I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for a clever pun or play on words.  Among legal blogs, there’s been a minor run on clever names lately, with several new blogs carrying clever turns of phrases as their names.

Clever names are nothing new for legal blogs, of course. I think one of the oldest legal blogs out there, Ernest Svenson’s Ernie the Attorney, still has the catchiest blawg name ever. But I wonder whether, in an industry ever-more crowded with blogs, lawyers and firms are trying ever harder to come up with titles that turn a phrase, all in the interest of enhancing audience appeal.

Here are some examples of recently launched blawgs with names that I think are clever. If you know of others, by all means add them in the comments below.

No doubt, some SEO pro will protest that clever names carry an SEO downside. After all, a Google search for “business lawyer Atlanta” will favor the “Atlanta Business Lawyer Blog” (if there is such a thing) over the Legal Divas Blog. But a good name can raise a blog’s profile in other ways — and as its profile is raised, so its traffic will increase. Over the longer term, the clever name may be more effective in drawing readers than the SEO-optimized name (provided, of course, the cleverly named blog’s content is any good).

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.