Robert Ambrogi Blog
I am thrilled to announce a new awards competition for legal blogs — not because the world needs another contest, but because this one aims to do something different, to celebrate excellence in blog writing and spotlight the authors who make legal blogging so vital and essential.
The entry period is now open for the inaugural LexBlog Excellence Awards, designed to honor exemplary writing on legal blogs. Unlike other “best blog” awards, ours are not focused on the blog as a whole, but rather are intended to recognize individual blog posts. We want to celebrate and recognize great writing on legal blogs by shining a spotlight on the best examples.
Some Background
Having spent much of my career in journalism, I value good writing. In December 2017, I joined LexBlog as publisher and editor-in-chief, with the plan of building a global legal news and commentary network built entirely of legal blogs. In April 2018, we opened participation in that network to any legal blogger, without cost and without regard to whether the blog is hosted on the LexBlog platform. We now have posts flowing through our network from over 23,000 active bloggers.
For me, this project has driven home the essential role of blogs within the legal profession. As traditional media sources of legal news, insights and analysis have evaporated, blogs have filled the void. Name any topic of law, aspect of practice, or jurisdiction, and someone is sure to be blogging about it. That is why we have devoted LexBlog.com to helping to organize all this great blog content and making it more accessible to readers.
The more I’ve followed this network of legal blogs, the more I have appreciated the thought and effort that many bloggers put into their work. Within the LexBlog network are lawyers, law professors, law librarians, technologists, consultants and even vendors who are publishing blogs that consistently include posts of exemplary quality. Are there also lawyers who publish spammy SEO blogs? Sure, but we do not include them in the network.
The LexBlog Excellence Awards
To highlight and celebrate this great writing and effort, we will present awards honoring outstanding posts in six categories. Posts can generally relate to any subject or area, provided they relate to the practice or theory of law. The six categories are:
- Best News or Trend Analysis: For outstanding analysis of legal news, developments or trends.
- Best Legal Analysis: For outstanding analysis and explication of a judicial opinion, legislative development or regulatory development.
- Best Breaking News Post: For outstanding same-day or second-day reporting of a legal news development.
- Best Explanatory Post: For outstanding writing in helping the reader comprehend the impact or significance of a legal story, development or trend.
- Best ‘How-To’ Post: For outstanding writing in helping the reader understand how to handle a legal matter or issue.
- Best Commentary/Advice for Legal Professionals: For outstanding writing offering commentary or advice for legal professionals on the business or practice of law.
You can nominate a post that you have written or nominate someone else’s post.
To enter, fill out the form at this page.
Because our purpose is to celebrate the great writing on the blogs that are members of the LexBlog network, a blog must be a member of the network to enter. However, there is no cost or obligation to join the network and it takes only seconds to do. Joining simply means that you allow LexBlog to include your blog’s feed in the thousands of blogs we aggregate and curate.
If you do not know if your blog is already a member, you have two options. Go ahead and enter, and if you are not a member, we’ll follow up. Or fill out the membership form and add your blog first.
Deadlines and Judging
The nomination process is now open and all that is required to enter is to complete a simple form that you can find here.
The deadline for entries is Nov. 1, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.
Winners will be selected by a panel of volunteer judges composed of lawyers, journalists, legal writing instructors and others. We will announce the members of the judging panel at a later date.
Winners will be announced on Dec. 9, 2019.
And what do you get if you win? Well, fame and glory. We will feature the winning entries in a special section of LexBlog.com and provide each winner with an award icon to display on their blog.
I look forward to seeing your entries.