can read the law professor blogs and get the feeling that practicing lawyer blogs don’t even exist. I figure that it’s all a process of education and it’s always good to extend the olive branch (or maybe wave it wildly so the profs notice it) to those in the ivory towers of academe.
Susan penned a Valentine’s euology of sorts for Benjamin Franklin and a mini-ode to amateurism today that very much captures the feeling of energy and potential that I feel in the blogosphere these days.
Unfortunately, at the same time, her post reminded me of the disconnect those of us in the practice feel when we think of our brothers and sisters in academia. The professors praise the amateur ideals of blogging, while those of us outside the walls of academia think of ways to turn pro with our blogs and earn a few dollars for our time and efforts in blogging. The irony, of course, is that we often talk about becoming a professor as one way of turning pro while some professors (and I don’t consider Susan in this group) see themselves as the Platonic ideals of amateurism. Go figure.
It’s no wonder that (1) the Matt Homann for Top 20 Legal Thinker write-in campaign has drawn such interest and (2) you don’t see my name on the list of Top 20 Legal Thinker nominees – I don’t seem to be capable of making these “fine distinctions.” I’m the practical kind.