“It was twenty years ago today…”
Where were you in December 2006? Were you listening to speeches from Prime Minister Paul Martin or US President George W. Bush? Just returned from seeing Borat in theatres, listening to Eve Avila or were excited when Justin Timberlake’s ‘SexyBack’ came on the car radio?
It’s possible you might have just joined a new online platform that had recently changed its name from “Twttr.” But you weren’t scrolling through it on your iPhone, because Steve Jobs was still a month away from unveiling that device. Legal technology trends of the day included VoIP, RSS, and Web 2.0.
Perhaps the surest sign that you were a lawyer on the cutting edge was that you were reading the Vancouver Law Librarian Blog, written by Steve Matthews, the Knowledge Services Director at Clark Wilson LLP in Vancouver. Steve was six months away from launching Stem Legal Web Enterprises, his legal publishing and web consultancy.
But in December 2006, Steve was one of a literal handful of Canadian legal professionals to embrace blogging, and sooner than most, he could see the potential of this new platform for promoting legal professionals and creating online communities. And even while legal blogging was growing rapidly, there wasn’t much that was definitively Canadian about it. Almost no recognition for the Canadian pioneers of this new communication form.
And so, almost two years to the day after his own first blog post, Steve published the very first “Canadian Law Blog Awards,” immediately nicknamed the “Clawbies” (in homage to the US-based “Blawggies” and “Blawg Review”). Most of the inaugural winners can now all be found in the Clawbies Hall of Fame: Connie Crosby, Michael Geist, David Fraser, Alison Wolf, and Michel-Adrien Sheppard. And a tradition was born.
Twenty years later, so much has changed. Blogs peaked in the mid-2010s, then plateaued and settled into a graceful decline as Twitter, Facebook, and other social media monoliths took most of the oxygen out of online legal commentary. Large law firms discovered blogging, and while the subsequent explosion of content was mostly welcome, it did feel like something was lost in the migration from individual personalities to corporate LegalSpeak.
Today, the universe of online legal content is so much larger and more diversified than it was when the first Clawbies were handed out. Blogs were joined by social media accounts, podcasts, video blogs (remember “vlogs”?), online newsletter platforms, and even TikTok accounts. Year after year, the Clawbies kept up, adding new categories, sleuthing new voices, and encouraging legal professionals to step out into the spotlight.
In such a diverse and increasingly cacophonous environment for online legal publishing, is there a need anymore for an awards program that highlights the best such publishing in Canada? Probably. But at this, our 20-year mark, it may be time to pause and to take stock of the future.
But we do know this: No matter who you are, turning 20 is a cause for celebration! And so we’re proud and excited to announce the 20th Annual Clawbie Awards! And this year, we’re throwing the doors wide open!
Today, December 1st, we’re seeking nominations for our annual awards seeking the best, most original, and most influential Canadian legal content on the Web. That includes:
- Blogs;
- Newsletters;
- Podcasts;
- Videos, and
- Social Media Accounts
But this year, there are no limits on nominees — every great Canadian law blog listed in the Clawbies Hall of Fame is also eligible for nomination! Even classic Canadian law blogs that are no longer active — give them a shout-out! This is a blow-out bash, and we want to invite everyone!
And this is where you come in, faithful Clawbie community! Nominate your own favourite candidates in all these categories, and spread the word among your colleagues and friends that the 20th-anniversary Clawbies — presented, as always, on New Year’s Eve — will be a party for the ages!
Eligibility
The Clawbies celebrate free online Canadian legal content: blogs, podcasts, videos, social accounts, legal newsletters, platform commentary, CanLII Connects, white papers, and more.
Participation
While we always review everyone listed at Lawblogs.ca, we also need you, the Clawbie community, to bring to our attention the most helpful, engaging, and informative Canadian legal content — especially newer publications in their first or second year.
On LinkedIn or BlueSky, we’re still tracking the classic hashtag #clawbies2025 — be sure to include it in your nominations.
Rules
We’re nothing if not consistent! We have the same two rules every year:
#1 “The Humble Canadian”: Please don’t nominate your own publication or project for a Clawbie. The only reliable way to bring your work to our attention is to nominate other candidates — follow this rule, and we’ll take a look at your work too!
#2 “Three and Free”: Nominate up to three digital publications or authors (remember to use the #clawbies2024 hashtag) that are freely available, at no monetary cost. Include a brief explanation of why you think those publications deserve an award.
Nominations will be accepted until the end of day on Monday, December 15th, 2025. Then stay tuned for the big reveal on New Year’s Eve.
Make this one for the record books, folks! It’s the biggest Clawbies part of them all — fill out your invitations today!
