From the Editor

By Peter Allen
     
      Our annual search for lawyers who have made a significant impact on the law or policy is always an edifying experience. In researching the hundreds of California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year nominations submitted to us, we often learn about events we weren't aware of or discover talented lawyers previously unknown to us. This is the pleasurable side of our reporting. There's also an unpleasant side: discovering that information fed to us is misleading, such as nominations that exaggerate the effect of a particular victory or give credit to a particular lawyer when it rightfully belongs to another. And a word of advice to marketing folks: Be selective. The more nominations you submit, the less credibility you have.
      This year, as last year, four of our Editorial Advisory Board members were nominated. Two of them?Jeff Bleich and Dan Grunfeld?ended up on our final list. Another finalist?Boalt Hall Dean Christopher Edley Jr.?isn't a member of the State Bar, but we recognized him for the impact he's making on law in California.
      Special thanks for the awards section go to Senior Editor Chuleenan Svetvilas, who once again ably managed this year's project, and to our legal editor, Barbara Kate Repa, who infused it with her high standards.
      This is our eleventh year of handing out CLAY awards. The practice was something I initiated when I became editor of California Lawyer in 1996 and refined with the help of John Jay Osborn, a San Francisco lawyer and author (The Paper Chase) who was once an editor-at-large here. This CLAY issue will also be my last. I'm leaving the magazine to manage the communications department for the state's Administrative Office of the Courts.
     
     

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