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Pseudonymous Commenter Wins WSJ Law Blog Lawyer of the Year Award

Never mind that Loyola 2L, the pseudonymous, muckraking law student who comments on the poor job prospects for graduates of lower-tiered law schools at blogs like WSJ Law Blog and Above the Law may never beat out his peers from elite schools for a high-paying associate position.   In a recent contest at WSJ Law Blog,  Loyola 2L downed far more formidable competition, trouncing legal luminaries like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, former AG Alberto Gonzales and Pakistan's Chief Justice Chaudhry to win the coveted title of  WSJ Law Blog Lawyer of the Year.

In a profession where $180,000 salaries for new associates dominate headlines, Loyola 2L captured the perspective of the forgotten lower-tier law school graduate with comments like this one:

Two years ago I stupidly enrolled in Loyola Law School, thinking it would lead to a decent job,” he wrote. “Now I’m in massive debt and have been taught a hard lesson. … Students from tier 2 schools aren’t allowed to have good jobs, despite all the money and work we put into the education.”

Loyola's comments struck a chord with many blog readers who empathized with him or had endured a similar experience.  But he annoyed others who advised that his job prospects would improve if he worked harder.

Loyola 2L's experience teaches a valuable lesson that transcends his more limited point about the folly of taking on massive law school debt in a job market that offers no guarantee of financial success.  By commenting incessantly at heavily trafficked blogs with a built-in audience, Loyola drew attention to his message far more effectively than through more conventional means, such as writing an op-ed piece for a bar journal.  And in Loyola's case, even starting his own blog might not have given him as much exposure as comments, since it's unlikely that Loyola would have generated a broad reader base beyond his more limited constituency of dissatisfied law students.   

Could it be that the 2L in Loyola's name really stands for "to leverage," i.e.,  to leverage the power of popular blogs?

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on December 20, 2007 at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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