“Article III Groupie,” the pseudonymous proprietress of “Underneath Their Robes,” a popular blog trafficking in news and gossip about the federal judiciary, was “outed” yesterday by the New Yorker — and she’s a man, baby!
“Her” name is David Lat, “she” is a Yale Law School grad and an Assistant United States Attorney in New Jersey… and “her” blog has now mysteriously disappeared. If you go to the URL, you’re asked to enter a password. Apparently, for a brief while before the password prompt started popping up, there was a final post which stated, “This blog has been taken offline.” Screenshot here.
What makes this all very odd is that it was a self-outing. Lat willingly revealed his identity as Article III Groupie (or, as he might say, as the creator of the Article III Groupie alter-ego; archived version of A3G’s attempt at an explanation here) to the New Yorker. Unlike, say, Washingtonienne, who was unwittingly discovered by the masses, Lat outed himself. One can only assume, given the blog’s sudden disappearance, that Lat’s bosses are not happy with him. It seems the “self-outing” was a bad career move. (Well, given the content of the blog: duh.)
This is why I’m up-front with firms about my blog. Better not to be hired in the first place by a blog-hostile employer, than to get in trouble later.
(Hat tip: Volokh.)
P.S. I first became aware of Article III Groupie when she scooped me, sort of, on Professor Kelley’s imminent departure from NDLS. At the time, I had no idea that her blog was as popular as it is; hence I didn’t realize how completely wrong I was to state that “I suspect my audience of 1,000+ visitors per day is a bit larger than hers.” I also incorrectly referred to her as “Article III Junkie.” :)
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November 15th, 2005 at 2:26:09 am
Well, your blog does not exactly Conceal your true Identity. :> [Drudge, with Siren: CONTROVERSIAL BLOGGER AT “THE IRISH TROJAN’S BLOG - BRENDAN LOY’S HOMEPAGE” OUTED AS HOTSHOT LAWYER BRENDAN LOY! www.brendanloy.com Exposed…developing…
But, yeah, shoving prospective employers’ Noses into it is a good Precaution, albeit not the most complimentary Metaphor. :} / Which is also why I think you should send Spike Lee’s producer a sample BL Post (if there Is one, which I still think there Is) decrying the crackpot Race-based Theory of the Katrina Response, indicating that ‘if Spike is OK with this, why Sure I’ll do an Interview for the Movie.’ :>
November 15th, 2005 at 2:28:13 am
Heh.
Re: Spike Lee — I couldn’t find any such post (I looked), but see the latest comments on the Spike Lee post to read the e-mail that I wrote Lee’s producer, which makes the point quite clearly.
November 15th, 2005 at 2:42:26 am
OK, yeah, bloodyobviously I hadn’t yet seen that when I Commentposted the above. Very Good. “…makes the point quite clearly.” Makes it? I should say it Does. :)
November 15th, 2005 at 7:25:50 am
Brendan - far be it for you to take advice from someone such as myself, but since it is marginally relevant to this thread, here are several questions worth answering (for yourself) prior to participating in Lee’s movie:
Q1. Why is Brendan Loy “famous”?
A1. Because he shouted that ‘the sky was falling’ when
a1a. The sky in fact was falling
a1b. The rest of the world seemed oblivious to this fact.
Q2. Where does Lee stand on the issue?
A2. Apparently, he thinks the sky fell in part due to racial issues. Like anything, we will all have to wait for the movie to know for sure.
Q3. Loy’s view?
A3. Not the race card.
Q4. In a movie about the sky falling, which apparently blames that falling on racial issues, Loy will be an example of one who warned that the sky was falling…but his position will come with the appropriate cinematic disclaimer that he believes it wasn’t due to race?
A4. Maybe. You don’t often see films with these types of disclaimers, particularly for minor characters, but you won’t know until you see it.
Q5. Even if there is a disclaimer, will it be significant enough in the story such that a future member of the Phoenix Law Society is clearly associated only with the hurricane and not any underlying political agendas?
A5. That’s a question you will have to answer for yourself.
Again, my position is probably clear given the above, but you should not base your decision on my recommendation; rather your comfort with the answers to the five quesions above.
Oh, and one other question which I really don’t have any clue about:
Q6: How competitive is the partner track in the Phoenix law community?
November 15th, 2005 at 8:33:00 am
Wasn’t Article III Groupie also claiming to have been hired as a law clerk by Kozinski for the next term? So weird.
November 15th, 2005 at 9:30:40 am
One word: Idiot.
November 15th, 2005 at 10:53:53 am
The writer of the judiciary gossip blog is probably the biggest nerd in the world, even more than you. Why don’t you people do some living?
November 15th, 2005 at 11:41:03 am
I recall several months ago seeing some snippet on a cable news channel about a woman who was doing an anonymous blog about fashion and cosmetics. She worked in some high-profile Manhattan beauty salon or spa, and upon revealing to her employers that she was the author of that blog, she was let go. Now she has a book deal and, as mentioned, was featured on national TV.
Given some of the recent comments A3G had made on UTR, I suspect that Mr. Lat is hoping for the same kind of deal, and given the publicity his/her blog has received over the past several months ancillary to the Supreme Court nominations, I won’t be surprised if it happens.
On the other hand, s/he probably should have taken better care to have something lined up before going public, and the sudden going-dark does seem to suggest that things may not be going as planned.
November 15th, 2005 at 3:35:07 pm
And who are you to say that Mr. Lat does not have something lined up already?
My understanding is that Mr. Lat is doing quite well. A3G, however, is in serious trouble.
November 15th, 2005 at 3:40:28 pm
What’s the deal with all of these boys pretending to be girls in their blogs? Is there some sort of gender-denial issue in the judiciary?
November 15th, 2005 at 4:28:36 pm
It occurs quite often in video games, especially online RPGs like World of Warcraft as well. Apparently guys like to take on female characters. I asked a friend who plays a lot of Final Fantasy XI and he said this, “If you are going to be playing a game where you watch somebody run around all the time, wouldn’t you rather stare at a chicks butt than a dudes?”.