The Columbia Law Review is a law review

Law review

A law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, normally published by an organization of students at a law school or through a bar association...

 edited and published by students at Columbia Law School

Columbia Law School

Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...

. In addition to articles, the journal regularly publishes scholarly essay

Essay

An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...

s and student notes. It was founded in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey

John M. Woolsey

John Munro Woolsey was a United States federal judge in New York City.Born in Aiken, South Carolina, Woolsey attended Phillips Academy, and received an A.B. from Yale University in 1898. He was awarded an LL.B. from Columbia Law School in 1901, where he was a founder of the Columbia Law Review...

, who served as the review's first editor-in-chief and secretary. The Columbia Law Review is one of the four law reviews that publishes the Bluebook

Bluebook

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, a style guide, prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the United States. The Bluebook is compiled by the Harvard Law Review Association, the Columbia Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal....

.

Impact

The Columbia Law Review ranks third for submissions and citations within the legal academic community, after the Harvard Law Review

Harvard Law Review

The Harvard Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School.-Overview:According to the 2008 Journal Citation Reports, the Review is the most cited law review and has the second-highest impact factor in the category "law" after the...

and the Yale Law Journal

Yale Law Journal

The Yale Law Journal is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School...

. According to the Journal Citation Reports

Journal Citation Reports

Journal Citation Reports is an annual publication by the Healthcare & Science division of Thomson Reuters. It has been integrated with the Web of Knowledge, by Thomson Reuters, and is accessed from the Web of Science to JCR Web. It provides information about academic journals in the sciences and...

it has a 2009 impact factor

Impact factor

The impact factor, often abbreviated IF, is a measure reflecting the average number of citations to articles published in science and social science journals. It is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field, with journals with higher impact factors deemed...

 of 3.610, ranking it third out of 116 journals in the category "Law".

Notable alumni

Alumni of the Columbia Law Review include United States Supreme Court Justices William O. Douglas

William O. Douglas

William Orville Douglas was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court...

 and Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice.She is generally viewed as belonging to...

, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Wilfred Feinberg

Wilfred Feinberg

Wilfred Feinberg is a Senior United States Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was Chief Judge of the Circuit from 1980 to 1988, and assumed senior status in 1991...

, United States Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr.

Donald Verrilli Jr.

Donald Beaton Verrilli Jr. is Solicitor General of the United States. He was sworn in to the post on June 9, 2011. On June 6, 2011, the United States Senate confirmed Verrilli in a 72–16 vote. President Barack Obama had nominated Verrilli to the post on January 26, 2011...

, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is located at 33 Liberty Street, New York, NY. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses New York state, the 12 northern counties of New Jersey,...

 and Director of the National Economic Council

National Economic Council

The National Economic Council of the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering economic policy matters, separate from matters relating to domestic policy, which are the domain of the Domestic Policy Council...

, Stephen Friedman (PFIAB)

Stephen Friedman (PFIAB)

Stephen Friedman is the former Chairman of the United States President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. He was nominated on October 27, 2005 to replace Brent Scowcroft in the position.-Life and career:...

; Columbia Law School professor Herbert Wechsler

Herbert Wechsler

Herbert Wechsler was a legal scholar and former director of the American Law Institute . He is most widely known for his constitutional law scholarship and for the creation of the Model Penal Code...

, Yale Law School professors Felix S. Cohen

Felix S. Cohen

Felix Solomon Cohen was an American lawyer and scholar who made a lasting mark on legal philosophy and fundamentally shaped federal Indian law and policy.- Biography :...

 and Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr.

Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr.

Geoffrey Cornell Hazard, Jr. is Trustee Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Thomas E. Miller Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law. He is also Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale Law...

, New York University Law School professor Samuel Estreicher

Samuel Estreicher

Samuel Estreicher is Dwight D. Opperman Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, director of its Center for Labor and Employment and co-director of its Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration...

, Michigan Law School professor Mark D. West

Mark D. West

Mark D. West is a U.S. legal scholar and Nippon Life Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. He is widely published on the subject of Japanese law and the Japanese legal system, and is regarded as a leading American authority in these areas...

, and former New York Governor George Pataki

George Pataki

George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...

, amongst others.