Gonzo Not Lawyer of the Year...Anymore.

Apparently, I was not the only person to be offended by Alberto Gonzales being named "Attorney of the Year" by the ABA and Mukasey being predicted to win the title in 2008. The initial clarification regarding the title came from editor and publisher Edward A. Adams when he told an AP reporter:

"Think about Time magazine's Person of the Year," Adams said in an interview. "In years past they've named people like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin. So we're not suggesting by these awards that these are the best lawyers in any sense of the word. We are saying they are the most newsworthy _ and perhaps also the best."

According to a recent editor's note on the ABA website, Alberto Gonzales has been stripped of the title "Attorney of the year" and more appropriately named "Newsmaker of the Year".

You can see my original article with the picture that originally appeared on the website here.

Here is a clip from the most recent editor's note I could locate on the topic:

When this article was posted online on December 12, 2007, it was titled “Lawyers of the Year 2007 and 2008.” The article defined that term as the year’s biggest legal newsmaker, identifying former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as the major newsmaker of 2007. The Journal regrets that we did not make this theme clear.

We appreciate the feedback we’ve received, and we’re acting on it. So that there can be no confusion, the term “Lawyers of the Year” has been changed in the headline and story to “Newsmakers of the Year.” The story is otherwise unchanged from its original version.