Rules of the Road Behind the Scenes at "Adam Smith, Esq."

Trust is a classic example of a virtuous aspect of a relationship which can only be won painstakingly over time, but which can be destroyed in an instant.  Among the behaviors which support and build up trust are consistency, clarity, transparency, and a track record of "no surprises."

For the last week or so (since posting the reader survey), I've been thinking more than usual about the nature and make-up of "Adam Smith, Esq."'s readers, and your relationship to the site and indirectly to me—all very positive thoughts, I hasten to add!   So when I opened today's Sunday New York Times to see an "Editorial Observer" piece about ethics in the blogosphere, I was stricken by a pang that I have not stated to you, dear reader, in a concise and comprehensive fashion, my own rules of the road here.

Omission hereby remedied:

• Independence:  I have never even been approached, much less taken, a nickel, in cash or kind, to say anything in particular here or even to cover topic X, and I wouldn't dream of it:  So if the thought has crossed your mind, you can just plain forget it.  In fact, knowing my contrarian streak, you would probably shoot yourself in the foot if you even hinted along those lines.
• Advertising:  What I am in the habit of referring to as "that honking big ad" top right is served up to you and me through the good offices of ALM Media's legal blogging network, as a condition of my membership therein.  The beginning, middle, and end of my role in creating it was to cut and paste some code they emailed me into my master site template.  I have zero control over what appears there, what products/services are being promoted, if it's blue or green or purple, click-through rates, or anything else.   Since this is my site, not theirs, I do receive a small cut of the revenue from it, but by far the lion's share goes to them—in fact, that reminds me, I haven't actually seen a check yet.  Hmmmm....
• Attacks & Opportunities to Respond:  I hope, and believe, I have never "attacked" any individual or firm, but if I thought I was about to, I would surely contact them off-site in advance and give them a chance to tell their side of the story.  In the (exceptionally rare—as I recall, it has happened exactly once) case where a reader requested a "clarification" of a post, I immediately replied that I would put up any comment they wished to offer, verbatim, unedited, and in full.  They took me up on it.
• The In-box is Open:  I welcome reader response and indeed consider it one of the highlights of "Adam Smith, Esq." from my perspective.  Always feel free to contact me at bmacewen at nyc dot rr dot com.

If I've forgotten to discuss or disclose anything else, let me know!