When the A.B.A. Journal, the magazine sent to members of the American Bar Association, named its Lawyer of the Year for 2007, it didn't take long for comments ranging from hilarity to outrage to appear on its website.

"Is this a joke?" wrote one outraged reader. "I am looking forward to A.B.A. Journal's People of the 20th Century: Tom Jones, Hitler, Marcia Brady, David Beckham, Boo Radley..."

Who on earth could engender such opprobrium, just for being the first Lawyer of the Year chosen by the A.B.A.? None other than Alberto Gonzales, who resigned in disgrace as Attorney General in September after months of inquiries into whether he broke the law and lied to Congress.

"This is hilarious," wrote another commenter on the A.B.A. website, not sounding in the least amused. "The tagline for the A.B.A. is 'Defending Liberty, Pursuing Justice.' I'd go into a diatribe pointing out the fine points of irony ... but it seems pretty pointless. I can't wait to see how wins next year ... perhaps the legal mind that can contort a justification of genocide?"

Actually, the A.B.A. Journal has already named the Lawyer of the Year for 2008: former federal judge Michael Mukasey. The editors predict he will be in the spotlight as he cleans up Gonzales' mess as the new attorney general. (Perhaps the publication would like to take a shot at predicting 2009 Oscar winners.)

Readers, however, seemed not so much interested in predicting the future as in venting over the recent past.

"It is DISGRACEFUL of you to 'honor' a man whose ignominious turn as AG marred our legal history and a judge who refused to testify that drowning is torture," another commenter wrote on the site. "The A.B.A. is AWFUL."

Right after that, a reader suggested renaming the title to Torture Defender of the Year or Most Dangerous Lawyer of the Year.

Earlier this week, A.B.A. Journal Editor Edward Adams told the Associated Press, that it had named Gonzales its Lawyer of the Year for making the most news.

The A.P. story added that Adams says there's no suggestion that the person picked is the best lawyer "in any sense of the word." Adams noted Time magazine's choice of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin as its "men of the year" in the past, the A.P. adds

A.B.A. members were not amused. "Far too clever by half," one of them wrote on the website. "The A.B.A. has only managed to make itself look stupid and craven."

Some members, however, were amusing. "I protest!" wrote one. "Where is Ann Coulter? Surely she comes up on Google a lot and she is a lawyer."

Many were short but sweet: "Idiots."

"Why don't you name George Bush 'King' and Dick Cheney 'Wizard' while you are at it?" inquires another. "A much stronger message would have been the lawyers who were fired by Fredo. Instead you all reward him. I am the Admin VP of a large law firm—we will not be renewing our 50+ subscriptions."

Actually, the A.B.A. Journal is sent to every A.B.A. member, so that would be memberships. Ouch!

Apparently, the domestic pickings for the honor were slim this year: The National Law Journal, which has named a Lawyer of the Year for more than a decade, will name Pakistan's chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, as Lawyer of the Year in next Monday's issue.

The reason? He is an "international symbol of an independent judiciary and of resistance to the excesses of military rule." The Law Journal put its selection up on the Web on Wednesday to get the word out neck and neck with the A.B.A. Journal.

One poster to the A.B.A.'s website called for the impeachment of the Journal's editor. The A.B.A. released a statement from Adams this afternoon, noting that the article selecting Gonzales as Lawyer of the Year "defined that term as the year's biggest legal newsmaker," and adding: "The Journal regrets that we did not make this theme clear."

"We appreciate the feedback we've received, and we're acting on it," Adams' statement The headline of the story posted on the A.B.A. Journal's website now reads "Newsmakers of the Year."

The statement points out that the A.B.A. brass, its Board of Governors and its officers had nothing to do with Gonzales' selection.

by Karen Donovan