Koehler Law honored as top 100 legal blog

I received notice the other day that my criminal defense blog – the Koehler Law blog – has been included as a top 100 legal blog by Feedspot.

This is an honor.

I know that many such honors are extended as a way either to generate revenue for the party doing the honoring or to attract clicks through back-linking.

Many years ago, for example, I was offered the opportunity to be honored as a top criminal defense attorney.  There were, however, two conditions. 

First, I had to pay a small fee.  I think it was $500 or so and included a wooden plaque that I could proudly display in my office.

Second, I had to backlink to the honoring organization, thereby providing them with some of my “google juice.”  In one case, the honoring organization attempted to withdraw my award after my website guy omitted the backlink. 

I am sure there is some of that dynamic going on with this Feedspot honor.  Although there is no fee attached to this honor, I imagine Feedspot would appreciate a backlink. 

I will oblige!

But I looked at the other blogs also honored and believe that this organization is legit.

Above the Law is at #2.  The ABA Journal is at #8.  Scott Greenfield’s Simple Justice is at #13.  And Carolyn Elefant’s My Shingle is at #36.

That means someone has obviously taken a good look at existing blogs for quality. 

That puts me in very good company at #71.

Of course the greatest honor the Koehler Law blog ever received was being named by the ABA as a top 100 law blog for 5 years straight and as the top criminal justice blog overall for 2011 and 2012.

Ah, those were heady times!

But no one reads law blogs anymore.  And no one really writes them anymore either.

The days of a vibrant blogosphere disappeared many, many years ago through the emergence of twitter and other social media vehicles. 

I have noticed that even Jeff Gamso and Rick Horowitz — some of the last holdouts — have let their blogs languish.

And the only person who still blogs daily – Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice – is really in a class of his own. 

Greenfield still posts multiple blog entries every day.  The only difference is that he seems to have mellowed over the years:  No longer does he insult the intelligence of people who come onto his site to venture a comment.

Greenfield discontinued his award for best individual blog entry of the year many years ago.  But I can still dream of what for me would be the highest honor.