Sometimes it pays to check your spam.  I came across an email from the ABA in there, from a fellow named Howard Kaplan.  He does something for the ABA, though he never tells me what  it is.  I could have probably looked at the  ABA Journal website to find out, but it wasn’t important enough to take the few second to do.

But his email had some promise.  It seems that there’s yet another contest in offing from the ABA.  This time, it sounds important, the 2008 Silver Gavel Awards.  These awards“recognize outstanding efforts to foster the American public’s understanding of law, legal institutions, and the role of law in government, society and culture.”  Well, now we’re talking business.  This is no Beauty Pageant.  This is hardcore.  And there’s nothing I want to do more than foster the public’s understanding of law, for better or worse.

The email goes on to say why they invite applicants for this year’s 51st annual award.  51 years?  Why, that’s older than most of my clothing, and all of my shoes, so it’s got some age to it (meaning gravitas, since things don’t last that long if they don’t count for anything).  But what’s with this “invite applicants?” 

Here’s my first issue.  If you have to apply for an honor, then it isn’t an honor.  It’s like children screaming “look at me, look at me” in order to be the big kahuna.  One might say that by inviting someone to apply, they’ve already made the effort and now turn it over to the “applicant” to choose the piece that she feels best reflects his work.  While a little too facile for a pseudo-cynic like me, I might be willing to accept this explanation but for one thing.  And that brings me to point number 2.

The New ABA Motto:  “Defending Liberty, Pursuing Justice, Making a Buck Wherever It Can.”

That’s right.  Not only do you have to apply for the Award, but you have to PAY to apply.  From the email,  “The entry fee is $75, except for Television News, which is $125.”  Entry fee.  Sigh (this is the third time I’ve sighed in a post in two days).  So this is what it comes down to.  Entry fees.

Now some will say, “You cheap bastard.  Pay the fee, it won’t break you.”  True, it won’t.  But pay to be considered for an award?  There’s the rub.

Now I can understand why they make television news pay (and pay more, I might add).  It’s a profit-making venture.  They win an award and get to promote it to show how legitimate and significant their show is.  They they can charge more for commercial time and make more money.  It’s an investment.

But blawgs aren’t money-makers.  This is for love, and as the Beatles told me, “your love doesn’t pay my bills.”  I can’t monetize their award any more than I can monetize this blawg.  Nobody reads Simple Justice because of an award; they read because there’s something they feel like reading.  And the minutes they stop feeling that way, they split.  It’s the nature of the beast, and it works just fine for me.

So, to my new email pal Howard, if you see something here that you think ought to get a 2008 Silver Gavel Award, send it on over.  But don’t wait by the mailbox for my check, because it’s not coming.  I don’t pay for the glory of applying for Awards.  It’s not the amount, but the idea.  The price of fame with the ABA is just too high for me.