A BIRTHDAY BASH: Congratulations in advance to Howard Bashman, whose How Appealing weblog celebrates its first birthday this week.
Since its inception on May 6, 2002, Howard's blog has accomplished two things worthy of praise:
1. His blog covers an area that no one had before on the web -- appellate litigation. For those of us who attended law school because we find the law intrinsically interesting as an intellectual pursuit, appellate litigation is the fertile land between the Tigris and the Euphrates where the most stimulating matters grow. Appellate litigation is the real-life zone where so many law school questions are asked: "Well, what if we changed this fact -- what result then?" "What if we tried to apply this law to a new context?" It is also the realm in which the Constitution's emanations and penumbras are defined and refined, over and over again.
Appellate litigation is important, and no one thought to cover it on the web before Howard. Which leads us to . . .
2. He does it so well that one cannot imagine a competitor emerging. What's wonderful about the weblog is that Howard performs himself that which he praises in others: the writing is clear, elegant, and occasionally dotted with witty pop cultural references. He says no more than he needs to, and points you to others when need be, being both comprehensive and succinct in one fell swoop.
It's a heck of a website and Howard, I should add, is a heck of a nice guy.
Since I'm still expecting to be busy on its formal birthday, let me on this early day say congratulations, Howard, and thank you.
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