We Love Lawyers: Celebrating 20 Years at Lawdragon

It’s all because of you.

We all have dreams. They’re fragile things, prone to crash and burn, turned to dust by fear and common sense.

At Lawdragon, we had a dream, to build a world of information about great lawyers. It was 2005, and we were newspaper refugees with a passion for the law. So we thought we’d tell stories.

And there they were. The greatest lawyers in America, plaintiff powerhouses, leaders of the nation’s most prestigious law firms, aspiring advocates all of whom make a living through logic and reasoning, skepticism and persuasion.

And us? We brought a little green dragon with eyeglasses to the fight.

His name is Finneas, by the way, and we’ll tell you how he came to be. And how he propelled us across millions of miles, from Los Angeles to New York City; Kansas City to Houston; Tampa to Chicago; Boston to Kigali; Cape Town to Cambridge, Mass.; George Town, Grand Cayman, to Guantanamo; Birmingham, Ala., to London.

We’ll be writing a little of our life’s story on these digital pages as we celebrate our 20^th anniversary.

For whatever reason there might be.

For us, it’s a reason to celebrate each of the incredible lawyers we’ve encountered. We’ll share some memories as well as new stories about some of our favorite friends we’ve met along the way.

To set the scene: It’s just before Labor Day, 2005. Following several all-nighters, we ship our first magazine to the printer to release at our “Enter the Dragon” party at the Geisha House in Hollywood. A storm is brewing in the Gulf. It becomes Hurricane Katrina, and decimates New Orleans and the Gulf Coast beginning August 23. In that issue, we publish our first “Lawdragon 500” as well as an article asking whether there should be term limits for Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 80, who is approaching 33 years on the bench. He dies Sept. 3.

It’s been a ride. A never-look-back and don’t-even-think-about-stopping juggernaut of a journey.

It’s been glorious and ridiculous. Simultaneously the best and worst things we’ve ever done. It forged a team of steel whose hearts together beat for the chance to tell your story. Because in a world with millions of lawyers, finding your champion is magic.

So why does anyone hold on to a dream? For us, it’s because of you.

You’ve been there between each line of pain and the glory.

Cause you’re the best thing that ever happened to us.

We invite you to visit our 20th Anniversary page, and check back throughout the year as we roll out articles on some of the world's most influential lawyers.