American Bar Association Names Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home A Top Legal Blog For Third Year

Thank you so much to those who nominated this blog to the ABA's Blawg 100! The American Bar Association has announced their winners, and Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home was named one of the top labor and employment blogs in the country for the third year in a row. I couldn't have gotten there without your help.

I'm honored to be included as the only employee-side blog in the labor and employment category, along with such terrific management-side blogs as Dan Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law Blog, Molly DiBianca’s Delaware Employment Law Blog, Eric Meyer’s The Employer Handbook, Jeff Nowak’s FMLA Insights, Jon Hyman’s Ohio Employer's Law Blog, and Seyfarth Shaw’s Trading Secrets. Dan Schwartz was also named to the blawg hall of fame!

Vote for Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home here

It's such a pleasure to write this blog, mainly because of you, my readers. I love your questions and comments, and enjoy being able to point employees in distress in the right direction. I know my fellow honorees on employer side feel the same about trying to help employers sort through the confusing tangle of employment laws. Here's what the ABA Journal says about this year's Blawg 100:

It's our lucky seventh time at this blog-ranking rodeo. Does luck come into play as we assemble our list? Perhaps. Maybe it's a lucky break for a blogger when one of its readers takes the time to write to us to make sure we give it serious consideration. There are thousands of legal blogs, after all.

But really, it's a blogger's dedication, creativity and engagement with readers and the other minds of the legal blogosphere that make us take notice. We think our familiarity with these blogs ultimately makes us better legal journalists—and getting to know them might make you a better lawyer. At the very least, you might find kindred spirits who articulate the highs and lows of practice with wit and empathy.

If you've been following this blog all for at least a year, you know what's coming. Now is the time to vote for the best of the best in each category. Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home has come close to the top, but hasn't quite made it to the very peak of the labor and employment law blogs yet. I need your help.

If you think this blog is worthy, I need your vote. Go to the ABA website here. It takes about 30 seconds to register. Then go to the Labor & Employment category. Find Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home. Look to the left and you'll see a button that says, "Vote Now." Click it. You're done. The polls shut down at close of business Dec. 20. If you have trouble voting or questions about anything else, please see the ABA's Blawg 100 FAQ.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your support. Do check out the other labor and employment blogs. Even though they're geared toward helping employers rather than employees, they're chock full of great information, good writing, and good humor. You can also  click here for a list of all the honorees' Twitter handles if you want to see the latest employment law news.

Please don't forget to vote!

ABA Blawg 100

I'm excited and honored to say that this blog was named one of the ABA Blawg 100. Editors of the ABA Journal announced today they have selected Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home as one of the top 100 best blogs for a legal audience.

They chose six Labor and Employment blogs to be part of their top 100.

Now that the editors have made their picks, the ABA Journal is asking readers to weigh in and vote on their favorites in each of the 6th Annual Blawg 100's 15 categories. Go to http://www.abajournal.com/blawg100 to register and vote. Voting ends at close of business on Dec. 21, 2012. I'd sure appreciate your vote if you're a fan of my blog.

Here's what ABA said about the Blawg 100 selection:

"Each year, our choices become tougher. Blogging has become such a staple of
professional communication that keeping up with our own directory of more than 3,500
blogs by lawyers, judges, law professors or even law students is more formidable than
it's ever been," said ABA Journal Editor and Publisher Allen Pusey. "Some of them
have become such permanent, even required, fixtures in our everyday reading that we're introducing the ABA Journal Blawg 100 Hall of Fame to recognize those blogs and
bloggers that have set the standards for this vast, vibrant network for legal news and commentary."

Here's what the ABA Journal says about the five other blogs in the Labor and Employment category, all of which are on my must-read list:

Connecticut Employment Law Blog

Hartford lawyer Dan Schwartz covers the latest developments in Connecticut law as it relates to employers and distinguishes the significant rulings issued by the National Labor Relations Board from the run-of-the-mill ones. And when Schwartz’s firm sponsors free employment law seminars, he will blog the highlights.

Twitter: @danielschwartz


Ohio Employer's Law Blog

Jon Hyman wrote The Employer Bill of Rights (scheduled to come out Nov. 21). The Cleveland lawyer posts every weekday on decisions in Ohio and federal courts related to employees’ and employers’ use of social media, noncompete agreements, and the criteria employers can legally use in hiring and firing decisions. Posts often include pointed advice to employers as well as Hyman’s own takes on the opinions and legislation he covers.

Twitter: @jonhyman


The Delaware Employment Law Blog

“Molly [DiBianca] always has a practical and real-world take on the technology issues facing employers—social media, mobile and otherwise. She is not doom and gloom, and offers employers legal info they need to know to make tech work for their employees.” —Jon Hyman of Ohio Employer’s Law Blog, a partner with the Cleveland firm of Kohrman Jackson & Krantz

Twitter: @MollyDiBi


FMLA Insights

Is time spent filling your prescription at Walgreens covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act? Is leave beyond FMLA an “undue hardship” under the Americans with Disabilities Act? For employers with FMLA concerns, this blog is the place to go. Blogger Jeff Nowak of Chicago’s Franczek Radelet provides nuanced commentary on typical and not-so-typical employment conundrums.

Twitter: @FMLAInsights


Lawffice Space

“Phil Miles has a very entertaining employment law blog, where you can get answers to such burning questions as: Why are lawyers so smart and ridiculously good-looking? And whether calling an employee a jackass is worse than calling him a moron. Even though his posts are frequently funny or odd (in a good way), he also has excellent ‘mainstream’ information as well.” —Robin Shea, author of Employment & Labor Insider and a partner at Constangy, Brooks & Smith in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Twitter: @PhilipMiles


I'm honored to be in such great company! And here's what they said about my own little blog:


Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home

“Too many employees think they know their rights, but don’t,” blogger Donna Ballman writes. It’s the thesis behind her recently released book Stand Up for Yourself Without Getting Fired, and a situation she tries to remedy with her blog. Ballman, who practices out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., picks apart severance agreements, whistleblower provisions and noncompete clauses, revealing what employees should know about the contracts they sign—and what the company’s attorney was probably thinking when he or she inserted the language.

Twitter: @EmployeeAtty

Congratulations to the Blawg 100!

I'm incredibly honored to have Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home named one of the American Bar Association's Blawg 100 of 2011. Out of over 1300 nominated, eight of my favorite labor and employment blogs were chosen along with my blog. Of those, I'm pretty sure mine is the only employee-side blog, so I'm extra honored.

Included in the list are:

Employment and Labor Insider by Robin Shea


The Employer Handbook by Eric Meyer

Arizoneout by Dinita James

Connecticut Employment Law Blog by Daniel Schwartz

Delaware Employment Law Blog by Molly DiBianca

Ohio Employer's Law Blog by Jon Hyman

FMLA Insights by Jeff Nowak

Work Matters by Mike Maskanka

If you haven't checked these out, you should. They're all well worth reading.

Thanks so much to everyone who nominated me. It really means a lot.

But it's not over. There are 12 categories of blogs, including Labor and Employment, and ABA wants you to vote for your favorite. You can vote once in each category. Registration only takes a minute and it's ultra-simple, I promise. You don't have to be a lawyer to vote.