Next Tuesday will be Carey’s last day posting on Consumerist full-time. He’s off to law school, where he will get schooled in a “combination of consumer law and legislative drafting with a dash of administrative law.” Laura will be taking over the weekend slot.

Carey started off with us as an email intern and was later promoted to Weekend Editor when we realized he was brilliant. He’s always had a knack for turning Washington arcana into accessible, popular and substantive posts for our readers; I remember fondly his “Why Is Gas So Freakin’ Expensive,” where he translated a 324-page Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report into a 2157 Digg post.

Whether liveblogging Congressional hearings, coining the phrase “Chinese Poison Train,” (memo to Washington Post: go tilt at some other windmill) or posting the latest great customer-service horror story, with requisite cat photo, the ineffable “Carey Factor,” I would say, was bringing a touch of class to the operation. For instance, he invented our “Above and Beyond” series, where we spotlight the story of a company that did really right by a reader. Pure class right there, folks.

I’m sad to see him leave.

But you haven’t heard the last of Carey! He may drop some special guest posts on us once in a while, and you can be sure that wherever he goes, his time with Consumerist will inform his path. Hey Carey, remember the day we took this photo of our alt-rock band?

Got well-wishes or tips for surviving law school? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

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