2009 Canada Blawg Awards

It's law blog award season, once more.

Amazing, isn't it, that this time of year is upon us again, so soon?

The good folks at the ClawBies have asked that we narrow our nominees down to three, but, this year, I will resist that temptation (which would require that I overlook too many), and simply name my personal picks for Canada's best law blogs in the categories below.

Hopefully, the ClawBie crew will be able to sort through these selections, too:

• Family Law Blog Award - Andrew Feldstein's Family Law Blog

• Employment Law Blog Award - Daniel Lublin for the Toronto Employment Law Blog

• Estates Law Blog Award - tie: Stan Rule for Rule of Law and Hull and Hull's Toronto Estates Law Blog

• Civil Litigation Blog Award - tie: Antonin Pribetec's Trial Warrior Blog, the Cavanagh Williams Conway Baxter Blawg, and Eric Magraken's ICBC Law Blog

• Law and Technology Blog Award - tie: Dan Michaluk's All About Information and David Canton's eLegal

• Knowledge Management Blog Award - tie: Connie Crosby, Canada's "information diva," and Michel-Adrien Sheppard's Library Boy

• Student Blawgers to Watch Award - All the contributors at Law is Cool

• Excellence in Legal Marketing Award - Steve Matthews of Stem Legal for numerous contributions, including the ClawBie Awards

• Policy and Influence Award - Jason Cherniak for Liblogs - not a law blog, per se (although it features many law blogs, including Wise Law Blog*), the Liblogs aggregator is a significant achievement by a Canadian lawyer in social media that is highly worthy of mention.

• Cutting Edge Philosophers' Stone Award - tie: David Bilinsky's Thoughtful Legal Management and Jordan Furlong's Law 21

• Lifetime Blawger Achievement Award - Professor Simon Fodden for Slaw

• Blawger of the Year - Omar Ha-Redeye

• Canada's Law Blog of the Year - Slaw

Job well done, to all.

As I said in Adrian Lurssen's recent year-end piece at JD Supra:

2009 was the year the legal profession began to truly "get" what social media is all about. An interesting (and largely unanticipated) spin-off of this trend has been the increasing prominence of law bloggers as presenters in accredited CLE programs. In this sense, blawging truly came of age in the last twelve months.

With this in mind, my quick tip for my fellow advocates in 2010: do not underestimate social media as a legitimate springboard for professional opportunity, broadened horizons - and much resulting personal satisfaction.

I've had the pleasure of meeting and collaborating with a number of talented and prolific law bloggers over the last year, including David Canton, Dan Pinnington, Omar Ha-Redeye, Michael Carabash of Dynamic Lawyers Blog, PSW Blog's Pei-Shing Wang, and David Bilinsky, whom I'd like to thank once again for his steady guidance through my own, inaugural CLE.*

It is particularly gratifying to see the gradual development of the Canadian law blog community into a cohesive, and ever-expanding voice in our profession.

There is a wealth of information (not to mention stimulation) to be found at our nation's law blogs.

I hope our readers - within the legal profession and the general public, alike - will take the opportunity to explore some of the excellent writers we've highlighted.

Happy reading.

And, finally, many thanks to my colleagues who were kind enough to include Wise Law Blog in their own lists of year-end mentions.

*("full disclosure")

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net

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