Dennis Kennedy's 2011 Blawggie Awards

Dennis Kennedy's annual Blawggie Awards have been around since December 2004. Ah, the good old days when blogging was "hot" as those of us who have been toiling in the law-related blogosphere for so damn long remember. About the 2011 awards, Dennis writes

I’m very pleased that this eighth edition of the awards makes them the longest running annual awards list for law-related blogs selected by a lawyer named Dennis Kennedy living in St. Louis, Missouri – just a crazy idea that has turned into a bit of an institution in the world of law-related blogging.

Got to love someone who doesn't take any of this too seriously. The Blawggie Awards are not a popularity-driven contest. The awards are based on blogs Dennis actually reads. Here they are:

2011 Blawggie Award Categories and Winners

Best Overall Law-Related Blog – Adam Smith, Esq.

The “Marty Schwimmer” Best Practice-Specific Legal Blog – Ken Adams’s The Koncise Drafter

Best Law Practice Management Blog – Law21.ca

Best Legal Blog Category – Law Librarian Blogs

The “Kennedy-Mighell Report” Best Legal Podcast – The Unbillable Hour Podcast

The “Sherry Fowler” Best Writing on a Blawg Award – Tie, Tom Mighell and Allison Shields

Best Law Professor Blog – Tie: Paul Caron’s The TaxProf Blog and Jim Maul’s Mauled Again

The “DennisKennedy.Blog” Best Legal Technology Blog – Ron Friedmann’s Strategic Legal Technology

Once again the best legal blog category was awarded to law librarian blogs. Dennis explains:

I use this category to highlight the blogs written by law librarians, a category that I don’t think gets enough attention. These blogs are places to find great information, help for finding information, links to great resources and just plain interesting insights into topics like knowledge management and our changing world of information.

Thanks for that. Dennis links to this list of law librarian-law library blogs. Well, OK, he also writes

If you want to try just one, Sabrina Pacifici’s BeSpacific Blog provides a steady stream of links to great US government information. The Law Librarian Blog is a great starting place [link omitted because you happen to be reading that blog right now].

And then he links to the law librarian-law library blogs list that was initiated by Bonnie Shucha way back in the dark ages.

About the once traditional "Best New Blog" award category, Dennis writes

I simply do not have a winner of the best new blawg category. This probably reflects the great movement away from blogging to social media by distinct individual voices, as well as the continuing emphasis on niche, practice-oriented group blogs by law firms. If you aren’t in the audience for the topic area, you likely won’t follow the blog. I’m sad that I don’t have a winner, but invite you to mention your favorite blawg started in 2011 in the comments. And I’ll make a special effort to track down some new blawgs in 2012.

For much more on Kennedy's trend spotting analysis of the movement away from blogs to other social media platforms, check out his 2010 Blawggies and 2009 Blawggies award posts; see also LLB's Dennis Kennedy's 2010 Blawggies.

But first, check out his 2011 Blawggie Awards post. Highly recommended for the insights provided by a senior member of the law blogosphere. See also today's post about law blogs followed by a junior member of the law blogosphere, Legal Blog Watch blogger Bruce Carton's 10 "go-to" law blogs in 2011. [JH]