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President Obama pens post for nation’s leading law blog

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February 24, 2016

If you are the president of the United States and you want to state in writing your position on a matter regarding the United States Supreme Court, where do you go?

To the most influential and widely read publication covering the Supreme Court, of course.

And rather than convey your point to a reporter acting as a gatekeeper, you write your own article. You are the President of the United States after all. And public relations driven stories through reporters and traditional media are so old school.

The most influential publication covering the Supreme Court today is SCOTUSblog, co-founded by Attorneys Tom Goldstein and Amy Howe, husband and wife, in 2002.

From its start, SCOTUSblog has comprehensively covered the U.S. Supreme Court without bias and according to the highest journalistic and legal ethical standards.

SCOTUSblog is no longer published by just Goldstein and Howe. Reporter Lyle Denniston, as well as other staff members joined over time. Contributions have also come from other lawyers at Tom’s law firm (Amy was a former partner), as well as students at Stanford and Harvard Law Schools. More than twenty people now work on or write for the blog.

Though Tom makes clear the blogs is provided as a public service, there’s little question the blog has helped him and his firm from a professional and business development standpoint. Over the past fifteen years, Tom has served as one of the lawyers for one of the parties in just under 10% of the cases argued before the Supreme Court. He’s argued 30 cases himself.

So today when President Obama wanted to state his position on nominating a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, he posted to the SCOTUSblog.

Even The New York Times Supreme Court correspondent, Adam Liptak found the President’s blogging as notable. We have heard the President before as he considers a nominee, but never on a blog.

Law Blogs have a come a mighty long way. Thanks Tom, Amy and now, President Obama.

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