I truly hate these things. The anonymous editor of Blawg Review (who I don’t hate) has started a meme he calls Simply the Best. He’s tagged his top 10 law blogs; each of them, in turn, is supposed to tag theirs, and so on, until we end up with one great big group hug. I’ve now been tagged — by both J. Craig Williams and Monica Bay — and had to think long and hard before joining in. (Legal Blog Watch, where I co-blog with Carolyn Elefant, has also been tagged.

Here’s the problem: My feedreader tells me that I subscribe to the RSS feeds of roughly 350 blogs. Those are the ones I at least scan on a regular basis. Almost every day, it seems, I discover yet another blog that I like. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of really good blogs out there. To pick 10 from among them is somewhat arbitrary and certainly capricious.

Then again, it is a question I am frequently asked when I give seminars — not my top 10, necessarily, but which blogs I consider to be among the best. There are a few I regularly point to, so let’s see if I can keep it to 10. (Since they tagged me already, I am omitting Williams and Bay so as not to appear biased; they’d otherwise be here.). In no particular order, they are:

  • SCOTUSblog. I regularly cite this as the best demonstration of blogging’s potential as a legitimate source of news and commentary.
  • beSpacific. Sabrina Pacifici knows her topic, knows her audience and knows her sources, allowing her to deliver day in and day out.
  • MyShingle.com. Anyone who thinks I choose Carolyn Elefant just because she’s my co-blogger at Legal Blog Watch would be way wrong. Carolyn saw a need way back when for a blog that spoke to solo and small-firm lawyers, and she ran with it.
  • LawBeat. Mark Obbie has staked out a blogging niche at the intersection of law and journalism, where he never writes a dull post.
  • Real Lawyers Have Blogs. Kevin O’Keefe watches over trends in legal blogging with a combination of insight and attitude.
  • f/k/a …. Some bloggers shoot from the hip, but never David Giacalone — his posts are always thoughtful and, like the poet he is, he finds universal truths in daily events.
  • Legal Profession Blog. The stories reported here of ethical and professional misconduct never cease to amaze me.
  • Overlawyered. Rarely do I see eye-to-eye with authors Walter Olson and Ted Frank, but darned if they don’t write one interesting blog.
  • TalkLeft. Jeralyn Merritt keeps fighting the good fight against criminal and political injustice.
  • How Appealing. Howard Bashman is the Energizer Bunny of legal blogging.

There. It was painful but I did it. Happy now, Blawg Review ed.?

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.