Last week, we lost a member of the “Blawg” community, someone who touched a number of lives and was responsible for making the Law Blog community feel a little more like a community: Ed. of Blawg Review. His son posted from his Twitter Account (@BlawgReview) that Ed had lost his battle with esophageal cancer.

It’s hard to explain to people who weren’t part of the early days of blogging/blawging, or who never had the pleasure of working with or meeting Ed, but I never even knew his real name and I’ll still miss him. I’d met him on several occasions in person and I always called him “Ed” which may or may not have been his real name–he went by the moniker “Ed Post” in his role as Blawg Review editor. But oddly, it didn’t matter. It was never about Ed. He always seemed to be working for the community, not working to promote himself. He was deliberate in taking himself out of the picture, which was ironic, because without Ed’s influence, the picture would have been monotone.

I really enjoyed conversations with Ed about law and life as he stopped by Chicago from his extensive travels. Seriously, talk about a road warrior–he was a walking ExOfficio ad. Ed made me think a lot about the role of attorneys in serving our clients, about how I approached the practice of law, and about communication and community among members of our profession.

Without waxing too nostalgic, the early days of Blawging did feel more like a community than they do today. Perhaps that’s because then, I was a law student, not yet a lawyer, so I had more time to participate without the pressures of work (or a mortgage or children, all of which I’ve acquired since those early days). But it felt like a community because people like Ed, and the Blawg Review Sherpas, worked to make it one. There are still great blawgers out there (many below) working to keep that community, and I think that would make Ed happy.

I had the pleasure of working with Ed. on seven Blawg Review issues:

• Blawg Review #23
• Blawg Review #70
• Blawg Review #122
• Blawg Review #182
• Blawg Review #270
• Blawg Review #291
• Blawg Review #321

Everyone of them was fun and could not have been done without Ed’s guidance and the help of the Sherpas. And over the years, those Sherpas have given me other advice outside the realm of Blawg Review. Exemplary members of our profession, every one.

Blawg Review hadn’t been active in quite some time, but I still looked forward to the next time Ed came to Chicago.

In honor of Ed and his creation, several Bloggers have put together one final Blawg Review, and I can’t think of a better way to honor Ed than to read them.

Colin Samuels kicks things off at the Blawg Review site. Followed by:

• Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice
• Mark Bennett at Defending People
• Antonin Pri­betic at The Trial Warrior
• Brian Tannebaum at My Law License
• Ken White at Popehat
• Eric Turkewitz at the New York Personal Injury Law Blog
• George Wallace at Delcarations and Exclusions
• Gideon at A Public Defender
• Ron Coleman at Likelihood of Confusion
• Charon QC at UK Law Blog
• Colin Samuels at Infamy or Praise

And finally, here’s a pic from Windy Pundit of a blawg meetup in Chicago many years ago. I’m the grinning doofus on the far left, and in typical fashion, Ed is tucked in the back, hiding his face–even though he was the reason most of us were there.

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As Ed required, every week: Blawg Review has information about all the Blawg Review hosts, and instructions on how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

Blawg Review #291: The Sua Sponte Thanksgiving Edition

Ed. had asked me last about the possibility of hosting Blawg Review today, and I had indicated that I would, but since I would be traveling this weekend, that it would be a little more, um, low-key than some of my previous efforts.

Ed., being the kind soul that he is, decided that he didn’t want to burden me with the responsibility while on the road. And so, I thought he had been able to find someone else to host today. Imagine my surprise when I saw his tweet about lacking a host.

So I’ve decided to delay my travels a bit this morning to answer his call for a “sua sponte” edition. (I’m driving, so I have a *little* flexibility, and no groping. At least by the TSA.) So, here it is: your November 22, 2010 Blawg Review. Dave! Style, with an emphasis on Dave! and a little short on the style:

With Thanksgiving approaching fast, I thought I would take the time to focus the Blawg Review on lawyers I’m thankful for. Our is a profession that is often lambasted and subject to ridicule because of those members of the bar who are, well, lesser. It’s easy to take pot-shots at the worst of our profession and there are a number of blawgers out there doing just that. Some do it humorously, some do it viciously. But it’s rare (to me at least) to see lawyers celebrating good lawyers. And there are good lawyers. Let’s be thankful for them this week.

First up, I’m thankful for one of the most well-known lawyers of our history: Abraham Lincoln. I first encountered his famous “blog post” entitled “Notes for a Lecture on Law” when I was a law student. It was read during a guest lecture by Thomas Fitzgerald, Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court (Ret.). I was incredibly moved by Lincoln’s words, and I try to live by them everyday in my practice. I’m thankful that Justice Fitzgerald shared them with us, and I’m thankful that the folks at Harris-Greenwell have them posted, along with some pics of the original in Lincoln’s hand, so you can see not only the incredible text, but get some insight into Lincoln’s thought and writing process.

Thinking back to Law School, I’m also thankful for the sort-of-weekly which is occasionally hosted by Evan Schaeffer and Thanks, But No Thanks. The Law School Roundup makes me thankful that there are law students out there who are not all self-entitled income seekers, and that there are people in law school today who are entering our profession to do some good–be it in public service or in the service of individuals. Reading student blawgs can be a great antidote to some of the cynics in or of our profession.

As a repeat host of Blawg Review, I’d be remise if I wasn’t also thankful for the Blawg Review sherpas who have helped shape my Blawg Review’s past with their numerous and insightful submissions. In addition to many others, I don’t think I could have done it without the assistance from Colin Samuels at Infamy or Praise who now puts together A Round Tuit or Victoria Pynchon who writes the The IP ADR Blog and The Negotiation Law Blog.

Speaking of lawyers helping other lawyers, there are countless blawgs out there who follow changes and happenings in their particular area of law or in a particular jurisdiction. I’d love to name them all here, but I simply can’t. However, since I drove through the “Crossroads of America” (Or as we Hoosiers call it, Indiana) yesterday, I thought I’d give a shout out to The Indiana Law Blog where Marcia Oddi does a fantastic job recapping news, cases, and developments in Indiana law. I’d be willing to bet there’s at least one blogger in your jurisdiction, in your practice area, doing the same thing. Find them. Support them. Post them here in the comments!

I’m also thankful of the folks in our profession who do the really hard stuff that I don’t have the constitution for (no pun intended). I’m speaking mostly of the Criminal Law folks like those working for Georgia Criminal Appeal Law Firm, who are again, to numerous to name in the limited time I’ve got. Some of them are gruff, some of them cultivate an “asshole” image in their on-line personas, but they all do something day-in and day-out that is vital to our lives: prosecutors work to protect our safety and defense attorney’s protect our liberties. So, why not highlight someone who’s not only been at both tables in the courtroom, but is also funny as hell? Here’s a thankful shout out to Ken Lammers who I’ve read since law school.

I don’t practice criminal law. I practice IP. And in that area, I’m particularly thankful that in my home town of Chicago, we have some great IP attorneys who also happen to be great people. If you’re ever in the Windy City for a conference or just passing through, you should try meet up with Kevin Thompson who writes Cyberlaw Central,
David Donoghue of the Chicago IP Litigation Blog or
Evan Brown of Internet Cases. All of them contribute to the IP community in Chicago and all good guys to grab a beer with.

As a solo practitioner, I’m also thankful for Carolyn Elefant and Susan Cartier Liebel. Carolyn writes over at My Shingle (among other places) and is, in my mind, the indisputable queen of solos. She provides so many resources and so much encouragement to those of us on our own in this profession that she deserves all the praise she gets. Susan is another outstanding supporter of solos, and her Solo Practice University is a fantastic resource for those just getting started in solo practice.

Finally, I’d like to take a moment to thank Ed. for Blawg Review. I’ve been reading (and contributing as a host) to Blawg Review for many years and I think it’s a fantastic resource for attorneys everywhere. There are so many wonderful blogs written by dedicated attorneys who take the time out of their busy days to write about topics that are important to them, topics to educate others, or even to merely vent and commiserate. In the deluge of information available, it can be really difficult to find all the good stuff, and Blawg Review helps shine a light on some of the gems out there that I might have missed otherwise.

Putting Blawg Review together is fun as a host, but sweating the details: arranging for hosts week after week, helping with topic ideas, submissions, and feedback once an edition is up must be grueling. But Ed. has never been anything but encouraging and gracious to me, and for that, I’m also thankful.

So, on that note, I encourage anyone reading this hastily dashed off, sua sponte version of Blawg Review to please leave a comment, highlighting one of your fellow attorneys that you are thankful for and why. I don’t have the time to do a fancy or theme based design for this edition, but I think that’s OK, and I’d love for anyone out there to share some good about our profession for this week. How about building a Thanksgiving Blawg Review together? Everyone bring a blawg for the feast, and enjoy!

And don’t forget, Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.