Results from the 2009 Canadian Law Blog Awards (CLawBies) are in, and Law is Cool and Slaw are both winners:

1) Best Canadian Law Blog (or Blogger) Award: Slaw – As most readers will already know, Slaw is not only a huge presence on the Canadian law blog scene, but it’s also a testament to the innovative and creative vision of Simon Fodden. It’s often hard to see how Slaw could get better, but it did in 2009. Want proof? See this year’s guest blogging initiatives, which included major law firms, provincial ombudsmen from across Canada, plus five Justices from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Add a DK Blawggies recognition, and we have a winner!  Runner ups: Canadian Privacy Law Blog, Wise Law Blog

…

3) Legal Culture Award – Law is Cool – Two of the fastest rising stars in Canadian legal blogging just happen to be law students. Lawrence Gridin and Omar Ha-Redeye lead an impressive group of contributors at Law is Cool, and are seeding the queue with more law student bloggers for the future. Bravo! Culture doesn’t happen without a little sweat equity.  Runner ups: Precedent, Dynamic Lawyers Parody Videos

A special thanks to those who gave a special mention to me (although I freely lend my authority to the other sites I’m affiliated with instead):

Antonin Pribetic – My Nominees for the 2009 Canadian Law Blog Awards (the “CLawBies”)

Omar Ha-Redeye Blog: http://www.omarha-redeye.com/): Omar Ha-Redeye is a J.D. candidate at the University of Western Law School and a leading light in the Canadian blawging community.  His publications include scientific journals, trade magazines, and contributions to university textbooks. Ha-Redeye has served as a Senior Administrator for a tsunami relief team that operated in rural Aceh, Indonesia and consulted NGO’s and businesses on crisis communications. He has taken the lead in the field of reputation management law. A frequent contributor to Slaw.ca and Law Is Cool, I admire Omar’s dedication to law, justice and human rights.

Donna Seale – My Picks for the 2009 CLawBies

3. My last pick is Slaw.  Slaw is a co-operative weblog covering pretty much anything that has a connection to Canadian law and it does that in spades.  Since I started following this blog a few years ago it has grown leaps and bounds and now has so many contributors I’ve lost count.  In fact, it has grown so much that I sometimes find it hard to keep up with the blog’s multitude of posts, but I always find something in my feedreader from Slaw that is of interest and use to me.  I do have to admit, though, that because of the sheer volume of content coming from Slaw I have taken to scouting out posts from particular Slaw contributers — David Bilinsky, Dan Michaluk, Steve Matthews, Jordan Furlong, Omar Ha-Redeye always top my list because they produce content I find personally relevant.

Connie Crosby - My nominations for the Clawbies

Like almost everyone else who have blogged their picks, I can’t help but mention others who are well deserving and should be included in any “top Canadian law blogs list” – Library Boy by Michel-Adrien Sheppard, Law is Cool by an ever-growing slate of law students, created by the inimitable Omar Ha-Redeye,  Thoughtful Legal Management by David Bilinsky, Canadian Privacy Law Blog by David Fraser, Michael Geist’s blog which has a reach far, far outside the legal community in Canada,  and Halo Secretarial blog by Laurie Mapp who is a legal virtual assistant (or legal VA) and helps me stay on track in my day to day work. And so many others!

Blawger of the Year – Omar Ha-Redeye

When we first launched Law is Cool in 2007, we were pleasantly surprised to receive a Canadian Law Blog Award (CLawBie) only months after being online.

This year Steve Matthews is asking that we nominate blogs that we read.

1. Without question my top pick would be Jordan Furlong‘s Law21.  Jordan has years of experience in the field, and provides unique insights and perspectives that can’t find anywhere else online.  He’s also been an incredible support for us law students starting out, sending us notes and updates on a number of issues.
2. My next pick would be Garry Wise, of the Wise Law Blog.  His site is updated with amazing frequency for a guy who runs his own practice.  He’s also been instrumental in trying out some new initiatives like a video series (featuring me), and the Wise Law Reader.  Innovation is always great in a conservative field like law, and early adopters will always catch my attention.
3. One of my more recent top picks would be David Canton’s e-legal, a lawyer here in London that I have yet to meet in person (we have to change that David).  He regularly publishes articles in newspapers on tech related issues, and his site is a great way to keep track of what he’s up to.

Donna Seale also mentioned some of the difficulties of just picking three, so I’ll note some honourable mentions, including her site:  Connie Crosby, The Court, Rob Hyndman, Michael Geist, Legal Post, Stem Legal, UofA Faculty (despite their politics)

Steve also mentions that through the nomination process we automatically submit our own site.  Please don’t consider this site at all, it’s used for personal use only.  Do consider Slaw and Law Is Cool though, and I will disclose that Jordan and David are contributors at Slaw, and The Court has contributors at Law Is Cool.  It’s really tough avoiding conflict of interests here.

Another interview from the last Podcaster Meetup in Toronto just went live.  NinjaRadio of Hot Fossils and Rebel Matter Show has an interview with Omar Ha-Redeye, Connie Crosby (Community Divas) and Shadow and James.

Strangely, the conversation turns to Omar’s voice, but also podcasting and podcamps, Twitter and of course a touch of  politics considering the time of year.

There’s also a really neat picture that just had to be reproduced here.

Nearly two dozen podcasters gathered in downtown Toronto.  Many were meeting for the first time, though they had seen others online through their podcasts.

It was only a matter of time before people started taking out their podcasting equipment, and before you knew it there were impromptu shows all over the place.

One of the hot topics of discussion was the upcoming Podcamp in Toronto in February 2009.  Omar attended a previous Podcamp in 2007.

Attendees included Connie Crosby of the Crosby Consulting Group, Jim Miles and Kristina Lively of the Shadow and James Show, Brent Morris of the Closet Geek Show, Jay Moonah of Online Music Marketing,  Steve Saylor - “the Albino podcaster,” Sean McGaughey – “the Duct Tape guy,” Rob Lee of Unconventional Wisdom and Daniele Rossie of Stuttering is Cool.

Links to interviews will be posted as they become available.

Blawg Review #181 by Diane Levin in MediationChannel.com covered a couple of interesting posts by Omar Ha-Redeye this week,

When mistakes happen, conflict resolution can produce apologies and reconciliation. Yet fear of civil litigation can stand in the way of disclosure and apology — although movements across a number of fields are pushing to change that. Slaw reports on “New Proposed Apology Legislation in Ontario” designed to promote accountability and patient safety, together with the speedy resolution of civil disputes, among other goals. With apologies for mistakes in mind, Richard Webb at the Health Care ADR Blog muses, “Do Doctors Confess Errors Only When Caught?”

Levin then offered her own apologies,

[Important update:To my embarrassment, I have discovered that I inadvertently overlooked the fact that today is Canadian Thanksgiving Day. I'd like to offer my sincerest apologies to my friends to the north. To correct this unfortunate oversight, I'm adding to this presentation of Blawg Review the following posts from these excellent Canadian law blogs: According to Michael Geist, "ISP Tax May Be The Next Big Culture Funding Fight". David Fraser, who publishes Canadian Privacy Law Blog, reports on "Calculating the cost of reading online privacy policies". Law is Cool, a law school blog and podcast, announces the good news that "Canada Has Its Own Voice on the International Scene". The Vancouver Law Librarian Blog considers "Legal In-sourcing", while Connie Crosby writing for Slaw.ca lets you know that "Your Seat is Waiting! New Business Conferences Starting Online Now". Finally, The Court has some thoughts on a provocative topic: "Privacy and investigative dumpster diving: R. v. Patrick". Happy Thanksgiving Day, Canada!]

In an unrelated entry in the same post, she also covers an interesting cognitive test:

Cognitive Daily, a cognitive psychology blog, shares the results of a recent survey it conducted about a popular illusion that depicts a dancer spinning. The illusion, created by Nobuyuki Kayahara, does not, contrary to popular belief, prove whether you’re right-brained or left-brained. What makes it so fascinating is that some people perceive her to spin clockwise, some counter-clockwise, and some are able to reverse the direction in which they see her spin. I find optical illusions useful in teaching negotiation or conflict resolution skills, since they remind us of the unreliability of our senses, and that it is always possible to see things differently, even when you and I find ourselves looking at precisely the same thing.

The illusion appears on your right — which way do you see her spin?

Even though nations share common goals of mutual prosperity, stability and peace, they way they see things are often different.  Understanding this, and mediating those differences by working with them, is probably the best approach to international politics.