Comments on Lawyer of the Year

That man is a disgrace to my race.

Talk about failing your way to the top.

So the American Bar Association has named disgraced former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as Lawyer of the Year, even though he should be convicted for treason and locked up for the next 9,000 years.

In their defense, the ABA is all "hey TIME magazine named Hitler and Stalin 'Person of Year' and Alberto Gonzales is like totally less worse than them!"

In other news, the American Medical Association has announced that gunshots to the head are now double plus good for you.

Are you sure you didn't mean Liar of the Year? Or did GWB beat him out for that?

S'rsly? O'rly?

FUCK... who the hell is in charge of those decisions. I wake up everyday amazed that people dumber than I are recognized for "achievements" they don't deserve.

I'm disgusted.

But listen to this guy's idiotic quote:

"Think about Time magazine's Person of the Year," Adams said in an interview. "In years past they've named people like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin. So we're not suggesting by these awards that these are the best lawyers in any sense of the word. We are saying they are the most newsworthy — and perhaps also the best."

So as world leaders, then, Stalin and Hitler are "the most newsworthy — and perhaps also the best."?!

fuck up of the year.

lawyers are supposed to lie well. gonzo didn't even come close.

@1: is your race the Human Race?

In a just world he'd be just another migrant worker pickin' fruit.

Lawyer of the year shouldn't be the most news-worthy, it should be the most worthy one that doesn't get in the news. otherwise it will always be a criminal Attorney General, psycho prosecutor, or corrupt class-action litigator. The ABA should know better.

Tear.

(hey anybody remember that post 9-11 decal that some rednecks would put on their 4x4s of an American Eagle with a tear coming out of its eye?)

This comment thread is proof that the "it's not the BEST lawyer, it's the most newsworthy lawyer" criteria is unsuccessful. People think he's being rewarded. He's not, but no one gets it. He'll probably put it on his fucking resume.

> Other high-profile lawyers that were nominated for the distinction included Goodling, the Justice Department's liaison to the White House who quit in April amid the political firestorm; I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff who was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in the investigation into the leaked identity of former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson; and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the top prosecutor in Chicago who won the case against Libby.

Their standard is clearly newsworthy, with a bonus if you've got a connection to the Bush Administration, as opposed to most moral or most effective or most likely to meet with slog's approval.

The long dark nightmare in this country continues apace...

Holy fuck! Why isn't this man in prison yet?

@13 it would be best to wait 14 months so Bush can't just pardon his buddy

I'm a member of the ABA, and I am embarrassed and disgusted.

So by this logic should pilots that cause horrifying news-making plane crashes automatically be nominated pilot of the year.

Fnarf @ 10,

Oh we get it, it's just that headline alone almost gave me an aneurysm.

It doesn't matter that the ABA's qualification is that the lawyers be "newsworthy" because the first thing people think when they hear that someone is "________ of the Year" is that they're the best (or most as the case may be).

chi type @ 16,

You are so very, very right.

Adolph Hitler was once Time Magazine's Man of the Year. So was Joseph Stalin (twice).

I didn't feel very good about myself when I didn't do so well on my LSAT. I was angry and thought about why a labyrinthine exam with time limits would be a good screener for those who wanted to study law. Find the cheese in 45 minutes, little mouse.

Well, if Gonzales is what it takes to be lawyer of the year, I'm glad fate pulled me away from that profession.

@17 Ecce Homo, Slog Commenter of the Year!