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Finally. I was beginning to think that CT lawyers were going to continue to shun the web and the blawgosphere. I just stumbled across this new blog today, creatively titled the Connecticut Criminal Lawyer Blog. Written by a solo, Nicholas Adamucci, the blog has a few informational posts, but nothing “bloggy” yet. Hopefully, he’ll get around to writing blog posts and not just regurgitating statute provisions. Unfortunately, comments are not enabled, so maybe he’ll see the traffic from here.

From a former public defender, now doing something else in the law, entitled flotant.

Two new blogs on the scene: Judgment Day and Exposed. Check ‘em out! Both have been added to the blogroll.

Just wanted to give you guys a heads up that the other blog that I run - Public Defender Stuff - will be hosting Blawg Review for the second time. PD Stuff hosted Blawg Review a year ago, also on MLK day. This year we once again received the honor of hosting it on MLK day, which is Monday.

Blawg Review is a peer-review blog carnival, which essentially highlights worthy posts written in the past week by law bloggers that generally fit within the theme of the host blog and are fit for inclusion.

Blawg Review benefits from the widest possible participation and relies on submissions and recommendations from all law bloggers, and many of our previous hosts continue to be our strongest contributors.

So if you have a post that you think should be featured or have read one that should, go ahead and submit it following the guidelines and procedure. Don’t forget to check in on Monday for edition #143.

It’s holiday meme time. I got tagged by Scott (who appreciates integrity) who was tagged by Carolyn (who appreciates passion) who was… well, you get the picture.

Why a good fight? Because it makes practicing that much more fun. When you’re going up against someone with passion and integrity, you’re going up against someone who knows the law and will advocate strongly for it. It makes you prepare better and makes you feel like you have something invested in the outcome. If you’re invested, you perform better. Can’t imagine any other way of practicing.

So bring it on. Yeah, I’m talking to you. You know who you are.

Now, my turn to tag:

• Karl at Capital Defense Weekly
• Anne Reed at Deliberations
• Malum In Se
• Skelly at Arbitrary and Capricious
• The good folks at Corr. Sentencing (I think they’re lawyers)

The rules are that you have to start a post with “lawyers appreciate…” and then indicate what, exactly, it is that you appreciate.

I tried this a long time ago, but solo projects never work. It’s a good thing, then, that three criminal defense blawgers decided to start the Practical Blawgosphere Wiki. It went live on December 8, but took some time getting running. Go ahead and take a look, add stuff if you want, or just bookmark it and go back to it when its more developed.

The point of the Wiki is to be a free resource for practical blawgers and just anyone in general. The wiki will be on the horizontal nav menu above from now on.

Yeah, I don’t normally talk about these “blawg” awards, but here’s one I can get behind: The Public Defender Blogger Awards. Criminal defense blawgs are usually ignored in the year end blawg-awards, and the unique subset of public defender blogs are ignored further still. So to rectify that, PD Stuff created “The Rodneys” last year (appropriately named for Rodney Dangerfield, who “got no respect”).

With the year coming to an end, the second annual Rodneys are around the corner and the nomination process is underway. If you read some of the same blogs as I do (and I know a few of you do), I encourage you to go over to PD Stuff and take a look at the Rodneys. Perhaps you will discover some wonderful new blogs that you’d like to follow.

For now, they’re accepting nominations of PD blogs in the various categories and voting starts next week. I’ll link to the voting when it starts and I will keep reminding you folks to vote.

So here are the categories thus far:

Nomination Threads:

• Best New PD Blog
• Best Blog by a Female PD
• Best Blog by a Male PD
• Best Blog by a PD that has nothing to do with the job
• Best Blog by a PD that deals with the law

Give it a look and if you like it, spread the word!

This is my blog. It is a personal blog. I write mainly about criminal law, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is a personal blog. I own the blog, I pay for it. I will rant; I will scream and yell if I feel like it. I do not have to be rational or logical or correct. Please read the legal disclaimer/privacy policy if you’re unsure of anything.

I also recognize that I can be wrong. Very often. Which is why, unlike some other blogs, comments are always open and I rarely, if ever, delete comments.  You’re free to disagree with me and more often than not I will respond in the comments.

This is not directed at any one individual in particular, I just thought it prudent to remind my readers in light of the sensitive and controversial topics that have been covered here over the past few months.

If you’d like a fair and balanced news report, try these sites.

Thank you for reading and I hope you continue to do so.

Yes, this was a rant.

If you’re a public defender in New Orleans or know a public defender in New Orleans, you’re wanted! Kevin Davis, author of “Defending the Damned” and guest on Monday Musings at Public Defender Stuff is looking to get in touch with public defenders in New Orleans.

He explains:

The reason I’m writing is to find out whether you, readers or contributors to the many PD blogs can put me in touch with public defenders in New Orleans. I am considering writing a major magazine piece about how that office is being re-vitalized and how the changes are working.

I’d like to get in contact with both new and veteran public defenders in New Orleans. My goal is to develop a story about the recent changes in the indigent defense system and to speak openly and frankly with public defenders about their work. I understand there’s been a lot of attorneys who have wanted to get jobs in New Orleans to help rebuild a broken and long under-funded system.

You can contact Kevin via his website linked to above or by sending him an e-mail at kevdav [at] sbcglobal [dot] net.

Blawg Review started this meme of the Top 10 blogs, tagging, in part, Deliberations. Anne, in turn, was kind enough to tag me and asked that it be continued. So here’s my list of 10 blogs that are currently my favorites:

• Eyewitness Identification Reform Blog
• Grits for Breakfast
• Woman in Black
• Sex Crimes
• Odd Time Signatures
• Audacity
• Windypundit
• Malum In Se
• Sentencing Law and Policy
• Appellate Law and Practice

I’ve excluded those that were tagged by Anne (SJ, Bennett, CDW, Jamie) and others like Skelly who where also tagged.

Through the comments to yesterday’s post, I stumbled across a new blog authored by a criminal defense attorney in Arkansas. Check it out.

There’s a new CT blog on the scene and for those of you in employment law, it is your lucky day. The Connecticut Employment Law Blog is written by Daniel Schwartz of Epstein, Becker & Green. It looks pretty darn snazzy. I’ve added it to the CT blogroll.

So you decided to create a blawg. You’re a lawyer - maybe even a “practical blawger” - and you want readership. Well, what should you do? Mark Bennett has some tips and asks others to weigh in.

I’ve never written one of these posts and I figure I still don’t know enough to dispense sage advice. That’s never stopped me before, though, so here goes:

1. Identify your material - What are you going to blog about? Have three or four topics in mind. Are you going to blog about legal decisions from your jurisdiction? Are you going to comment on national legal stories? Are you going to dispense advice to other lawyers? Are you going to wax philosophical? You can do all of the above via one blog, but you have to know that’s what you want to do.

2. Link, link, link - For the most part, the topics you post about are not going to be original - especially if you’re blogging about national stories. Link to other bloggers similar to you that are also posting about that. Their readership is your readership. Make use of trackbacks and pingbacks. That lets other bloggers know that you’ve cited their post and their readers know that you’ve got something to offer on the same topic.

3. Enable trackbacks/pingbacks - The flip side of #2. If someone links to you in their post, they will send a trackback. You want that trackback. It’s an acknowledgment and common courtesy. The other person knows that you received their trackback, but will also know if you don’t accept it. They’re offering a hand; you’re slamming the door in their face.

4. Comment on others’ blogs - The best way to get yourself out there. Don’t comment and leave a link to your blog (unless it’s part of the substance of your comment and you’ve explained your position in detail on your blog). Comment on the substance of the post. It might get repetitive, sure, but after all, you’re blogging to engage in a discussion.

5. Reply to comments - I’ve always made it a point to reply to comments (as much as I can) on my blog. It generates a reader-base and lets them know you’re involved in the blog and are genuinely interested in a discussion. Also, don’t moderate comments for reasons other than spam. If you’re using WordPress and Akismet, you have no reason to moderate comments once the spam filter gets going. People know when you moderate comments and don’t post theirs.

6. Pick a name and stick with it - Your name will forever be attached to you in the blogosphere. If you’re posting anonymously, make sure it’s catchy (like Gideon - thanks Mike ). Pick a catchy blog title, too.

7. Blogrolls - Very, very important. Link to other blogs; link to many other blogs. If a few blogs reference each other all the time, link to all the blogs. Link to blogs that interest you and you think would interest your readers. Don’t wait for them to link back to you - some may not, some will eventually.

8. Cite your sources - Another important point. If you read two blog posts that talk about the same topic and reading them makes you want to post about that topic, credit both blogs. Don’t leave one out.

9. Design - A few people overlook this aspect (Sorry Shawn, but that white on black has got to go), but you shouldn’t. It’s imperative that people that come to your blog find it appealing and easy to read. You don’t want them distracted by non-essential things. Make it easy to read and easy to comment.

10. Be nice to people

For more tips, see Sui Generis, C & F, Legal Underground.

There’s a new criminal law blawg on the scene: Of Counsel. Written by “Maggie”: a former public defender now engaged in private practice.

Describing her motivations, she writes:

I’ve been lurking around the Criminal Law blogs for some time now, and I’ve finally decided to go ahead and throw my hat in. I’m doing this for a few reasons, but mostly to do my best to keep up to date with appellate rulings. In my former days as a Public Defender, it was virtually impossible for me to find the time to keep up with rulings. So I see these reviews as a service of sorts to my many PD friends still out there toiling away thanklessly. (Hopefully not completely thanklessly. During my own time in the public sector I got one thank you card from the mother of a client who’d always been rather rude and a variety of letters from inmates which mostly said, “You have a nice smile.”)

Ideally, I’d like to add other Southern states to the roundup, and would be welcome to add other contributors who wouldn’t mind helping out. I’ll try and figure out how to throw in other rulings of note. But I do feel that particularly public criminal defense in the South is having a rough time of it these days and needs more visibility. I’ll certainly be checking in on the new PD system in New Orleans and the ongoing funding issues for PD’s in Georgia.

Go say hello! The blog’s been added to the blogroll.

It has come to my attention that on individual post pages the left sidebar gets pushed below the main content area, which sort of moves to the left. This is a problem that occurs only in IE 6.0. I have tested the site using Firefox, Opera and IE 7.0 and this problem does not occur. My apologies to those using IE 6.0. I will try and get it fixed soon. If anyone has any ideas on how to fix it, please let me know!