Make your mother proud by paying a visit to Blawg Review #158, hosted by The Mommy Blawg (”the intersection of mommyhood and the law”) in honor of International Midwives Day.

Blawg Review of course is the weekly review of the best in legal blogging, hosted each week by a different blog.  Next week’s host is the Whistleblower Law Blog.

Speaking of mothers, if you live in the U.S., don’t forget to call yours on Sunday — it’s Mother’s Day.

Recently I compared Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging, with a box of chocolates. You never know what you’ll reach into the box and pull out, particularly since each week a different blogger plays host, sampling many different posts across a wide range of topics.

Blawg Review #156, hosted by Benjamin Duranske at Virtually Blind, covers virtually everything you could want to know about virtual worlds and the brave new world of virtual law, and includes a short discussion on ADR in virtual worlds to resolve the disputes that inevitably arise wherever there is human interaction.

Meanwhile, Michael Fitzgibbon, a Toronto-based attorney, honors the Canadian National Day of Mourning at Blawg Review #157 at Thoughts from a Management Lawyer. It is a day established in memory of workers killed or injured in the workplace and in renewal of the pledge to make the workplace safe.

Since I began blogging over three years ago, I’ve been a devotee of Blawg Review, the review of the best in legal blogging hosted each week by a different blogger. I read it regularly, and I’ve even served as host on three occasions (once with fellow blogging mediator Geoff Sharp).

Why do I read Blawg Review? When law is so integral to our political, social, commercial, and civic interactions, never has it been more important to stay informed about the impact the law produces on the way we live and work together.

But it’s more than just the weekly synopsis of the major stories affecting the law that draws me to Blawg Review every Monday. It’s the fact that each week a new host provides another spin, a different viewpoint, on law and justice.

It’s like a box of assorted chocolates. You reach into the box, not knowing what you’ll get until you take a taste. Sometimes it’s a playful caramel in milk chocolate, a sophisticated dark chocolate truffle with a hint of espresso, an angelic praline enrobed in a white chocolate shell, or a tart raspberry edged with bittersweet chocolate. (Of course at times you may encounter a nut or two.) If one is not to your taste, then wait but a week and then sample again.

Consider how different are the most recent two hosts of Blawg Review:

Last week, it was David Harlow hosting Blawg Review #154 at Health Blawg to honor World Health Day 2008, dedicated to protecting health from the effects of climate change.

And this week Greg May at California Blog of Appeal good-naturedly hosts Blawg Review #155 and celebrates (or, some might say, desecrates) National Poetry Month.

And next week will be something entirely different when Virtually Blind, a blog that discusses legal issues impacting virtual worlds, plays host.

Fans of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging, get a two-fer this week thanks to host George M. Wallace, a lawyer in Pasadena, California.

George hoists the Jolly Roger at the pirate-themed Blawg Review #153 at Declarations & Exclusions, warning readers with these ominous words:

But tell me true now: It be Blawg Review ye’ve really come seekin’, eh? Thought as much.Well, yer appeal’s been heard and ye’ve come to the proper place. And properly warned ye be, sez I.

But here ye’ll find no more o’ yer namby-pamby “Blawg Review,” savvy?

No, matey, that be fer the lace and waistcoat gentry, an’ the lords o’ the Admiralty an’ such-like luckless landlocked lumpers, wi’ their clerks an’ their cubicles an’ their quills an’ their copiers.

No, me hearty: for the likes o’ us — bold ‘n’ dangerous sorts that we be, don’cha know — hencefor’rd this be . . .Blarrgh Review!

Meanwhile, for landlubbers, George has produced a second edition of Blawg Review, in the form of an April Fool’s Day appendix at his other blog, A Fool in the Forest.

Highlights from these editions of Blawg Review include a look at how many innocent people remain behind bars, tips on negotiating with sociopaths, discussion of a check written on toilet paper, and a revealing glimpse into the sexual fantasies of lawyers (hint: it involves bargaining).

Technolawyer (”all the legal technology and practice management news that’s fit to blog”) hosts Blawg Review #152, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging.

Highlights of this week’s Blawg Review include the most shocking court transcript of the year starring a bad-ass court reporter, pointers on strong marketing in a weak economy, and the 20 worst Beatles songs as proof that “no-one [sic] ever achieves a consistently high standard.”

Lex Ferenda hosts a special St. Patrick’s Day presentation of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging.

Lex Ferenda, published by Daithí Mac Síthigh, a graduate researcher in the School of Law in Trinity College Dublin, capably covers cyberlaw — including “Internet governance, intellectual property, and the control of media and information flows across national and regional borders”.

Blawg Review #151 will introduce you to the wit and wisdom of Irish legal bloggers, as well as a delightful assortment of blog posts from elsewhere in the world.

(Photo credit: Sarah Williams.)

Charles H. Green, a respected executive educator on trust-based relationships, and the author of the blog Trust Matters, plays charming (and, might I say, trustworthy) host to Blawg Review #150. A rotating blog carnival, Blawg Review each week presents the best in legal blogging.

Highlights from Blawg Review #150 include Orwell on ethos, Budweiser-themed haiku, a first-hand account of a harrowing five-day stay in the D.C. jail, and seven days’ worth of inspiration from some extraordinary blogs.

Looking for an informative and entertaining round-up of the latest legal news?  Then go visit the latest edition of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging, this week hosted at popular Antitrust Review.

Highlights include an argument that George Washington was unconstitutional; a law limiting self-groping in Italy; and a state-by-state survey of the laws governing employee voting rights.

Brett Trout hosts Blawg Review #148 at BlawgIT. This week’s theme is the meme.

Memes are units of cultural information transmitted virally from one individual to the next. Blogs provide an ideal culture medium for memes to thrive in, since bloggers disseminate memes widely, inviting other bloggers to comment on them and pass them along in turn. Memes are in essence the blogosphere’s equivalent of chain letters — like a chain letter, the recipient must respond in a designated way, then pass the invitation along to others.

Be sure to catch this highly entertaining edition of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging. And like any meme, spread it widely.

Rush Nigut at Rush on Business hosts Blawg Review #147. This week’s edition of Blawg Review celebrates RAGBRAI, the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, a seven-day ride across the Hawkeye State. Now in its 36th year, RAGBRAI is the longest, largest and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world — and also includes a hugely popular pork chop grill, conducted by Mr. Pork Chop himself who tours Iowa in a pig-shaped bus.

Blawg Review of course is the weekly review of the best in legal blogging, hosted each week by a different legal blogger. Like RAGBRAI, it’s a tasty treat you won’t want to miss.

(Photo credits: pig by Anka Draganski; bicycle by Michael Zacharzewski.)

The Invent Blog plays host for this week’s edition of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging. 

Blawg Review #146 celebrates National Inventors’ Day, which honors the birthday of well known inventor, Thomas Alva Edison.

What About Clients? hosts the brawling, boisterous Blawg Review #145. Gird your loins, get your sword, and test your mettle on the sand of the Colosseum at this larger-than-life-size edition of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging.

Host Dan Hull sets the rules:

BR #145 is about Who You Really Are and how you prepare and engage for Lawyer Life…

VENI, VIDI, VICI. “I came, I saw, I conquered”. Sounds pretty macho, huh? But there’s a gentler side to it. First, as a Human Being, and a lawyer, are you prepared to meet the challenges before you? Second, can you think and develop a strategy to survive, prosper and get what you want in life and law? Do you have the right Tools? Third, can you Act? Do you have the sand, the spirit and the moxie for the Arena?

Hmmm. With all this talk of Colosseums, this presentation of Blawg Review puts me in mind of a Cole Porter song. Feel free to sing along as you experience Blawg Review #145:

Lord of the Rings fans, rejoice.

Kevin Thompson at Cyberlaw Central, and three-time host of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging, sets Blawg Review #144 in Middle Earth.

Mediators may also enjoy reading “Gollum, Meet Sméagol: A Schizophrenic Rumination on Mediator Values Beyond Self-Determination and Neutrality“, by Professor James Coben, Director of the Dispute Resolution Institute at Hamline University School of Law, an article that challenges mediation’s long-cherished notions of self-determination and neutrality and invites practitioners to consider the importance of other values in mediation: justice and community, and the connection and interplay between the two.

The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail. But hope remains, if friends stay true.

Don’t miss Blawg Review #144.

Last week in joint posts fellow blogger Colin Samuel and I saluted the anonymous editor of Blawg Review for his significant contributions to the legal community in creating the  invaluable resource that Blawg Review shows itself to be, week after week.

The most recent two editions of Blawg Review demonstrate why Colin and I were moved to say,

Presented each week by a different host, Blawg Review shows readers the many faces of the law, both in the U.S. and across the globe. In the best tradition of law and justice, as an institution it is open for all to participate, bringing well-deserved attention, appreciation, and traffic to the many lawyers, legal academics, law students, legal professionals, and others who blog about legal topics and issues.

Today’s presentation of Blawg Review #143 is hosted by Public Defender Stuff, which celebrates the enduring legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., and reminds readers of the principles of equality and justice that Dr. King stood for.

Meanwhile, the widely respected legal business coach Susan Cartier Liebel hosts Blawg Review #142 at Build a Solo Practice, where she distills a week’s worth of posts and expert advice into a “Letter to a New Lawyer”.

Blawg Review, the carnival of legal blogging co-founded by its anonymous editor, highlights the best legal blogging each week.

Issue after issue, hosts from across the legal blogosphere (and occasionally beyond it) are selected by the anonymous editor of Blawg Review to present the carnival in their own voices, sharing their personal and professional experiences and interests with the ever-growing Blawg Review audience. In developing each issue, the anonymous editor of Blawg Review guides each host, offering invaluable advice and links to worthy posts. Working tirelessly behind the scenes, the anonymous editor of Blawg Review brings attention to this cooperative effort and to the bloggers who produce each edition of the carnival.

Yes, there is a theme here.

While he takes time each week to recognize the hosts of Blawg Review, and annually singles out an outstanding Blawg Review of the Year, it has been the Anonymous Editor’s practice since the beginning of the Blawg Review endeavor to shun publicity for himself. Notwithstanding, Diane Levin and Colin Samuels, the “Sherpas” who assist the hosts and the anonymous editor to source posts for each issue of Blawg Review, would like to take this opportunity to recognize, and to invite others to recognize, Ed.’s efforts.

Over nearly three years, Blawg Review has grown to become a widely-respected brand in the legal end of the blogosphere. Presented each week by a different host, Blawg Review shows readers the many faces of the law, both in the U.S. and across the globe. In the best tradition of law and justice, as an institution it is open for all to participate, bringing well-deserved attention, appreciation, and traffic to the many lawyers, legal academics, law students, legal professionals, and others who blog about legal topics and issues.

Blawg Review has prospered where other carnivals have failed; it has grown in reputation where others have dissolved into infighting. Blawg Review stands tall as a positive and enduring example of what can be accomplished by and among bloggers; its success results in large part from the efforts of the anonymous editor of Blawg Review.

Thank you, Ed.

(Cross-posted by Colin Samuels at Infamy or Praise. Congratulations to my fellow sherpa Colin for so deservedly earning the support of his peers to win the coveted title of Blawg Review of the Year 2007.)