Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging, is hosted this week by urbane British blogger Charon QC.

Blawg Review #141 covers posts from both sides of the Atlantic. If you’re not familiar with the legal blogging scene across the pond, don’t miss this British invasion.

Blawg Review, acknowledged recently by the American Bar Association as one of the top 100 law blogs, is unique among blogs. Hosted each week by a different legal blog, no better source exists for current trends, new ideas, highlights of top news stories, and stimulating repartee for the legal community. Serving as a central repository or hub, it provides opportunity for legal bloggers everywhere to participate, gain visibility, and speak out.

Blawg Review now seeks nominations for the best presentation of Blawg Review this year. Anyone who has hosted a presentation of Blawg Review (or is slated to host an upcoming one) can participate. The anonymous Editor made his own recommendations in a ceremony this week in Second Life — suggestions you can view at Virtually Blind, a blog covering legal issues in virtual worlds.

As someone who has served as Blawg Review host three times now (two in 2007, #94 and #130 co-hosted with Geoff Sharp in a double-hemisphere edition, which I was honored to discover among the Editor’s recommendations), I also know how much hard behind-the-scenes work goes into each presentation.

During the past year there were many excellent editions of Blawg Review (tough acts for any host to follow). A few, however, stand out. Well crafted, inventive, intelligently written, and informative, my nominations are:

Blawg Review #124, Labor Day Special Historical Edition. Hosted by the inimitable George Lenard, this presentation skillfully weaves together archival photographs and history with a week’s worth of links to high-quality legal blogging. “Epic” is the word that comes to mind.

Blawg Review #137. Colin Samuel achieves another poetic masterpiece with his third Dante-themed presentation of Blawg Review. Bravissimo, Colin!

Blawg Review #101. Diana Skaggs of Divorce Law Journal evokes images of bluegrass, mint juleps, and the Run for the Roses in this Derby-themed edition.

Blawg Review #102 and its prequel. This special presentation was delivered by host George M. Wallace at his two blogs, the all-business Declarations and Exclusions, and his personal and cultural web journal, a fool in the forest. Both presentations were constructed around illustrations from Stultifera Navis, the 1497 Latin translation of Sebastian Brant’s 1494 satirical German text, Das Narrenschiff, aka The Ship of Fools.

Blawg Review #134. Eric Turkewitz at New York Personal Injury Law Blog hosted this meticulously crafted marathon-themed presentation.

No matter who ultimately wins the title of best Blawg Review, Blawg Review makes a winner out of us all — its hosts and its readers alike. Congratulations to all who served as host this past year, and best wishes to those who will serve in future.

De Novo hosts Blawg Review #138, this week’s edition of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging.

This presentation of Blawg Review celebrates Human Rights Day, December 10, which commemorates the adoption of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood…

Click here to read the full text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This week’s Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging, is hosted by Colin Samuels at Infamy or Praise. Blawg Review #137 draws poetic inspiration from The Divine Comedy’s third cantica, Paradiso.

This edition of Blawg Review is Colin’s third. Each time the works of the immortal Dante have served as Colin’s muse, resulting in an Inferno-inspired Blawg Review #35 and a Purgatorio-themed Blawg Review #86.

Congratulations, by the way, to Blawg Review for earning its rightful place among the American Bar Association’s list of top 100 law blogs. Blawg Review stands apart for its ability to present unique voices in the legal community.

Consider, for example, these two recent hosts of Blawg Review:

Peter Black’s Freedom to Differ, providing an Australian perspective on legal and policy issues concerning the media and internet

Dr. Jillian Todd Weiss at Transgender Workplace Diversity, covering law, politics, and policy affecting gender identity

Each weekly host presents a refreshingly different perspective on the law and legal issues — the issues that affect all of us, whether we practice or study law, or simply care about it. And if you love both law and literature, don’t miss Blawg Review #137.

Runners and running have inspired poetry and literature, art and film.

This week it serves as the inspiration for the magnificently marathon-themed Blawg Review #134, hosted by Eric Turkewitz at New York Personal Injury Law Blog.

Blawg Review is the weekly review of the best in legal blogging hosted each week by a different blogger. Next week’s Blawg Review will be a double presentation, hosted by the Rainbow Law Center and Transgender Workplace Diversity in commemoration of Equal Opportunity Day and Transgender Day of Remembrance.

R. David Donoghue hosts Blawg Review #133 at Chicago IP Litigation Blog. (Blawg Review, for you newcomers, is the weekly review of the best in legal blogging hosted each week by a different law blogger.)

Next week’s host is Eric Turkewitz who publishes the New York Personal Injury Law Blog. He’s invited legal bloggers to send along their submissions for consideration. And if personal injury law doesn’t get your pulse racing, no fear, since it won’t be Eric’s theme for this edition of Blawg Review. In fact, “racing” may indeed be the operative word, if the hints Eric has dropped are anything to go by.

Kansas-based lawyer Grant Griffiths asks, “A Mac. A blog. A home office. What more does a lawyer need?”

You can count on him to show you all the reasons why at Home Office Lawyer, a blog with lots of great advice on “Keeping Your Earnings, Your Clients…Your Sanity”. (There’s plenty of good stuff for mediators, too, who run their businesses from their home–explore his categories, which cover everything from marketing to practice management.)

Grant is also the host of this week’s Blawg Review #132, , with a special focus on solo practitioners and lawyers working in a home office. Blawg Review of course is the weekly review of the best in legal blogging.

Don’t miss last week’s edition of Blawg Review, hosted by David Maister, a forward-thinking business consultant and innovator, as well as publisher of the blog Passion, People and Principles.

And please show your support for Blawg Review by submitting your posts for next week’s edition. On deck for hosting duties is the Chicago IP Litigation Blog.

Welcome to Blawg Review #130 — the Northern Hemisphere edition! This is Part 2 of a globe-trotting edition of Blawg Review, the weekly review of legal blogging hosted each week by a different law blog.

This week’s Blawg Review has two hosts, both mediators, and one for each hemisphere. My co-host, Geoff Sharp, in Wellington, New Zealand, is covering the Southern Hemisphere in his own edition of Blawg Review. And I’m covering the other half of the globe from Boston.

Blawg Review #130 - The Southern Hemisphere Edition went live at 12:01 a.m. Wellington time — 17 hours before this edition was published. As Geoff points out, New Zealand is among the first places in the world that greet the new day.

It seems fitting that this double edition of Blawg Review began with my co-host in the Southern Hemisphere. After all, traditional globes and world maps reflect a Eurocentric view of earth’s geography and of sources of geopolitical power and economic influence. North America and Europe are typically depicted on top. Why not the reverse?

So, before plunging into this edition of Blawg Review, consider this upside down map that invites you to see the world anew.

A brief word about how this presentation of Blawg Review is organized. I’ll begin with posts relating to International Conflict Resolution Day, celebrated this Thursday, October 18. Then I’ll take a look at environmental issues — after all, this is Blog Action Day which encourages bloggers to tackle issues relating to the environment. Then I’ll wrap up with “the best of the rest” — a week’s worth of noteworthy posts from legal bloggers.

Incidentally, this is by no means the first time that mediators have hosted Blawg Review. Past mediator hosts have included:

• Me, Blawg Review #43 and #94
• David Giacalone, f/k/a, Blawg Review #52
• Justin Patten, Human Law Mediation, #78
• Arnie Herz, Legal Sanity, Blawg Review #108
• Stephanie West Allen, Idealawg, Blawg Review #114
• David Harlow, Health Blawg, Blawg Review #129

And now, let’s get started.

1. Conflict Resolution Day: Mediation and Dispute Resolution Related Posts

International Conflict Resolution Day is observed each year on the third Thursday of October. In recognition of this celebration, here are links to posts relating to mediation, negotiation, and dispute resolution or which are penned by mediators, both current and former.

Starting off in my own backyard, on Thursday, October 18, from noon to 2 p.m. ET, Robert Ambrogi will be hosting a panel on Online Dispute Resolution for the Massachusetts Bar Association. Having heard Bob, a vastly knowledgeable and engaging speaker, present on numerous occasions, I can assure you that this will be an event worth attending if you’re lucky enough to be in the neighborhood.

Speaking of online dispute resolution, another event held this week is ODR Cyberweek 2007, a free online conference with real-time events, asynchronous discussions, and web-based demonstrations of ODR tools planned. These events include “Taking Peacemaking Public“, a panel discussion organized by blogger and mediator Gini Nelson, held on Friday, October 19, 20.00 GMT, in which Victoria Pynchon and I will be among those participating. And on Wednesday, October 17, 19.00 GMT, Geoff Sharp will present an encore presentation of “40 ADR Sites in 40 Minutes” with a little help from some of his blogging friends — including Robert Ambrogi, Gini Nelson, and me. All program information is available at the Cyberweek 2007 web site.

Phyllis Pollack at PGP Mediation Blog warns of the risks of overconfidence of parties preparing to negotiate at the mediation table in “Facing Danger Calmly“.

Kristina Haymes declares death to the billable hour for mediators.

Stephanie West Allen, the brilliant mind behind Idealawg and the recently launched Brains on Purpose, lets her imagination roam in “Video teleconferencing, online dispute resolution, and even teleporting“.

Attorney-mediator Arnie Herz, who inspires lawyers to transform their every day practice to achieve greater satisfaction and find meaning in their work at Legal Sanity, defines law firm leadership and thinks about what it takes to lead and inspire your workforce.

At the National Arbitration Forum Blog, “A Former Litigator Speaks Up” about the benefits of mediation for litigants.

Chris Annunziata, who blogs at CKA Mediation & Arbitration, has harsh words for the appropriation of the word “mediation” by a debt collection agency for the name of its business.

From the Tax Prof Blog, Jim Freund’s Advice for Erwin Chemerinsky: Teach Students How To Resolve Disputes.

Here’s a reminder from TechCrunch that “Being Stupid and Litigious Is No Way to Go Through Life“. Amen to that.

Colin Rule , director of online dispute resolution at eBay and Paypal, links to news that disputes are growing in virtual worlds.

Indisputably, a new ADR blog, addresses fraud in mediated settlement agreements. And Diana Skaggs of Divorce Law Journal looks at “What family lawyers are really doing when they negotiate“.

Negotiating by Mikkel Gudsøe, a Danish blog in both English and Danish, is sharing, in installments, a thesis on Third Party Intervention in International Conflicts.

Speaking of globe-trotting, two blogging attorney-mediators, Victoria Pynchon (U.S.) of Negotiation Law Blog and Justin Patten (England) of Human Law Mediation, were spotted having lunch together in London.

With respect to the environment, a topic I’m about to take up in just a few paragraphs, Tammy Lenski, who publishes Mediator Tech, has tips for Blog Action Day on greening your ADR practice. This is not the first time that Tammy has given this issue her attention: last spring she gave her readers a roundup of “green” ADR resources, and also pointed to contributions to the greening of ADR by mediators Victoria Pynchon, Dina Beach Lynch, and Geoff Sharp. (Geoff’s own links on going green may not produce the desired effect to reduce greenhouse gases; Exhibit 1 is the recipe for “Mediator’s Special Green Chili Enchilada“.)

To wrap up my look at mediation blogs, I’d like to introduce you to my ongoing project, the World Directory of ADR Blogs, where I’ve been tracking and cataloging blogs that relate to conflict resolution, mediation, and innovations in the practice of law. Although many of the blogs listed there are in English, an increasing number reflect the diversity of the world and are published in a variety of languages. I am limited in discovering more by my own lack of fluency in the world’s languages (knowing Russian, French, Latin, and a smattering of German, Spanish, and Attic Greek, not to mention some Yiddish curse words, will only get you so far) and am dependent upon my polyglot informers to stay abreast of the emergence of new mediation blogs.

I’d like, though, to introduce you to a few of these non-English-language blogs (in keeping with the scope of this edition of Blawg Review #130, those located in the Northern Hemisphere): Medieria from Romania; Associação de Mediadores de Conflitos and Conflito: uma oportunidade!, from Portugal; todomediacion.com and Blog Solomediacion.com, both from Spain; and a host of German mediation blogs, includingADR-Blog, DiaBlog, Institute Sikor Blog, Konfliktblog, and Master of Mediation. You can find them all, listed by country, with many others, at the World Directory of ADR Blogs web site.

2. Blog Action Day and the Environment

Today is Blog Action Day which intends to invite global reflection on a topic that is growing, both literally and figuratively, hotter: the environment. Bloggers are encouraged to show their support by blogging about the environment or by donating their day’s advertising earnings to an environmental charity. Over 14,000 blogs have already signed on.

Not everyone, however, has warm, fuzzy feelings for a web event like this: Peter Black of Freedom to Differ points to a commenter who is unimpressed with Blog Action Day and who concludes his comments with some colorful horticultural advice for bloggers. (I’ve heard of cherry trees and Japanese maple trees, but I have to admit, the species the commenter suggests planting is definitely not available at my local garden center.) (However, no fan of memes myself, I had a similar though more mediator-like reaction to “One Day Blog Silence”.)

Whether you support Blog Action Day or not, what follows are some environmentally-themed posts:

Charon QC in England reports on the greening of the Law Society (the representative body for solicitors in England and Wales) and its plans to go carbon neutral. International man of mystery Dan Hull ponders “Climate change, nuclear power and the NRC“. (Dan, incidentally, maintains a comprehensive list at What About Clients of law blogs throughout the world — right there on the home page.)

A blogger who discusses both conflict resolution and the environment in a single post would be remiss not to mention one of the big news stories of the week — the decision of the Nobel Committee to award the 2007 Nobel Peace prize to two recipients: Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on on Climate Change.

The blogosphere has responded with its usual alacrity and wit. Kottke.org notes gleefully that Gore won for what is essentially a PowerPoint presentation. TaxProf Blog considers the “inconvenient truth” of the tax implications of winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Stephen Holzer at Environmental Legal Blogs has another “inconvenient truth for Al Gore - Judge orders corrections to climate-change film“. And the Environmental Law Prof Blog considers “Reactions to the Nobel Prize Award“.

Finally, Boing Boing reports that SimCity, the digital city-building game, will be adding global warming as a variable in its next installment.

3. The Best of the Rest in Legal Blogging

Matt Homann, who used to be a lawyer and mediator before he got into the breakthrough ideas business, offers “15 Thoughts for Law Students: A Mini-Manifesto“. My favorite is #14:

There are plenty of things you don’t know, and even more things you’ll never know. Get used to it. Use your ignorance to your benefit. The most significant advantage you possess over those who’ve come before you is that you don’t believe what they do.

Also showing support for law students is Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Underground, posting Weekly Law School Roundup #91. And to round out this discussion of law students, Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession have gotten some media coverage from the American Bar Association in their efforts to produce cultural change in big law firms.

Make mine a double: IPKat, which covers intellectual property news and developments from a UK and European perspective, discusses measures that are being taken to ensure the integrity of scotch whiskey in “Whisky: counterfeiters scotched“.

Ruthie’s Law (another British law blog) asks a compelling question: “Who advises the advisors, who counsels the counsellors” when lawyers need support services.

The Atlantic Review, which comments on the United States and transatlantic relations and is edited by two German Fulbright Alumni, Jörg Wolf (Berlin) and Sonja Bonin (Shanghai), has some thoughts about America’s cultural superiority, following a recent Pew Global Attitudes Survey (in PDF) .

Most people want to try to stay out of court — which accounts in part for mediation’s popularity. Sometimes though going to court may be a good thing. Eric Turkewitz reports that Public Citizen wants to get sued. Really. As part of an ongoing trend in which companies seek to curb public online commentary about their services or products, it seems that some lawyer sent Public Citizen a cease-and-desist letter on behalf of his client, which included the warning not to publish the letter or risk a copyright violation. In a defiant move, Public Citizen has taken the fight to the web and published the letter (in pdf).

Brett Trout at Blawg IT has advice on keeping your blog out of court. And he links to the playlist of the century following the verdict in the RIAA downloads trial.

Last week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta, considered by many to be the most important securities law case before the Supreme Court in years. Analysis comes from SCOTUSBlog; and Stephen Bainbridge who considers decisionmaking heuristics and asks, “Why the SCOTUS Gets Securities Cases Wrong so Often” seeking the answer in 2002 article, ” How do Judges Maximize? (The Same Way Everybody Else Does—Boundedly): Rules of Thumb in Securities Fraud Opinions“. Meanwhile, Jonathan Adler offers a roundup.

Speaking of decisionmaking, Law Dawg Blawg’s featured book of the week is Judges and Their Audiences: A Perspective on Judicial Behavior, which looks at the degree to which audiences influence a judge’s choices.

In “Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies“, Supreme Dicta reports on the recent decision of the Washington Supreme Court to uphold a politician’s First Amendment right to lie to voters, while Eugene Volokh and Frank Pasquale offer their own views on the decision.

The Bush administration is pushing for Congress to grant retroactive immunity under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for telecommunications companies that cooperated with the administration in its domestic surveillance programs. Jack Balkin discusses the reasons why in “It’s the Secrecy, Stupid: Why the FISA Immunity Debate is Important“.

In USA PATRIOT Act Violates Fourth Amendment, Emphemerallaw discusses the significance of the Mayfield v. US decision, in which a federal district judge has ruled that two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow surveillance without probable cause, a victory (although perhaps a short-lived one depending upon what happens on appeal) for privacy advocates.

While we’re on the subject of privacy, the Canadian Privacy Law Blog (which I discovered thanks to a blog I read regularly, Thoughts from a Management Lawyer, published by Canadian attorney Michael Fitzgibbon) reports that the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (”SWIFT“) is moving its data centre to Switzerland to avoid long arm of the US law.

And Simple Justice laments the “End of Redress: State Secrets Doctrine” on the heels of the Supreme Court’s failure to muster sufficient votes to grant review in the Khaled el-Masri case in which an innocent German citizen was renditioned, detained, and tortured as the result of Bush administration anti-terrorism efforts.

In the aftermath of the Romney-Giuliani smackdown, Mad Kane ponders the GOP’s revolving policy on lawyers.

Ilya Somin writing for the Volokh Conspiracy entertains a healthy skepticism about a new study which concludes that academia is more politically moderate than is widely assumed. Somin suggests that the self-reported politics of those “moderates” is moderate only as compared to other academics, which are more left-wing than the population generally

Legal Scoop - Law Students’ Perspectives on the Law discusses how social networking is spreading into the legal profession and includes a graphic description of how tasers work (in case you were wondering).

Professor Howard Wasserman at Sports Law Blog takes aim at a pet peeve: the confusion that the media generate in their coverage of trials over the difference between direct and circumstantial evidence in “It’s all a bunch of circumstantial evidence” — Actually, no it isn’t“. This is a post that should be required reading for every journalist who covers the judicial system.

Jillian Weiss at Transgender Workplace Diversity takes the gloves off and convincingly weighs in on both the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would protect Americans from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, together with another version of the bill which would strike gender identity from the proposed law’s reach, in the eloquently argued “SPLENDA: Representative Frank and Professor Carpenter and Lewis Carroll“.

BeldarBlog explains “What the public needs to know in forming an opinion on whether U.S. District Judge Sam Kent ought to be impeached“. (You’ve got to love a blog that is willing to tell the world right in the masthead that it’s the “online journal of a crusty, longwinded trial attorney”.)

According to the Drug and Device Law Blog, drug companies’ sales representatives have increasingly been named as defendants in product liability cases in an effort by plaintiffs’ counsel to defeat diversity jurisdiction. In “Promoting Diversity” Mark Herrmann and Jim Beck propose one way that drug companies could organize their sales practices to reduce this type of gamesmanship.

Professor Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy has issued readers a challenge: “help me “come off the fence” concerning the death penalty!”

Adam Smith Esq. tells us why we should pay attention to networks at the office in “Social Networks and Partners’ Desks“.

In a look at poorly drafted statutory language (and confusion at the news desk), Language Log asks, “Who is stupider, an Arkansas legislator or an AP reporter?” in “Not Pregnant - a case of overnegation?”

Deliberations delivers a message from Erin — a blogger who reminds the bar loud and clear that if you strike every young person with an internet presence off a jury, you’ll have nobody left in the jury pool — and also reflects on the secrets that jurors never tell.

In “Highlights from the 2007 Aspen Health Forum” SharpBrains makes the case that legal professionals need to follow health and science trends closely, now that a growing number of companies are taking over health and wellness issues.

With so many law professors blogging these days, it’s not surprise that tenure comes up for discussion. Peter Lattman as the Wall Street Journal Law Blog asks, “Should Law Schools Abolish Tenure?” Brian Tamanaha at Balkinization says, “The Tenure Issue: How You View it Depends Upon Where You Sit“. And Lawrence Solum at Legal Theory Blog rounds up advice offered new UC-Irvine law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky at the TaxProf Blog.

Speaking of professors, Professor James Maule gives us Reason #2939 I Want to Teach Property Law: a recent legal dispute over a human leg found stored in a barbecue smoker. (Hey, I volunteer to mediate that one!)

Although this blog post comes a few weeks late for “Talk Like a Pirate Day“, SoxFirst discusses the shortcomings of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (a U.S. law enacted to restore public confidence in business reporting and accounting practices) as effective deterrent in “Buried treasure, corporate pirates and Sarbanes-Oxley“.

For those of you who prefer your patent law dark-roasted, the Patent Baristas brew “Patent Wars Episode II: GSK Strikes Back“.

AdamsDrafting has thoughtful advice on “how not to incorporate virtual documents” when it comes to drafting agreements. While we’re on the subject of contracts, Dave Hoffman (not to be confused with collaborative lawyer and mediator David Hoffman) has suggestions on “Drafting a Group Blog Operating Agreement“.

Following a recall of tainted meat, George Lenard feels sick to his stomach — it’s not something he ate, it’s his reaction to the lawyers who claimed credit for driving out of business a meat packer which had operated largely without incident for 67 years, as George explains in “Attorneys Brag of Shutting Down Company“. And, since the subject of food poisoning has come up, check out “Nasty Nosh Niche” from the Canadian legal research weblog, Slaw, which starts with thoughts on a niche law firm that specializes in food poisoning cases, and ends with a link to the unappetizingly titled Slate.com article, “Eat crap: why Americans should ingest more excrement“, which provides, ahem, food for thought by arguing that one of civilization’s greatest triumphs — indoor plumbing — may have weakened our immune systems.

It’s one of the strangest cases to come along since a Nebraska state senator sued God. Lowering the Bar reports on a “Surprising Court Loss for Woman Who Challenged State’s Authority to Require Driver’s License“. The woman and her partner are evidently members of a group called the “Freedom Flag Fellowship,” which claim that “the federal government has no valid authority but is instead a foreign corporation that has invaded America.”

Lawsagna, published by lawyer and linguist Anastasia Pryanikova, has posted Step 13 in an ongoing series, “21 Steps to Becoming a Better Learner“. Her advice includes the reminder to “Develop a curious mind.”

Finally, do you have a favorite law blog? Blawg Review’s diligent editor tells you where to go to nominate your choice for the category of “Best Law Blog” in the 2007 Weblog Awards. Or, instead, you can join the meme that the editor of Blawg Review began and name your top ten law blogs.

I’d like to end by a link to one more mediator, now retired — our profession’s loss but blogging’s gain. Among those named as a Blawg Review best is the blog f/k/a, written by David Giacalone, who has been described by Carolyn Elefant as “the conscience of the blogosphere”. Bob Ambrogi said it best: “Some bloggers shoot from the hip, but never David Giacalone — his posts are always thoughtful and, like the poet he is, he finds universal truths in daily events.” Indeed. For evidence of David’s craft, read “internment camp haikuist remembered” or “EQ quickie: email and emoticons“.

Next week’s Blawg Review host is David Maister, so please be sure to submit your best posts for his consideration.

Which brings us to the end of this edition of Blawg Review. My gratitude to those of you who have taken the time to visit and to those of you who contributed. And my thanks to Blawg Review’s anonymous editor (who, I was relieved to learn, is not me) for trusting Blawg Review to my co-host and me, to the Blawg Review sherpas who guided our steps along the way, and especially to my co-host and friend Geoff Sharp, who reminds me that there is always a place for humor in this world.

Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

Geoff Sharp and I are covering the globe by sharing co-hosting duties for a special Northern and Southern Hemisphere presentation of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in legal blogging. Geoff’s edition of Blawg Review #130 went live at 12:01 a.m., Monday, October 15, Wellington time, so Blawg Review fans elsewhere in the world can get an early jump on their Blawg Review enjoyment.

These twin editions of Blawg Review (hosted not just by one but two mediators) honor International Conflict Resolution Day and Blog Action Day, in which bloggers around the world unite to raise global awareness of an issue that concerns all of planet earth’s inhabitants–the environment. And, as usual, we’ll be presenting the best of the week in legal blogging as well.

Visit Blawg Review #130, the Southern Hemisphere edition. (Nice work, Geoff!)

[Update: You can view the Northern Hemisphere Edition of Blawg Review #130 now.]

Blawg Review #129 is hosted this week by David Harlow, a health care lawyer and consultant who also serves as a neutral in health care mediation and arbitration and assists clients in developing and implementing alternative dispute resolution processes. David, who is based in Newton, Massachusetts (practically right around the corner from Marblehead, Massachusetts, where I sit typing this), publishes HealthBlawg.

Blawg Review is the weekly review of the best in law blogging, hosted each week by a different legal blogger. Blawg Review of course isn’t just for lawyers–there are some good reasons why mediators should read it, too. (Especially next week when New Zealand mediator Geoff Sharp and I are hosting Blawg Review #130–Blawg Review’s first double-hemisphere edition which will honor Conflict Resolution Day. The sun never sets on the Blawg Review empire…)

(Photo credit: Iwan Beijes.)

This week’s Blawg Review, the review of the best in legal blogging hosted each week at a different blog, marks an important milestone: it is the first Blawg Review hosted in Ireland.

Host Daithí Mac Síthigh is a graduate student at the School of Law, Trinity College Dublin, and publishes the blog Lex Ferenda, where he explores his interests–and demonstrates his considerable knowledge– in cyberlaw, media, and intellectual property.

Curious about the meaning of the name of Daithí’s blog? The wise and anonymous editor of Blawg Review tells us that

Lex ferenda (also called de lege ferenda) is a Latin expression that means “what the law ought to be” (as opposed to lex lata, “the law as it exists”).

(But those of you who still remember your high school Latin or have your old law school dictionary handy probably knew that already.)

Click here to enjoy Blawg Review #128–and pay a visit to Dublin. (And don’t miss the link to Banned Book Week.)

(By the way, in two weeks, Geoff Sharp and I will be sharing the hosting honors to commemorate the week in which Conflict Resolution Day is observed. Hope to see you there.)

Labor Day here in the United States is associated far more with back-to-school sales, political campaigning, and backyard barbecues than it is with its original purpose–a day to honor workers.

This week’s Blawg Review, the weekly review of legal blogging, pays homage to the roots of Labor Day in an epic style befitting its theme. Host George Lenard, an employment lawyer who publishes the eponymous George’s Employment Blawg, recounts the history of American labor, weaving in a week’s worth of blog posts together with personal anecdotes, archival images, and videos, and presents it in 14 parts in Blawg Review #124.

This opus magnum, meticulously assembled and imaginatively constructed, is a true labor of love. It is also perhaps the best presentation of Blawg Review of all time.

Don’t miss it.

Charles S. Rhyne, who served as president of the American Bar Association during 1957-58, once observed, “Law offers the best hope for order in a disordered world.”

Given how integral the law is to our political, commercial, and social institutions, remaining informed about its influence on our lives is important.

And one of my favorite ways to stay informed about the law is by reading Blawg Review, the weekly review of legal blogging. Presented each week by a different host, Blawg Review shows readers the many faces of the law–sometimes serious, sometimes humorous, sometimes provocative.

And don’t forget fun.

Consider some recent hosts:

Blawg Review #123, presented by the Texas Appellate Law Blog in the form of a decision issued by the Supreme Court of the Blawgosphere. (Links include coverage of the shenanigans that followed when one law firm commissioned a really bad theme song–and word leaked out about it.)

Blawg Review #122, presented by David Gulbransen as a law school course catalog (which includes a post that asks “What’s Your Favorite Bad Legal Argument?“)

Blawg Review #121, hosted by The Inspired Solo which opted to forgo a theme for a plain vanilla (albeit very tasty) presentation. Worthwhile links include two posts on listening as life skills - here and here, along with Stephanie West Allen’s reflections on the Summer of Love)

Whatever you do, be sure to catch next week’s Blawg Review. This is the second time for host George Lenard of Employment Blawg, who burned up the charts when he hosted Blawg Review #15, the sixties rock ‘n’ roll edition (although if you remember it, you weren’t there).

(Photo by Ronald Schuster.)

Grab your sunscreen and head for the beach at the summer-themed Blawg Review #114, hosted by lawyer and mediator Stephanie West Allen collaborating with Julie Fleming-Brown, an executive coach for lawyers.

Stephanie publishes two blogs, Idealawg, sharing fresh discoveries about innovations and ideas to inspire the practice of law, and Brains on Purpose, which covers topics at the intersection of neuroscience and conflict resolution. Julie publishes the well respected Life at the Bar, helping lawyers find satisfying and meaningful careers. And Blawg Review is the weekly review of the best in legal blogging, hosted each week at a different blog.

Highlights of this edition of Blawg Review–the first one of the 2007 summer season– include: George Lenard’s 9 Tips to Beat the Heat and Look Professional: Women, Christopher Marston’s Top 10 Reasons Why Professionals Don’t “Get it” When it Comes to Pricing and Service!, and Dave Hoffman’s Law, Foreign Norms and Social Order (Or, How I Survived A Naples Soccer Celebration).

Tim Stanley, a leading figure in legal cyberspace, and a really terrific guy, hosts this week’s excellent edition of Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in law blogging. Tim is the founder of the well known legal web sites Findlaw and Justia.

(Dog lovers, take note: Tim, who writes at Justia’s Legal SEO & Marketing Blog, also publishes the photoblog, Little Sheba the Hug Pug. It’s the blog that makes you go “Awww!”)