The time has come to recognize another year of great Canadian legal blogging. Welcome to the 2009 CLawBies!

Once again I am amazed by the number of nomination posts and tweets we received. Canadian law blogging continues to have a strong community, and a willingness to recognize the contributions of others. Definitely something to be proud of!

The CLawBies are in their fourth year now and we continue to have success with our concept of public nominations. Not only did the blogging & tweeting help spread the word, but there were many ‘thank-you’s’ exchanged and new relationships established. I know our list at lawblogs.ca certainly grew over the month of December. A big thanks to everyone who participated.

Before launching into the details, however, I do offer my usual warning not to take the Clawbies (or any other blog Awards) too seriously. And be sure to see ALL the nominations.

So without further ado, here are the 2009 Clawbies. Enjoy!

1) Best Canadian Law Blog (or Blogger) Award: Slaw – As most readers will already know, Slaw is not only a huge presence on the Canadian law blog scene, but it’s also a testament to the innovative and creative vision of Simon Fodden. It’s often hard to see how Slaw could get better, but it did in 2009. Want proof? See this year’s guest blogging initiatives, which included major law firms, provincial ombudsmen from across Canada, plus five Justices from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Add a DK Blawggies recognition, and we have a winner!  Runner ups: Canadian Privacy Law Blog, Wise Law Blog

2) Best Practitioner Blog – (TIE) Erik MacGraken’s BC Injury Law and ICBC Claims Blog is an excellent source of commentary on BC injury law and long overdue for a CLawBie. Erik’s also an innovator as demonstrated by his social media presence and new Skype consultations. Dan Michaluk is another overdue winner. Dan’s All About Information blog is not only a regular subscription for me, but AAI was one of the top nominated entries for 2009. Getting a nod from David Fraser never hurts either. Runner ups: Brian Bowman’s On the Cutting Edge, The Cross-Border Biotech Blog, Thoughts from a Management Lawyer.

3) Legal Culture Award – Law is Cool – Two of the fastest rising stars in Canadian legal blogging just happen to be law students. Lawrence Gridin and Omar Ha-Redeye lead an impressive group of contributors at Law is Cool, and are seeding the queue with more law student bloggers for the future. Bravo! Culture doesn’t happen without a little sweat equity.  Runner ups: Precedent, Dynamic Lawyers Parody Videos

4) Non-Legal Audience Award goes to back to Rob Hyndman, and the interesting part is that Rob’s blogging less than he ever has. Why an award then? Diversifying one’s web presence is a lesson for every blogging lawyer. For Rob, see: Mesh, Twitter, #Hohoto. It would be great to see Rob blogging more, but as long as he’s ‘Mr. Best Practice’ two years ahead of everyone else … congrats to Rob! Runner up: Connie Crosby who also has a very diversified web presence.

5) Friend of the North Awards – This award is intended to recognize US bloggers that look north of the border to network and exchange ideas. This year, I’d like to shine a light on Dennis Kennedy who never seems to forget the law bloggers from Canada. Read his past two Blawggie awards, and you can see the distinctly Canadian flavour. Last year’s winners Doug Cornelius & Mary Abraham are also on our list. Both were kind enough to submit nominations, and remain ‘Friends of the North’.

6) EuroCan Connection Awards – This award recognizes European law blog friends who highlight and link to Canadian law blogs. The internationally loved Charon QC gets a repeat nod. His 2009 Simon Fodden podcast interview was just the latest chapter of good will.

7) Practice Management Award – (TIE) Avoid A Claim Blog & David Bilinsky.  David’s Thoughtful Legal Management blog continues to set the standard. We’ll stop short of calling him a Canadian icon, but the reach of his commentary on PM issues is global. He also never forgets to take the foreign PLTC speakers curling (serious).  PracticePro’s Avoid A Claim Blog is a relatively new offering but it fills a big gap. From advice on scams that target lawyers to mitigating malpractice risk and CLE material, the advice goes far beyond its principal audience of Ontario lawyers.

8) Law Librarian Blog Award – Shaunna Mireau on Canadian Legal Research – Giving Shaunna Mireau a CLawBie in 2009 is about as unexpected as Slaw winning — it just made sense. Shaunna stands out for work with CALL’s vendor relations committee, her injection of law library issues into Slaw and all around support for the profession. Runner ups: Library Technician Dialogue, Courthouse Libraries BC’s The Stream.

9) Best Legal Technology Blog – Michael Geist – Canada’s best known law blogger, Michael Geist also provides some of the most insightful commentary on law and technology. From copyright to anti-spam legislation and net neutrality, Michael continues to produce easy to read commentary and an admirable volume of material. He’s also personally invested in making a difference, which is equally laudable. Runner Up? Sorry, Canada is still lacking a true ‘legal technology’ blog. Not that we can’t look south, but a Canadian spin would be nice.

10) Best New Law Blog Award – (TIE)  The Trial Warrior by Antonin Pribetic was one of the best new entries for 2009, within Canada or not. A wonderful blend of academia and practitioner reflections. Litigators would be wise to add this one to their subscription list for 2010.  Blogasaurus Lex – Really? a blog named Blogasaurus Lex?!  Rest assured, the Alberta LRC’s blog is much more than a catchy name. Focused on their mandate of public legal education, the content equally measures up to their creative title.

11) Law Professor Blog Award – (TIE) Doorey’s Workplace Law Blog and University of Alberta Faculty of Law Blog are repeat winners in this category with both continuing to inspire and be read in 2009. David Doorey was our best new law blogger last year, and his volume and quality of posts were again top notch. The UofA blog should be considered the model for group blogging by a law faculty – a great mix of case summaries, professional trends, faculty news, and unexpected items of interest. Runner up: The Court

Congratulations to everyone!  My apologies for glaring omissions or unintended bias. Please be sure your blog is on lawblogs.ca to be considered in 2010!

Is it really December?!?  Why yes it is, and it’s also time to start nominating your favourite Canadian law blogs in 2009!

The Canadian Law Blog Awards, a.k.a. the Clawbies, are a project started back in 2006 with the goal of highlighting  great blogs published by the Canadian legal industry.  While final results will again be released on New Year’s Eve, we want to continue to emphasize something — the most important part of the process is the nominations.

If there’s one thing we got right last year, it was opening up the blog nomination process.  Those social endorsements, whether by blog post, or by tweet, will again factor in the award decisions.  Every blog listed at lawblogs.ca will also get a passing look.  But if you really want to influence things … then be sure to tell the world who are your ‘must read’ Canadian blawgs!

How to Nominate in 2009:

Between now and Monday December 28th, publicly nominate a Canadian authored legal blog using ANY of the following methods:

1. Tweet your endorsement on Twitter.com along with the hashtag text: #clawbies2009. We’ll be monitoring!
2. Email your favourite blog, along with a sample post or two, or any other notable highlights to Steve Matthews at steve@stemlegal.com. It’s not a public nomination, but still acceptable.
3. Or the most influential method, write a blog post about three other Canadian law blogs you currently read and tell us why those blogs are important to you. Like last year, we want you to be a humble Canadian and tell us NOTHING about your own blog.  In return, we promise the nominator’s blog will receive a thorough review, as will your suggested peers, AND you get a chance to plug a fellow Canadian blogger!

The categories will resemble previous years, so no need to submit categories. We’ll figure that part out.  Where we would appreciate some help though, is identifying US & European law blogs that pay attention to the Canadian legal blogosphere. Or perhaps more fun, the sleeper pick that no one else has heard of!

And that’s it.  Stay tuned & watch out for 2009 Clawbies coming this New Year’s Eve!!

Welcome to the 2008 CLawBies! As we highlight another year of great Canadian legal blog content, I’d like to start by pointing everyone’s eyes down south to Dennis Kennedy’s 2008 Blawggies, where Canada had an outstanding year (clearly Mr. Kennedy has a secret ice rink in his backyard he hasn’t been telling us about).  We are humbled by your recognitions Dennis!

This is year number three for the Clawbies, and in all honestly, these ‘fun’ awards make December the most enjoyable part of my year. Canadian law bloggers seem to take pride in keeping our community open, and spreading the recognition around. This year’s new nomination procedure featured lots of great blog-to-blog recomendations, and hopefully went one step further in reinforcing that culture.

Like last year, I offer my personal congratulations to everyone listed over at lawblogs.ca, and the usual warning not to take this (or any other blog Award) too seriously.

So without further ado, here is the 2008 edition Clawbies. Enjoy!

1) Best Canadian Law Blog (or Blogger) Award: Law21 – Anyone that says it’s impossible to break into blogging these days needed to watch Jordan Furlong this past year. Wherever you went in 2008, Jordan’s thoughts were cited and more frequently revered.  Law21 received the most nominations, both from fellow bloggers and via email. But mostly, Jordan’s blog is the 2008 winner because it became a fixture for anyone trying to think critically about legal practice.  Runner up: Slaw – Once again a bridesmaid, though I do try to make up for it below. Not that Slaw can’t win, but solo blogging is a tough gig to do well, and in 2008 it simply felt right to let Jordan bask in the spotlight.

2) Best Practitioner Support Blog – Canadian Trademark Blog – This was a year of stepping out for the Canadian Trademark Blog. They added a couple new bloggers to their in-house team, completed a re-design (sans Steve Matthews), and really found their edge. Two events that stood out were a January road trip to catch up with law bloggers down in Seattle, and the significant media coverage generated by one of their posts regarding Olympic trademark registrations by VANOC.   – Runner ups: All About Information, Thoughts from a Management Lawyer, Human Rights in the Workplace

3) Legal Culture Award - Slaw evolved in 2008, drawing in more Canadian blogging talent (see Omar & the Daves!) and producing even more quality commentary.  Despite my own involvement, this year’s nomination process (and Blawggies award) support what I’ve always known: Slaw has become a beacon for what Canadian law blogs have to offer.   Runner ups: Law is Cool, Precedent.

4) Non-Legal Audience Award goes to Connie Crosby for her combination of blog and micro-blog (ie Twitter). Twitter became an important tool for many bloggers in 2008, frequently pushing those of us in the legal field beyond our industry base. With more than 2300 followers, Connie has not only led the way in Canada, but possibly for the entire legal industry. Her network is not only large in volume but extremely varied and influential.

5) Friend of the North Awards – This award is intended to recognize US bloggers that look north of the border to network and exchange ideas. This year, I’d like to recognize Mary Abraham who hasn’t lost her Canadian roots despite working for a New York megafirm, and re-recognize Doug Cornelius. Both were not only deserving of a ‘Friend of the North’ Award, but actually submitted nominations!

6) EuroCan Connection Awards – This award was envisioned to recognize some of our European law blog friends who frequently highlight and link to Canadian law blogs. In 2008, Charon QC reached out to many Canadian law bloggers, myself included. The work he did late in the year creating a Canadian Law Blog Pageflake just sealed the deal.  Runner Up: Our 2007 winner Nick Holmes became an occasional contributor to Slaw in 2008, and earns a finalist nod this year for doing so.

7) Practice Management Award – (TIE) Knowing the mutual respect between Dave Bilinsky and Jordan Furlong, I’m sure they won’t mind sharing the prize in this category. If you read both these blogs, you’ll recognize that they are valued for different reasons. Law21 is much more about vision and challenging ideas. It’s very thought provoking. Conversely, Thoughtful Legal Management often reflects the voice of experience, and Dave’s work in the trenches. If you speak to PMAs around North Americal you get the sense of respect they have for Dave. He’s a pioneer and they listen. If you’re looking to tap into Canadian perspectives on practice management, you’d be well advised to subscribe to both.

8) Law Librarian Blog Award – 2008 is the year we expand our radar in this category, and note the great blogging being done by the Edmonton Association of Law Libraries.  With a number of contributing members, this blog looks to be evolving into a must read for Canadian law librarians. If it isn’t on your reading list already, be sure to follow in 2009! Runner ups: Call KM Blog, BC Courthouse Library Society What’s New Blog.

9) Best Legal Technology Blog – (TIE) This may seem a bit odd, but this award is a tie between Slaw and the great big gap in Canadian legal technology blogs. We web-geeks may be plentiful over at Slaw, but what Canada really needs is a few Mac Lawyers or iPhone JDs.  Or even a run of the mill (but competent & unbiased) legal technologist.  So let it be known, the gauntlet has been dropped for 2009!

10) Best New Law Blog Award – (TIE) Doorey’s Workplace Law Blog was the easy pick in this category. It’s very well written, read, and was recognized with multiple nominations. If you practice employment or labour law in Canada, this blog is off to a great start and well worth the read. The tie portion of this category is because of an innovative non-lawyer named Laurie Mapp. Laurie’s company blog Halo Secretarial Blog helps support an entire new industry of virtual legal assistants. She’s found her voice in this new blog, and is getting some well deserved recognition both north & south of the border.  Runners up: Megawatt, Ontario Condo Law Blog

11) Law Professor Blog Award – (TIE) Perhaps it’s a testament to the value of blogging at Osgoode Hall, but both Doorey’s Workplace Law Blog and The Court were big vote getters in our new nomination process. A number of law librarians also commented that these blogs offered content that was worthy of forwarding to practitioners. Case law reviews and commentary may not be glitzy, but if blogging is to hold any kind of stature within academia, these two entries look like the might lead the way. Runner up: University of Alberta Faculty of Law Blog.

And that’s it!  My apologies for glaring omissions or unintended bias. Please be sure you’re on lawblogs.ca to be considered in 2009!

Well it’s that time of the year again! We’re gearing up for another edition of the Canadian Law Blog Awards, a.k.a. the Clawbies, with the final results to be released (like last year) on December 31st.

One thing that will be different this time around is the addition of a nomination process. Being considered for a Clawbie starts with being on our radar, and every blog listed at lawblogs.ca will get a passing look. However, this year we want to let Canadian law bloggers toot their own horn, and in the process, give them a chance to plug their friends. So, here’s the deal…

2008 Nominations

Between now and Friday December 27th, you may nominate a Canadian authored legal blog in one of two possible ways.

1. Simply email your favourite blog (yes, you can nominate your own) with some of your finest 2008 posts or any other notable highlights to Steve Matthews at steve@stemlegal.com.
2. Or method number two, and this is much more fun … write a blog post about three other Canadian law blogs you currently read and tell us why those blogs are important to you. Now, here’s the bonus: in doing so, you are expected to be a humble Canadian and tell us NOTHING about your own blog. In return, your blog will receive a thorough review, as will your suggested peers, AND you get a chance to plug a fellow Canadian blogger!

   Noted: No, we’re not voting like the ABA… but linking out to fellow Canadian legal bloggers adds to our infrastructure, and let’s us share audiences. That way, the process helps everyone, and the award is simply a final recognition.

The categories remain the same as previous years; but please don’t worry about submitting categories. We’ll figure that part out.  Where we would like some help though, is identifying US & European law blogs that pay attention (and link) to Canadian legal blogosphere! So feel free to share your thoughts either via your email nomination or including a link in your nomination blog post.

And that’s it!  Stay tuned & watch out for Clawbies 2008 coming this New Year’s Eve!!

I had a lot of fun producing the 2006 list of my favourite Canadian Law Blogs. And while there’s a long-term plan to produce a full scale awards with nominations & voting – hence the new domain CLawBies.ca – this wasn’t the year to do so.

Once again, I’d like to thank our fun loving award making counterparts down south – namely Dennis Kennedy’s Blawggies, the ABA’s top 100 list, and even Honest Ed’s non-ego boosting “peer review” effort ;) And congratulations to every Canadian law blogger. We’re a community because you take part! Here are my 2nd edition of the CLawBie awards. Enjoy!

1) Best Canadian Law Blog (or Blogger) Award: (TIE) Rob Hyndman – Rob was key to the success of Canada’s Mesh conference. Who else can take a couple months off blogging and sustain the demand for his digital voice? We watch Rob. (TIE) Michael Geist – As many have said before, Geist is a leader on the Canadian copyright front. In 2007, Geist pushed more than 35k facebook members to a copyright group. A copyright group? Ya, no kidding.  Runner up: Slaw (another monster year).
 
2) Best Practitioner Support Blog – Garry Wise – Year-in and year-out, Garry is one committed law blogger. He offers his opinions on almost everything, and if you do a Google search for Toronto lawyer you’ll see how blogging benefits the online exposure of his practice. If you didn’t read his Starting a law firm post back in February, please do. Garry Wise consistently offers great vision to a lot of solos across the country. Runner ups: David Fraser’s Canadian Privacy Law Blog, Hull & Hull’s Toronto Estate Law Blog
 
3) Legal Culture Award – LawisCool.com - This group of Canadian law student bloggers has offered up some great commentary in ’07, and often some of the fastest coverage out there. Not afraid to voice an opinion, and lots of fun! Runner up: Precedent (going from blog to magazine!).

4) My Non-Legal Audience Award again goes to Rob Hyndman – Mesh was an imposing presence on Rob’s life for many months, but I’m sure he’d agree it was a fantastic initiative for driving online relationships. More people know Rob Hyndman in ’07 than they did in ’06. And you can watch his hockey stick popularity go up even further in 2008.

5) Friend of the North Awards – Getting US bloggers to link into Canada is never easy. I’m not entirely sure why, but recognizing those that do freely exchange ideas south-to-north remains important. The web is international and Canadians need to be in the mix. So like last year, I’d like to recognize two bloggers that do so: Jason Eiseman and Doug Cornelius are both deserving of a ‘Friend of the North’ Award for frequently reading, commenting and linking to Canadian Blogs. Thanks guys!

6) EuroCan Connection Awards – By the same notion, European law bloggers (who frequently link into Canada) are also extremely important. Our 2007 euro-blogging friends were Nick Holmes of Infolaw and Lo-Fi librarian. Thanks to both of you! Runner Up: Scott Vine was also in there in ’07, but I gave him an award last year. ;)

7) Practice Management Award – Big movement in this category in 2007. The west-coast trio of Dave Bilinsky, Doug Jasinski, and Allison Wolf are all managing to make some great headway for our Canadian practice management category.

8) Law Librarian Blog Award – (TIE) Michel-Adrien Sheppard’s Library Boy. Michel-Adrien had another outstanding year, but also worthy in ’07 were the efforts of the BC Courthouse Library Society What’s New Blog. At least here in BC, no one monitors things closer and reports quicker than the BCCLS. Runner up: Connie Crosby (Connie’s blog is a must for anyone entertaining aspects of the social web in their library).

9) Best Legal Technology Blog – This is easy & yes I’m biased: Slaw. Sporting a new re-design late in the calendar year, Slaw attracted more readers in 2007, had more comments and trackbacks than ever, and continues to diversify its network of contributors. That all adds up to another fantastic year.

10) Best New Law Blog Award – Osgoode Hall’s The Court was easily the most important new Canadian law blog in 2007.  Spearheaded by Slaw’s Simon Fodden, this group of law student editors is working hard to become the equivalent of the SCOTUS blog in the US.  They’ve now got a full 12 months under their belt, and it’s hard to argue they aren’t.  Runners up: Dave Bilinsky’s Thoughtful Law,  Human Rights in the Workplace, and All About Information.

11) Law Professor Blog Award – University of Alberta Faculty of Law Blog. Like last year, I still feel this category is under represented in Canada, but the new UofA blog was a great addition. This blog is timely and well written. A first class effort!  Runner ups: Jeremy De Beer , Vincent Gautais

I guarantee I’ve missed lots of great Canadian legal voices, and my apologies for glaring omissions. And like last year, check your egos at the door, ’cause blog awards (even these ones!) mean nothing… But they are fun! Make sure you’re on my list for 2008!

First published on the Vancouver Law Librarian Blog on December 29, 2006:

There’s no doubt that Canadian Law blogs were on a roll in 2006. Our online voices have made inroads into the US blogosphere, and we’ve established great connections with European law blogs. So in the spirit of the Blawggies & the Blawg Review awards, here’s my inaugural edition of the CLawBies. Enjoy!

1) Best Canadian Law Blog (or Blogger) Award: Michael Geist – Simply put, Michael Geist is the most influential of Canadian law bloggers. He’s the epitome of a thought leader, and our Canadian equivalent to Lawrence Lessig. And that’s saying something. Runner ups: Rob Hyndman, Simon Chester.

2) Best Practitioner Support Blog – No question on this one. If you track privacy law in Canada, you read David Fraser’s Canadian Privacy Law Blog. David must also be Canada’s most dedicated blogger. His work is as close to exhaustive as a blog can deliver. And did I mention David’s selection as a 2006 Outstanding Young Canadian? Runner ups: eLegal Canton, Alan Gahtan’s Technology and Internet Law Blog

3) Legal Culture Award – Precedent: The New Rules of Law and Style. Melissa Kluger’s mix of law firm issues, fashion advice, and legal news worthy controversy is one of a kind in Canada. The tabloid approach to law blogs may soon be upon us, but we can take comfort that Precedent is doing it right – with class and humour.

4) My Non-Legal Audience Award goes to Rob Hyndman – Law bloggers constantly talk about engaging non-legal audiences, Rob Hyndman does it. The ‘A-list’ Technology bloggers read & comment on Rob’s posts like he’s one of the family. Why? Probably because better than any other Canadian law blogger, Rob understands his blog as a voice. He engages and converses where others simply opine. New law bloggers should take note.

5) Friend of the North Awards – Blogging is international, and keeping the north-south idea flow is important. So I’m recognizing Kevin O’Keefe and Dennis Kennedy with the first ‘Friend of the North’ Awards — given to a US law blogger that actively reads and links to Canadian law blogs.

6) EuroCan Connection Awards – In a similar vein, European law bloggers are also very important to making our Canadian voices heard. Leading the way in 2006, I thought, were these three blogs: Information Overlord, ServiceDoc Info and Markenblog. A big and regular thanks to each of them.

7) Practice Management Award – I didn’t think there was a worthy Canadian in this category, but a new entry is about to add a substantial Canadian voice to this blogging genre. Allison Wolf’s The Lawyer Coach Blog is very new, but very good. So trust me on this one, take her feed, and watch it soar in 2007.

8) Law Librarian Blog Award – Michel-Adrien Sheppard’s Library Boy. Michel-Adrien has had an outstanding year, breaking stories faster than almost everyone. He’s constantly relaying content that Librarians can rely on. Runner ups: BCCLS What’s New Blog, Connie Crosby. (Of note… I’m excluding the VLLB from this and all other Award categories.)

9) Best Legal Technology Blog – I’m biased on this one, but Slaw is world class. From Jordan Furlong’s guest blogging, to the Marshall Rothstein SCC appointment, to the Grey Lit theme week, Slaw is the context behind legal technology. 2006 was a mighty fine year, and I’m proud to be a part.

10) Best New Law Blog Award – Lots of great new Canadian law blogs, and way too tough to call anything but a tie here: Vincent Gautais, Atlanteknology, Precedent, and the Canadian Trademark Blog*. (*Disclosure: While I’ve disqualified the VLLB, the content coming out of the CTB is top notch. So I think this one’s justified, despite my involvement.)

11) Law Professor Blog Award – University of Toronto Law School Faculty Blog. This category is still under represented in Canada, and the UofT blog could bump up their posting frequency, but this initiative is definitely a quality effort. Let’s hope that 2007 will bring out more Canadian law professor blogs! Runner ups: Vincent Gautais, Michael Geist

I know I’ve missed a number of great Canadian voices, and my apologies for any glaring omissions. Plus, this really is all in fun! Make sure you’re on my list for 2007!