There are so many good ones that I hate to make a list because I’ll later be kicking myself for leaving a great one out. My 2004 Blawggies award list is still a good starting point.
Your question, however, raises a subject I’ve been thinking about lately. And that is that there are some extremely good writers among the legal bloggers.
Lawyers are usually thought of as writers of, well, legalese. Lawyer bloggers have done a lot to overcome that stereotype. In some cases, some blawg writers have become such good writers than I enjoy them and recommend them for both the writing and the content.
I just want to highlight a few people and do not intend for this to be a comprehensive list.
I want to point first to my colleagues at the Between Lawyers blog. I’ve become very familiar with their writing both in their blogs and the amazing back-channel email list we have going.
Consider the following:
Ernest “Ernie the Attorney” Svenson – Ernie’s posts have long been a pleasure to read, but if you have any question about Ernie’s greatt talent as a writer, you need only take a look at a few of his post-Katrina posts. His post on his first return to New Orleans is a gem – touching and determined. Here’s some free advice to book publishers: get Ernie signed up to write a book about his Katrina experiences!
Tom “Inter-Alia” Mighell – Tom has become my favorite person to write with and we’re now writing two columns together. Tom has a gift for writting short, direct posts that you might take for granted unless you try to write in that way on a regular basis. I often say that I write long posts because it is so hard to write the types of short posts that Tom does so well.
Marty “The Trademark Blog” Schwimmer – Marty is the master of the short, concise, clever and witty post, with a clear and cogent point. Concise, that is, except when he gets going on “political” issues. Read a selection of his trademark posts and I guarantee that you will be impressed.
Denise “Bag and Baggage” Howell – First of all, Denise is known as the absolute master of writing great titles for posts. Another legal blogger told me the other day that Denise’s titles are so great that he gets hooked into reading posts where he’s not even interested in the topic. Denise has such a great, comfortable writing style. The other day, though, she wrote a post called “NorCal” that I really, really liked, in a great new voice that reminded me of William Gibson, the cyberpunk novelist, who is one of my favorite authors. I’ve been bugging Denise to write a novel called “NorCal” in that same style.
If you took a vote among long-time legal bloggers on who the best writers among legal bloggers are, there’s no question that Sherry “Stay of Execution” Fowler and Evan “Legal Underground” Schaeffer would be at the top of the list.
Evan is such a strong, accomplished writer. He can write in a number of styles and, amazingly for a lawyer, has even made me laugh out loud (intentionally). His blog is a daily must-read and, as I’ve said before, he is the legal blogger most likely to be paid for writing movie and TV scripts in the near future.
You need only read a few of Sherry’s post before you realize that you are in the presence of a gifted writer. I’ve long enjoyed Sherry’s blog for both her insights and her talent as a writer. Of all the legal bloggers, Sherry has had the most influence on me as a writer (Marty’s efforts to get me to be more concise have not had his desired impact), and on other legal bloggers as well. Several years ago, we started calling Sherry the bravest legal blogger because of her willingness to write in a direct and personal manner in ways that others of us were very reluctant to do. I admired that greatly and it gradually inspired me to be willing to experiment with some more personal topics and styles. With Sherry, I always come back to how much I enjoy reading her writing and appreciating her talent. I’m so pleased that she’s going to devote herself to her writing and encourage publishers looking for a new star to take a good look at what Sherry is writing.
Ah, another long post, but that will give you some of my thoughts on the subject of legal bloggers who are excellent writers.
[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (https://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]
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