Lawyer X here again.

I know that I'm only an honorary member of the Between Lawyers group, but I can no longer sit idly by waiting until the rest of them, including Ernie, get around to posting about Ernie's big announcement.

As the proverbial ""fly on the wall" to the Between Lawyers conversations, I can tell you that these bloggers definitely leave their best material on their back-channel email discussion list and this topic is no exception. On the other hand, they could be secret agents the way they kept Ernie's announcement secret from the public over the last few weeks.

Once again, I see them having a lot of conversations that just do not make it to the blog, but by the time they decide who is going to announce Ernie's move to solo practice and what that post should say, it will be 2007. Since I'm more the impatient and impulsive type, I finally decided that I had to jump in and make a post. Ernie's so darn modest that he'll never get around to posting this news.

Now that I have the podium again, though, I'll make a few remarks based on my observations as a mostly-slient member of the back-channel email list. It's fascinating what I see.

On the Between Lawyers back-channel list, someone will raise a topic in an email and ask whether it's something they "might" blog about. Then the following happens:

Denise seems to always reply: "Blog it!" Five minutes later, she'll send another email saying that she's already blogged about it, giving it some context, some appropriate links and one of her clever titles. It seems like she's saying "blog it!" as an assignment to herself.

Dennis seems to always say that he had already been thinking about blogging about the topic and expects to post something about it "soon." Then, any time between later that day and two weeks later, the topic will surface in paragraph twelve of a post that initially seems to be on a completely different topic, but you gradually realize puts the topic in a larger context and draws some practical lessons.

Ernie seems to always want to "mull over" what he might say about the topic. Like Dennis, he might or might not write about the topic, but, if he does, he ends up treating the topic in a thoughtful, philosophical way, making a larger point about the topic and its larger implications.

Marty seems to always fire back two or three responses that are either hilarious or perfect for posting to the blog. He also often seem to mention that there are already decided cases on the topic. He insists that he needs to polish his responses and find a suitable picture before he can turn his remarks into a blog post. He then finds something that the Bush administration has done that day that incenses him and he forgets to make the post.

Tom seems to always give the caveat that "he's just a litigator who is not as familiar with the topic as the rest of you." He then offers a concise, spot-on summary of the issue and may post about it and add several perfectly-chosen links to resources that will help people learn more about it.

It's a fascinating interplay to watch. I've often felt that a law school that cared about its students would be smart to swoop in and hire all five of these people, give them tenure and turn them loose to teach students. That's probably why I'm not in charge of hiring professors at a law school.

It's a pleasure to get to look in on what they do, but I do wish that they wouldn't leave so much good material on the cutting room floor.

On behalf of the whole group at Between Lawyers, including Lawyer X, congratulations and bon voyage to Ernie on his new adventure. And, you might want to update that bio in the left-hand column over there, Ernie.