We are also pleased to announce two new sponsored jury prizes for the most thought provoking blog posts on issues of social and legal importance, worth Rs 20,000 (see details below), which was kindly donated by a practising lawyer.

Total prize funds in the competition remain Rs 1 lakh, to be divided and decided according to the criteria set out at the bottom of this post.

We will follow up in a few days with an analysis and reviews of some of the top bloggers and their most interesting posts. Do also remember that the ultimate decision on winners will not be made on the basis of these number of hits but a combination of factors, as set out below.

Popularity contest (not entirely):

Top Bloggers:

In the last four months, the most popular bloggers by aggregate hits on all their posts were (with total number of posts in brackets): LegalPoet (15), anirban1 (23), sss (10), nandiireywal (10), legaldrift (10), Bihari Babuu (9), legalpopat (4), john2010 (7), sagnik (2), danishsheikh (4), Let Me (4), ramanuj (3), prashbez (1), Final Year Law Student (2), Chandrajit Mukherjee (3) and allym (6).

Individual post performance In terms of individual posts, the run-away most popular blog was LegalPoet’s NLSIU? NUJS? NALSAR? The FASTEST, STRONGEST and the SEXIEST of law schools? racking up almost 4,000 hits and nearly 3,000 unique page views in less than a month. Canny headlining, a smattering of sex and stirring of law school rivalries that will never die; a recipe for success. In fact, LegalPoet occupies all top four slots in terms of popularity, showing that useful and light-hearted career-related advice scored well with readers:

• From INTERNSHIP to PPO (Pre Placement Offer). Wake up and smell the coffee.
• 15 CV TIPS: Make RECRUITERS pounce on you like DOGS ON BONES
• Das Amar Chand Mangal Sweets: How Law Students Are INSECTS

Next up in the popularity stakes were:

• To do or not to do a LL.M from UK by prashbez, who compiled a hugely useful guide and information he had collated in extensive research into taking an LLM. Hugely useful resource! (and unfortunately also prashbez’s only blog post)
• INTERNSHIP: Hidden Camera reveals the INTERN, a name change and his DEATH by LegalPoet – a very funny and well-written poem featuring Mohan, who must surely be the most memorable law firm intern in history.
• The Law School Placement Ordeal by sss – a lovely blog post casting a wry fourth year’s eye over what law school REALLY means. Great writing.
• CRICKET and IPL - Lessons for Lawyers, Law Firms and YOU by LegalPoet – a very topical post, marrying IPL and career advice – popularity guaranteed.
• NLU Jharkhand, the 14th national law varsity of India by sagnik – A simple post but contains breaking news that everyone wants to know and talk about. Content is king.
• Qualifying Bar Exam. Fair on final year law students? by Final Year Law Student – you can not get more topical than that, leading the news and addressing a topic that will be on everyone’s mind.
• Amarchand = Team India; Shane Bond = NLU Grads. And what makes JSA thrive by LegalPoet – great headline writing with something for everyone (if you like law firms and cricket).
• GETTING “LAID” ON THE JOB – legalpopat proving that sex and masala sell (even if a cheeky mis-sell in this case). Check out some of popat’s other early blogs – they were among the most popular ones in the early days of the competition.
• The Calcutta High Court website by anirban1 - an unusual, colourful and thought-provoking post on an important issue in legal practice – anyone else fed up with courtsABC.nic.in? Great eye for detail.
• HIGH (in) COURT: A drunk mooter prays for a flowing stream of FUN by LegalPoet, combining mooting, drinking and poetry, what more could you want?
• My first Moot Court Competition by aayush1990sri – again, hitting a universal theme and great personal writing.

Moral of the blogs Note that almost all of these display a real knack for good headline writing. Good headlines are surprising while not too cryptic, they make clear the content and facts of the post and also draw the reader with intriguing detail.

(And do also note that writing headlines in ALL CAPS has no apparent correlation with popularity but looks rather shouty so please stop - it is ultimately quality content and headlines that win an audience).

Also see that breaking news and topical content is often very popular. Plus, building up brand value goes a long way, with Legal Poet having developed fanbase that ensures that all his posts are widely read.

As discussed above, stay tuned later this week (hopefully) for a critical and personal look at the best and most interesting bloggers to date, and why.

Revised prize funds After feedback we have revised the prize funds into the following categories.

Best legal blogger category demonstrating overall blogging excellence First prize: Rs 30,000 cash award Second prize: Rs 20,000 Third prize: Rs 10,000 Highly commended prize: Rs 5,000

Single best blog post categories: Favourite overall post: Rs 10,000 Most useful post: Rs 5,000 [amended from second-best overall post] Funniest and/or most entertaining post: Rs 5,000 Quality/skill of writing award: Rs 5,000 Best post on working as a qualified lawyer: Rs 5,000 Best post on life as a law student: Rs 5,000

Plus new special jury prize for social justice blogging: The two most thought-provoking posts tackling issues of social and legal importance: Rs 10,000 each, sponsored by a practising lawyer and blogging supporter who wishes to remain anonymous. Many thanks! Please note that winning posts will have to be of exceptional quality and must contain rigorous argument. Certificates will also be awarded to winners.

Selection procedure: The best legal blogger category will be judged by a combination of popular vote and a jury (other previous eligibility criteria and terms will continue to apply, while the rules remain subject to change if deemed necessary).

The jury will consist of three judges, with each picking his or her favourite blogger in order, and an online vote will be held to determine the four most popular bloggers. The first-placed by poll and by each juror respectively will get 4 points, down to 1 point for the fourth placed. The points will be tallied and the one with the most number of points will win. In the event of tied points, popular vote points will act as the decider.

A similar system will be used for determining the best posts in each category, with contestants entering a number of what they deem their top blogs in each class.

And with that, happy blogging!

We all look forward to reading more brilliance, freedom of expression, creativity, as well as the downright surreal.

(Ps: please do not take the announcement of the above categories as an invitation to flood post blogs in the hopes of landing one winner. Quality will always prevail over quantity here and any posts from now on that fall drastically short of reasonably acceptable standards of quality will be deleted).

<div style=""><a href=“http://www.legallyindia.com/LegalPoet/“&gt;&lt;img src=“http://www.legallyindia.com/images/avatar/thumb_e420d8e7d14fd6226736b8f1.jpg” alt=“LegalPoet” border=“0” height=“40” width=“40”></a><br> <a href=“http://www.legallyindia.com/anirban1/” ><img src=“http://www.legallyindia.com/images/avatar/thumb_09efeec03eae9d7e58a62bbe.jpg”

alt=“anirban1” border=“0” height=“40” width=“40”></a><br> <a href=“http://www.legallyindia.com/sss/“&gt;&lt;img src=“http://www.legallyindia.com/images/avatar/thumb_8ef31a25e7c103aa76bf7d49.jpg” alt=“sss” border=“0” height=“40” width=“40”></a><br> <a aiotarget=“false” aiotitle=“nandiireywal” href=“http://www.legallyindia.com/nandiireywal/” ><img src=“http://www.legallyindia.com/images/avatar/thumb_21c18368f5017604b66d062a.jpg”

alt=“nandiireywal” border=“0” height=“40” width=“40”></a><br> <a href=“http://www.legallyindia.com/legaldrift/“&gt;&lt;img src=“http://www.legallyindia.com/images/avatar/thumb_6eaa28976c26b94c24ace5a5.jpg” alt=“legaldrift” border=“0” height=“40” width=“40”></a><br> <a href=“http://www.legallyindia.com/Bihari-Babuu/“&gt;&lt;img src=“http://www.legallyindia.com/images/avatar/thumb_dea714274a84dba31cca9dba.jpg” alt=“Bihari Babuu” border=“0” height=“40” width=“40”></a><br> <a href=“http://www.legallyindia.com/legalpopat/“&gt;&lt;img src=“http://www.legallyindia.com/images/avatar/thumb_c943bae92d8c88b52696e2fd.jpg” alt=“legalpopat” border=“0” height=“40” width=“40”></a><br> <a aiotarget=“false” aiotitle=“john2010” href=“http://www.legallyindia.com/Your-profile?userid=2246” ><img src=“http://www.legallyindia.com/images/avatar/thumb_ab06a2c0c29bd8af44eff13e.jpg”

alt=“john2010” border=“0” height=“40” width=“40”></a>