Kudos to Simon Fodden
I first posted this as a comment but it is better front and centre.
Hmmm…. unless I missed something – ok, missed something else – nobody has pointed out why SLAW didn’t get a CLawBies and why the overall award now has the name it does. They’re related.
Without more setup, then, the explanation from CLawbies.
You’ll notice a couple of changes in our lineup from previous years. We’ve renamed our top award — “Best Canadian Law Blog or Blogger” — in honour of Professor Simon Fodden, one of the founders and the driving force behind Slaw, which is widely recognized worldwide as one of the very best law blogs, period. With this name change, we are honourably retiring Slaw from CLawBies competition, installing it as a fixture in the blawgosphere to which all online publications, Canadian and otherwise, should aspire.
Take a deserved bow, Simon.
SLAW is proof that Groucho wasn’t always right about everything.
Thank-you for posting this David. I had wanted to write something earlier to explain the changes.
Beyond what was said in the awards post, my involvement in Slaw caused trouble each and every year when it came time to make decisions about awards. More often, I found myself penalizing Slaw rather than rewarding the group’s work. That wasn’t fair to anyone, least of all Simon, who was putting in an effort exceeding almost all of our past award winners.
We considered calling it “the Slaw award”, but that wasn’t the right sentiment. Simon, on the other hand, is a model on so many levels, and someone whose name most Canadian legal bloggers will associate with quality, dedication, and lending a helping hand to fellow writers. Being a ‘Fodden Award’ winner means you’re associated with the best in Canadian legal commentary.