The Webby Awards are the equivalent of the Oscars for websites, honouring excellence in web design, creativity, usability and functionality. They are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

This year the Academy’s award in the Law category has gone to Justice Learning, which describes itself as “an innovative, issue-based approach for engaging high school students in informed political discourse”. Issues covered include peacekeeping, voting rights, civil liberties, gun control, energy and the environment and the death penalty.

The web site uses audio from the Justice Talking radio show and articles from The New York Times to teach students about reasoned debate and the often-conflicting values inherent in our democracy. In addition, for each covered issue, the site includes curricular material from The New York Times Learning Network for high school teachers and detailed information about how each of the institutions of democracy (the courts, the Congress, the presidency, the press and the schools) affect the issue.

A worthy site, but a Law site? I think not.

The winner of the People’s Voice award, voted by the public, went to Jurist – a web-based legal news and real-time legal research service powered by a mostly-volunteer team of over 30 part-time law student reporters, editors and Web developers led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Switching channels, so to speak, ask yourself “What is a law firm?” and you need look no further than the fantastic Crane Poole & Schmidt for the answer the public will give.