Lawyers get blamed at times for some ugly things. But have you noticed that they can also be beautiful?

What!?!? No?

Well, Howie Altholz, a Boston lawyer, has.

Altholtz, marketing director of Ruberto, Israel & Weiner, a local intellectual property firm, is putting together a calendar of 12 beautiful Massachusetts lawyers, both men and women Part of the proceeds from the $19.95 calendar, to go on sale this fall, will go to Greater Boston Legal Services.

"I just thought it would be fun to do something that took the edge off of lawyers being stiff," Altholz says. "Get behind the power suit, if you will."

But not in their birthday suits. The photos will show the lawyers in their professional garb and also "doing something that is personal and passionate." The non-legal mind boggles.

Altholtz says he already has a ton of nominations, and the selection committee --- which includes David Yas, the publisher of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, and Gene Allen, founder of the advertising agency working on the project --- have already made some selections.

Litigators have sent pictures of themselves in the boxing ring. Yes, lawyers are nominating themselves! One of the lawyers already selected hails from Ropes & Gray, one of Boston's oldest and perhaps most stodgy law firms.

Television shows like Boston Legal not withstanding, Boston, home to the Cabots and the Lodges, is not usually associated with the Beautiful People, except when Gisele visits Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Although a Boston College Law School student once posed nude for Cosmopolitan magazine. (He is now a Massachusetts state senator.)

But, as Altholtz points out, 'this isn't about vanity or youth or skin. It's about style and class and spirit...what we say is the beauty inside and out."

Judging lawyers by their looks can be contentious. You may recall that the big law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom protested when an unofficial Skadden blog launched a "Hottest Female Associate" contest. The hotties themselves apparently had to fend off calls from reporters after news of the contest spread.

Altholtz is into beauty. A musician, he had a band in the 1970s, Test Tube Babies, that once opened for Joan Jett. His most recent band, Howie Howie, has recorded a song "Beauty Up The River."

If you know a beautiful Massachusetts lawyer, or even a judge, you can go to www.beautifullawyers.com to enter them into the contest. And you can listen to Altholtz's song, "Beauty Up The River," on the Howie Howie entry on MySpace.com.

Karen Donovan