Published on December 7, 2010 by Donna Seale
It’s December and that means not only is Christmas around the corner for those of us who celebrate but it’s also Clawbies nomination time! For the uninitiated, the Clawbies (aka the Canadian Law Blog Awards) is the brain-child of Steve Matthews, and is essentially a fun way to recognize bloggers in the Canadian legal industry.
Because this has been a very difficult year for me personally, I haven’t had much time to dedicate to writing on my blog or to reading the blogs of others. But, whenever I did find myself with a little extra time to scour my RSS feeds (or when I was looking for a distraction from what was happening personally!), there were a few blogs I always managed to find my way to:
- Lisa Stam’s Employment and Human Rights Law in Canada. Although Lisa is currently on maternity leave and has understandably stepped away from blogging while she juggles caring for a newborn and a two year old, prior to her hiatus I always found something of interest to read on her blog. She writes extremely well and, as you can probably figure out from the name of her blog, on issues that are near and dear to my heart. I consider Lisa a kindred spirit since there still aren’t a lot of female lawyers in Canada who are solo authors of their own blogs. I know she started her blog at the end of 2009, but if I had my choice I would award her with Best New Law Blog for 2010 as it was during this year that she hit her stride;
- Although First Reference Talks is a blog that bills itself as a forum for anyone to express their views on human resources and internal controls issues in Canada, more often than not I am finding myself drawn to it as a key source for up-to-date discussions of issues in the labour, employment and human rights law arena. It’s also a blog that has a multitude of contributing writers. While, in my view, Slaw is and always will be the first best Canadian Law Blog, based on what I do for a living First Reference Talks is my second “best”;
- Doorey’s Workplace Law Blog is written by David Doorey, a Professor of Labour and Employment Law at York University. David’s blog has been on my Clawbies nomination list since he first started blogging in 2008. Not only does he write timely posts on issues that often have human rights law components to them but he also says what he thinks — something I find refreshing — as many law blogs (not just in Canada) lack that personal [dare I say human?] touch. He gets my vote for the Law Professor Blog Award.
OK……. I am pausing here because we bloggers have been asked to limit ourselves to 3 nominations for the Clawbies if we do it via blog post. But, as the spirit of the Clawbies is to recognize other Canadian legal bloggers, I’m going to forge on and let you know about some other blogs I think are worthy of consideration:
- While he may not blog about an area of the law that I practice in, Erik Magraken’s BC Injury Law and ICBC Claims Blog is a great example of what a lawyer can do to enhance his exposure to the public (and, well, to a lawyer working from small town Manitoba!). Erik and I started our blogs around the same time and so I have always kept an eye on what he is up to. He not only keeps his blog readers constantly updated on the law in his practice area but he sets the standard, in my view, of a lawyer who truly ‘gets’ what engaging in social media is all about.
- If I’m looking for a fix of posts on not just legal developments in Canada but also quirky current affairs, I turn to no other than Garry Wise at Wise Law Blog. I find Garry’s blog interesting and entertaining — not an easy combination for a lawyer!
- A recent find for me but a most welcome one is Greg Gowe’s Labour & Employment Law Blog. Greg describes the focus of his blog as “a convenient vehicle to track Canadian (and sometimes US) labour and employment law issues, developments and cases”. It is definitely a convenient source of information for me.
- Always on my list of ‘favorites’ is Dan Michaluk’s All About Information blog. While Dan brands his blog as one primarily addressing the law on privacy and access to information, he also quite frequently discusses human rights law issues and so I’m always checking in to see what he’s writing about.
- The Manitoba connection between me and the writers of this blog got me to notice it initially, but the unique and varied content keeps me coming back. I’d give the Law Librarian Blog Award to Library Technician Dialogue.
- Even though this blog targets Ontario lawyers, there is no good reason why any Canadian lawyer would avoid reading the Avoid a Claim blog. Great articles on risk management and claims prevention. Add to that David Bilinsky’s Thoughtful Legal Management which has been the leading source on practice management information for Canadian lawyers for some time now and I consider myself a pretty well informed gal on how to stay the claims-free lawyer I like to be.
- Now I know he’s taken himself out of the running for a Clawbie given his involvement in choosing the winners, but whenever I want to know what I need to do to keep up to speed with changes impacting my profession (or what lawyers should do to keep up with the changes happening outside of the profession) I turn to Jordan Furlong’s Law 21.
I urge you to take a gander at these blogs and see for yourself the great content being produced by the Canadian legal bloggers I follow. But, don’t stop there. There are plenty more Canadian law blogs to read (2010 has seen a huge influx of new bloggers) and you can find them all listed at the newly revamped lawblogs.ca.
Stay tuned in the early New Year when I’ll be posting about the Clawbies “winners”!
Related posts:
- My Clawbies nominations for 2011
- And the CLawBies go to…..
- New search engines added to Human Rights in the Workplace
Donna, thank you very much for the compliment. I broke Steve’s rules as well in the spirit of the Clawbies. Thanks again!nnYours truly,nnErik Magraken
Thanks so much for the nomination Donna! Glad to know there’s more than just me and Brenda reading it!
Best of luck, Karen!
Hopefully Steve doesn’t disqualify us!! Hope to see you win a Clawbie!