Patterico's Pontifications

12/3/2008

It’s Kind of Like Being the 101st Dalmatian

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 1:16 am



The ABA Journal has its list of the top 100 legal blogs out. The compilers claim:

We put a premium on blogs that broke news in 2008, or were among the first to provide trenchant analysis of one or more breaking legal news stories.

Hm.

There was a legal blog that broke some news this year, on the controversy surrounding racy material on Judge Alex Kozinski’s server/website. As you may remember, the disclosure of the material by the L.A. Times led to a mistrial in an obscenity case, and sparked an ethics investigation of Kozinski, the 9th Circuit’s Chief Judge.

And there was a blog — can’t quite remember the name right now — which first published the material that Kozinski had uploaded to his server. Then this blog published a letter from Judge Kozinski’s wife, rising to his defense — which was quoted in the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times.

That same blogger interviewed legal ethics expert Stephen Gillers, who had been quoted in the L.A. Times regarding the material, asking him whether he believed Kozinski should be disciplined now that he had seen the material. (He didn’t.)

The blog in question, whose name continues to elude me, probably did some other analyses of breaking legal stories . . . I seem to recall some posts about DNA and the L.A. Times where the blogger was vindicated in questioning a front-page L.A. Times story.

I wish I could tell you which blog this was . . . but I can’t. I was certain I would recognize the name as I scanned the top 100 legal blogs — but this one didn’t quite make the cut.

The only thing I remember is that the blogger isn’t a law professor, and therefore is not to be taken seriously on legal issues. Other than that, I’m lost.

Feel free to visit the link above to see which 100 blogs did break stories and provide trenchant legal analysis.

P.S. I did find one that richly deserved to be on the list: That’s What She Said. The concept: “For every episode of NBC’s The Office, a lawyer spots its potential litigation claims and estimates the possible value of those cases.”

Awesome.

46 Responses to “It’s Kind of Like Being the 101st Dalmatian”

  1. powerlineblog, one of the most well known and important lawyer blogs, didn’t make the list either.

    Meanwhile, instapundit is ultra conservative and Obama voter Althouse is a ‘right leaning at best’. The ABA’s little list is a joke.

    It’s not that they don’t like those they disagree with… it’s how infantile their tactics are. I got over the ‘stick your fingers in your ears’ approach a long time ago. I don’t think they even read many of the blogs on their list.

    Juan (4cdfb7)

  2. I concur with Juan, the list is a joke. Instapundit is “far right,” yet DailyKos is simply “liberal.”

    If this is how they describe and classify blogs, is it any wonder that their judicial ratings are often swayed by the nominee’s political slant?

    Hoystory (08dea2)

  3. For a moment, just a moment mind you, I forgot that the list was compiled by the ABA.

    So the list makes about as much sense as one compiled by the North Korean Bar Association.

    EW1(SG) (836d47)

  4. The fact that Kos is even on the list is beyond pathetic.

    Xrlq (62cad4)

  5. Well, just remember what Cruella deVille wanted to do with those 101 Dalmations . . . .

    The PeTA-loving Dana (3e4784)

  6. You don’t want to be on any list that would have somebody like you on it, do you?

    steve sturm (369bc6)

  7. yet DailyKos is simply “liberal.”

    Sweet Mother Mary, I’d hate to see “Far Left” then…

    Scott Jacobs (a1c284)

  8. How in Creation is Glenn Reynolds “far-right”?

    This list is a joke.

    Techie (07c8ee)

  9. Pat, you are going to tell us the name of this mystery blog sometime, right?

    SPQR (72771e)

  10. Awards are cheap. Viewership is what counts. My guess is this mysterious blog you can’t remember has a lot more page views than most of the “award winners.”

    Corky Boyd (e038ec)

  11. As others already have said, the ABA, and (thus, not surprisingly) its little list, lean pretty far left overall. Any conservative or even “Mickey Kaus Democrat” (i.e., liberal but not PC) sort of blog will be far less likely to appear in any ABA list like this.

    Mitch (890cbf)

  12. Ars Technica is a blog?!

    htom (412a17)

  13. Patterico.com is the Rodney Dangerfield of legal blogs. It “don’t get no respect.”

    navyvet (4c272e)

  14. Hey where’s Harvey Levin and TMZ ?

    Vermont Neighbor (5ea336)

  15. The ABA Journal are just a bunch of liberal hacks. What counts is viewership and I’m sure you have many, many of the sites on the ABA list beat hands down. Keep up the good work.

    J. Raymond Wright (d83ab3)

  16. Just why are you concerned about the opinion of the
    American Basketball Association?

    Another Drew (240de7)

  17. Maybe you need to spice things up a bit, get noticed. Start talking about Obama’s lack of a birth certificate and take lots of comments on his qualifications for the office of POTUS.

    Raise questions about what it would mean for the country if he was disqualified, or if he was found not to be natural born, yet was allowed to assume office. Stuff like that, you know, issues that are current and controversial. Topics lawyers might be interested in and willing to express an opinion here, even using an anonymous screen name if necessary.

    Questions like that ought to get some ABA big shots sniffing around. Heck, they might even start calling you “far-right” too.

    Ropelight (5b609a)

  18. Complaining about not winning awards is pathetic. The Kozinski stuff is a boring non-starter that you initially got wrong in the first place.

    Patterico is a fucking idiot.

    What (f34f98)

  19. Complaining about not winning awards is pathetic. The Kozinski stuff is a boring non-starter that you initially got wrong in the first place.

    Patterico is a fucking idiot.

    What df as (f34f98)

  20. Hello, Parsnip. We missed you while you were gone.

    Ok, that’s a lie.

    Scott Jacobs (a1c284)

  21. What a little weevil, huh?

    Eric Blair (8f93a0)

  22. Aren’t you more like the 102nd Dalmation, since you didn’t make the list?

    kaf (16e0b5)

  23. I love the trolls here. They are so angry that you know Patterico has cut them to their core.

    It’s so embarrassing for them, but they don’t know it. Anyone who thinks the Judge Koz story wasn’t one of the most major blog and law stories of the past year is crazy.

    And the ABA should have appreciated that and it is astonishing that they overlook this blog. But like I said above, they think pro-choice, pro-gay-rights, anti-drug war, Clinton supporter GLenn Reynolds is ‘ULTRA RIGHT WING!!!’. Because he supports some of what Bush has done in the middle east. Just as Patterico does.

    Anyone who supports any aspect of the War on Terror, or argued that Iraq wasn’t a hopeless disaster, is part of the Ultra Right Wing.

    Juan (4cdfb7)

  24. “Maybe you need to spice things up a bit, get noticed. Start talking about Obama’s lack of a birth certificate and take lots of comments on his qualifications for the office of POTUS.”

    Ropelight – He could just say he was passing on questions his readers raised and claim plausible deniability, just like Andrew Sullivan and his obsession with Sarah Palin’s vagina.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  25. 17, Ropelight, I can be the guy for the Obama Citizenship challenges. Everyone runs for cover on this one.

    PCD (7fe637)

  26. Don’t cry too much, Beldar didn’t make it either. Since when is Kos a Law Blog?

    bt (78b929)

  27. There is no Obama citizenship challenge. But we can speculate whether his hemifacial spasm is due to a tumor or Michelle whopping him upside the head too hard.

    nk (5fa892)

  28. Not bein’ a lawyuh m’self and having nothing to lose, here’s my comment beneath the ABA list:

    You’ve gotta be kidding me.

    Patterico’s Pontifications, which is the go-to site for details and exclusive interviews about the ongoing Kozinski controversies as well as investigative reports regarding Anthony Pellicano, underexamined aspects of the murders of rival rappers Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., and the firings of DOJ attorneys, doesn’t make the cut? Daily POS gets on the list because the hate-spouting, rumormongering founder has a law degree? So what if Jimmy Carter has posted there—where did he earn his law degree? Does it mean nothing to you legal eagles that Moulitsas took payola from John Kerry in 2004? Does it mean nothing that TalkLeft’s Jeralyn Merritt admits that when it comes to making the case for withdrawal from Iraq, “Facts don’t matter,“ a sentiment shared by Kos?

    http://maxine-log.blogspot.com/2007/11/facts-dont-matter-says-leftosphere.html

    L.N. Smithee (18f3fd)

  29. A cut-and-paste of my comment to the ABA list is stuck in WordPress purgatory.

    L.N. Smithee (18f3fd)

  30. Sorry about that, L.N. The cache function was turned on and it slows down the appearance of comments, but I’ve turned it off so comments should post faster now.

    DRJ (a50047)

  31. Complaining about not winning awards is pathetic.

    No, but posting under sockpuppet names is the height of asshattery. Congrats, you’re earned the cred.

    Dmac (e30284)

  32. “You’ve…”

    Dmac (e30284)

  33. If you want an award for the Kozinski material, Patterico, you have to share it with me.

    As for your DNA analysis, while the LA Times article in question was garbled, both you and the expert are wrong about the particular statistic in question, for reasons I articulated in the comments.

    That being said, you deserve credit for at least raising the complicated issues of the accuracy of limited loci matches from degraded DNA, and you were right that the LA Times article was no model of clarity.

    Cyrus Sanai (aa741d)

  34. “As for your DNA analysis, while the LA Times article in question was garbled, both you and the expert are wrong about the particular statistic in question, for reasons I articulated in the comments.”

    Since Cyrus deliberately does not mention the statistic in question, it’s tough draw conclusions here. He could be referring to the simple addition of two numbers. for all anyone knows. My recollection is that Cyrus departed the thread rather than admit he was wrong, but I’ll await Patterico’s response.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  35. You’re taking the ABA seriously?

    Apogee (366e8b)

  36. I’m not looking for an “award” but rather suggesting that, by the stated criteria, the ABA folks might have missed a certain blog. That’s all.

    Cyrus is wrong to allege that he has proven me wrong on any statistical matter. I don’t profess to be any kind of statistical expert, but Professor David Kaye is. And as to the assertion I make in the post above, if you click the link in the post, you’ll see Professor David Kaye asserting in a scholarly article that Jason Felch and Maura Dolan had misrepresented a central statistic in an article — a complaint I had made weeks or months earlier.

    On another issue, my memory is the same as daleyrocks’s. Cyrus came on here saying I had gotten something wrong. I’m on my phone and can’t access the links now, but I have a memory of proving Cyrus mistaken on a key point, and seeing him suddenly flee the thread. If he wants to pledge to stick around this time to discuss it, I’ll find the relevant thread, and we can watch him flail or flee anew. Cyrus? What say you?

    Patterico (89295c)

  37. Patterico – I would say that Cyrus owes you a debt of gratitude for getting his propaganda out there on the internet. According to his own telling of the story he was shopping around for six months to find a press outlet to pick up his vendetta against Judge Kozinski before he found a gullible LA Times reporter at the start of the obscenity trial. You at least presented both sides of the story.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  38. So, Patterico is special because because he published Cyrus Sanai’s stuff. And some here apparently think the Kozinski thing was the biggest flare in the legal blawgosphere for the year. Yeah, right. I suppose it was a public service to post Sanai’s documents, in the sense that it stank but someone had to do it.
    And then Kozinski’s wife came with her personal appeal, much like like Cheney going to Faux News to hustle his talking points in a comfort zone. Patterico as Hannity to Mrs. Kozinski’s Cheney, or Pailin or whomever else.
    But, however you couch it, Patterico is whining that he didn’t make the list of top law blogs. Period. Nyah. Nyah. Nyah.
    Never mind how many of you chime in with your little descriptive put-downs about the list.
    Patterico is whining that he didn’t get on it. So if he had, surely the munchkins here would be talking about how, despite it’s failings, the list is authoritative.
    It should go without saying that Mr. Patterico thinks the list is pretty special. He wants to be on it. He wants to be on it because he thinks he would then signify.
    He’s always whining when he doesn’t get linked or otherwise noticed etc. when he thinks he’s really beaten the big boys — I chuckle at his whining when I drop by. Right now he’s signifying nothing.
    Harrumph.

    Larry Reilly (d11f9a)

  39. Larry,

    Don’t you have an overdue parking ticket to worry about ?

    Vermont Neighbor (5ea336)

  40. Oh look! Cyrus is being a jerk again! What a shock.

    No, Cyrus, Patterico doesn’t owe you anything for his coverage of your assertions and Kozinski’s assertions. He have you enough rope to hang yourself with your own character. We heard not only from you, but from judges who dealt with your tactics, Kozinski’s wife, and many others.

    His role wasn’t to make news or to ruin anyone for personal vendetta reasons… he was just covering every angle of an interesting story, and for doing so fairly doesn’t owe anyone any credit.

    What, are you going to threaten Patterico with another implied lawsuit, you damn fool? No one respects you. The more you enter the discussion the worse you look.

    Juan (4cdfb7)

  41. Did anyone hear a little yippy dog?

    Patterico (cc3b34)

  42. Would that be yippy or yippie, Patterico?

    What is it with trolls around here?

    Eric Blair (8f93a0)

  43. I received an email from Molly McDonough of ABA Journal in response to my comment (#28):

    There’s certainly no pleasing everyone. Maybe it’ll make next year’s list. Or maybe not.

    My response to her response:

    Well, Ms. McDonough, it’s nice to know you actually read my comment, with the questions about Daily Kos’ credibility as a “law blog” and the link detailing Markos Moulitsas and TalkLeft’s Jeralyn Merritt’s loud and clear declarations they aren’t above stretching the truth to accomplish their political goals.

    What a shame you chose not to address those questions, and just sent a smart aleck reply.

    L.N.

    L.N. Smithee (47463a)

  44. I know who Patterico is, Larry Reilly.

    But who are you?

    Whoooo arrrre you? Who? Who? Who? Who?

    L.N. Smithee (47463a)

  45. L.N., I don’t know you personally, but I am proud to read your posts on this blog. I realize you aren’t surprised by Molly McDonough’s reply to you, but you still “spoke truth to power.”

    Ditto your comments about that short-eyes Polanski. I liked a couple of his movies, was heartbroken over the murder of Sharon Tate (and his unborn child)…but that doesn’t excuse his behavior…and how he has dealt with it since.

    It reminds me of the Victor Salva business. At least Salva served some time.

    Eric Blair (8f93a0)

  46. HhoxUD Thanks for good post

    johnny (2fdea7)


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