Law review
Encyclopedia
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
. The term is also used to describe the extracurricular activity
at law schools of publishing the journal.
Law reviews should not be confused with non-scholarly publications such as the New York Law Journal
or The American Lawyer
, which are independent, professional newspapers and news-magazines that cover the daily practice of law (see legal periodical).
is the oldest law review in the U.S., having published continuously since 1852. Also among the oldest and most storied law review publications are the Albany Law Review, successor to the Albany Law School Journal, which began in 1875 and the nation's first student-edited law review; the Columbia Law Review
, successor to the Columbia Jurist, beginning in 1885; the Harvard Law Review
, beginning in 1887; Yale Law Journal
, beginning in 1891; West Virginia Law Review
, beginning in 1894; and Dickinson Law Review
, beginning in 1897. The first law review originating outside of the Northeast was the Michigan Law Review
, beginning in 1902; followed by the Northwestern University Law Review
, beginning in 1906; and the Kentucky Law Journal, beginning in 1910. The California Law Review
, beginning in 1912, was the nation's first law review published west of Illinois.
in the field of law. Law reviews publish lengthy, comprehensive treatments of subjects ("articles"), generally written by law professors, judge
s, or legal practitioners, as well as shorter pieces, commonly called "notes" and "comments," written by law student "members" of the law review.
Law review articles often express the thinking of specialists or experts with regard to problems with current law and potential solutions to those problems. Historically, law review articles have been influential in the development of the law, and have been frequently cited as persuasive authority by the courts in the United States, although some claim that this influence is declining.
Most major American law schools publish a law review (or "law journal"), generally dealing with all areas of law and named after the school, and some publish specialized reviews, dealing with a particular area of the law, in addition to or in place of the general law review, such as civil rights and civil liberties, international law
, environmental law
, or human rights
(e.g., Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review
, Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy
, the NYU Journal of Law & Business, the Cornell International Law Journal
, the North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology, or the Lewis & Clark Environmental Law Review
). There are also a small number of journals focusing on statutory, regulatory, and public policy issues (e.g., the Journal of Legislation
or the NYU Journal of Legislation & Public Policy).
followed suit and began coordinating its own practitioner journals with law schools, courting student editorial bodies for publications including Administrative Law Review
, The International Lawyer
, Public Contract Law Journal
, and The Urban Lawyer. Despite Griswold's confidence in student editors, criticism of this practice continues. In 2004, Judge Richard Posner
wrote a scathing attack entitled "Against the Law Reviews" in the magazine Legal Affairs. However, Justice Posner also wrote that his own time as President of the Harvard Law Review represented a “Golden Age… for student-edited law reviews”.
/Revue de droit de McGill, the Queen's Law Journal
, the Alberta Law Review
, University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review
, the University of Ottawa Law Review, and the University of British Columbia Law Review
. Membership requires demanding time commitments, and many editors move on to top clerkships, top articling or first year associate positions both inside and outside of Canada, or eventually join the legal professoriate in Canada. The country also has several specialized publications run entirely by students.
, Hanse Law Review, Marburg Law Review, StudZR Heidelberg Student Law Review) and the Czech Republic (Common Law Review). A student-run publication has also been established in Italy, under the name Bocconi School of Law Student-Edited Papers, adopting the format of working paper series, as a way to complement - rather than compete with - peer-reviewed publications and offer scholars an additional round of feedback. In relation to the law of the European Union, the leading journals such as the Common Market Law Review
are also not student run.
, as in the rest of the Commonwealth outside of North America, all of the leading law reviews are edited and run by academics. The leading law reviews in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth more generally are the Law Quarterly Review
, the Modern Law Review
, the Cambridge Law Journal
and the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
. None is student run or edited.
The UCL Jurisprudence Review
was the first student law review when it began publishing in 1994. Since then, the Edinburgh Student Law Review
, Student Journal of Law, Cambridge Student Law Review, UCL Human Rights Review, Warwick Student Law Review, "Durham Law Review",, and the Southampton Student Law Review have also emerged.
, the leading student law reviews are the Trinity College Law Review, the UCD Law Review, the Irish Student Law Review and the Cork Online Law Review.
In Finland, Helsinki Law Review, edited by students at the University of Helsinki, has been active since 2007. Earlier, University of Turku published Turku Law Journal from 1999 to 2003.
Sweden's first law review is Juridisk Publikation. The first number of Juridisk Publikation was published in April 2009. It originated as a review by students from Stockholm University. It is now delivered to Swedish law students from all universities, but edited by top students from the law schools in Lund, Stockholm and Uppsala.
In Norway, the first student edited law review Jussens Venner was founded in 1952 by students Carsten Smith and Torkel Opsahl (both of whom later became distinguished academics). Occasionally it features peer-reviewed articles, but its editors are composed of one student from the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo and one student from the Faculty of Law at the University of Bergen. Its articles are mainly related to the curriculum at these universities.
and Sydney Law Review
, although the Melbourne University Law Review regularly outperforms Sydney Law Review on impact, citation in journal and cases and combined rankings. These publications are among the most-cited law reviews by the High Court of Australia and among the most cited non-US reviews by US journals. http://lawlib.wlu.edu/LJ/index.aspx The top international law journal in Australia is the Melbourne Journal of International Law
, also a student-edited peer-reviewed academic law review. http://www.mjil.org The Melbourne Journal of International Law is also considered to be more influential and prestigious than most generalist law reviews in Australia. The top ten ranked Australian law reviews, according to impact, citations and combined rankings, are:
since 1972 are most prominent and respected among Indian legal scholars and academicians.
National Law Schools/Universities are now leading the law review publication field, with notable reviews being the NALSAR Student Law Review
and the National Law School of India Review
.
and LexisNexis
give users access to the complete text of most law reviews published beginning from the late 1980s. Another such service, Heinonline
, provides actual scans of the pages of law reviews going back to the 1850s. On 17 March 1995, the Web Journal of Current Legal Issues
, became the first law review available exclusively on the Internet.
At schools with more than one law review, membership on the main or flagship journal is normally considered more prestigious than membership on a specialty law journal. This is not the case at all schools, however. At many schools, the more prestigious journal is the specialty journal; a low-ranked general journal will rarely attract as much attention as a category-leading specialized journal. Often the best indicator is the age of the journal; a newer journal will rarely have the same clout with employers that the older journal has, even when the older journal is specialized. In any case, membership on any such journal is a valuable credential when searching out employment after law school.
The paths to membership vary from law school to law school, and also from journal to journal, but generally contain a few of the same basic elements. Most law reviews select members after their first year of studies either through a writing competition (often referred to as "writing on" to the law review), their first-year grades (referred to as "grading on" to the law review) or some combination thereof. A number of schools will also grant membership to students who independently submit a publishable article. The write-on competition usually requires applicants to compose a written analysis of a specific legal topic, often a recent Supreme Court decision. The written submissions are often of a set length, and applicants are sometimes provided with some or all of the background research. Submissions normally are graded blindly, with submissions identified only by a number which the graders will not be able to connect to a particular applicant. A student who has been selected for law review membership is said to have "made the law review."
Secondary journals vary widely in their membership process. For example, at Yale Law School
, the only one of its nine journals that has a competitive membership process is the flagship Yale Law Journal—all others are open to any Yale Law student who wishes to join. By contrast, other secondary journals may have their own separate membership competition, or may hold a joint competition with the main law review.
A law review's membership is normally divided into staff members and editors. On most law reviews, all 2Ls (second-year students) are staff members while some or all 3Ls (third-year students) serve as editors. 3Ls also typically fill the senior editorial staff positions, including senior articles editor, senior note & comment editor, senior managing editor, and, the most prestigious of all, editor-in-chief of the law review. (Upon graduation, the editor-in-chief of the law review can often expect to be highly recruited by the most prestigious law firms.) As members, students are normally expected to :
The editorial staff is normally responsible for reviewing and selecting articles for publication, managing the editing process, and assisting members in writing their notes and comments. Depending on the law school, students may receive academic credit for their work on the law review, although some journals are entirely extracurricular.
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
or through a bar association
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
. The term is also used to describe the extracurricular activity
Extracurricular activity
Extracurricular activities are activities performed by students that fall outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school or university education...
at law schools of publishing the journal.
Law reviews should not be confused with non-scholarly publications such as the New York Law Journal
New York Law Journal
The New York Law Journal, founded in 1888, is a legal periodical covering the legal profession in New York, United States. The newspaper covers legal news, decisions, court calendars, and legislation, and provides analysis and insight in columns written by leading professionals...
or The American Lawyer
The American Lawyer
The American Lawyer is a monthly law magazine published by ALM. It was founded in 1979 by Steven Brill. Features include the annual AmLaw 100 Survey and AmLaw 200 Survey , "The View From the Top", their annual poll of law firm chairpersons, and their "Corporate Scorecard"...
, which are independent, professional newspapers and news-magazines that cover the daily practice of law (see legal periodical).
History of law reviews in the United States
The University of Pennsylvania Law ReviewUniversity of Pennsylvania Law Review
The University of Pennsylvania Law Review is a law review focusing on legal issues, published by an organization of second and third year J.D. students at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. It is the oldest law journal in the United States, having been published continuously since 1852...
is the oldest law review in the U.S., having published continuously since 1852. Also among the oldest and most storied law review publications are the Albany Law Review, successor to the Albany Law School Journal, which began in 1875 and the nation's first student-edited law review; the Columbia Law Review
Columbia Law Review
The Columbia Law Review is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. In addition to articles, the journal regularly publishes scholarly essays and student notes. It was founded in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who served as the review's first...
, successor to the Columbia Jurist, beginning in 1885; 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...
, beginning in 1887; 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...
, beginning in 1891; West Virginia Law Review
West Virginia Law Review
The West Virginia Law Review is the student-run publication of the West Virginia University College of Law. It is the fourth oldest law review in the United States, founded in 1894.- Executive Board :*Editor-in-Chief- Jessie Feather Reckart...
, beginning in 1894; and Dickinson Law Review
Penn State Law Review
The Penn State Law Review is a legal periodical. It was founded in 1897 as The Forum and was later renamed the Dickinson Law Review. When the Dickinson Law School merged with Penn State University in 2003, the name of the periodical was changed to the Penn State Law Review.The Penn State Law...
, beginning in 1897. The first law review originating outside of the Northeast was the Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
The Michigan Law Review is an American law reviews established in 1902, after Gustavus Ohlinger, a student in the Law Department of the University of Michigan, approached the Dean with a proposal for a law journal. The Michigan Law Review was originally intended as a forum in which the faculty of...
, beginning in 1902; followed by the Northwestern University Law Review
Northwestern University Law Review
The Northwestern University Law Review is a scholarly legal publication and student organization at Northwestern University School of Law. The Law Review's primary purpose is to publish a journal of broad legal scholarship. The Law Review publishes four issues each year...
, beginning in 1906; and the Kentucky Law Journal, beginning in 1910. The California Law Review
California Law Review
The California Law Review is the flagship law journal of UC Berkeley School of Law . Founded in 1912, the Review was the first student law journal published west of Illinois....
, beginning in 1912, was the nation's first law review published west of Illinois.
Overview
The primary function of a law review is to publish scholarshipScholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
in the field of law. Law reviews publish lengthy, comprehensive treatments of subjects ("articles"), generally written by law professors, judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
s, or legal practitioners, as well as shorter pieces, commonly called "notes" and "comments," written by law student "members" of the law review.
Law review articles often express the thinking of specialists or experts with regard to problems with current law and potential solutions to those problems. Historically, law review articles have been influential in the development of the law, and have been frequently cited as persuasive authority by the courts in the United States, although some claim that this influence is declining.
Most major American law schools publish a law review (or "law journal"), generally dealing with all areas of law and named after the school, and some publish specialized reviews, dealing with a particular area of the law, in addition to or in place of the general law review, such as civil rights and civil liberties, international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
, environmental law
Environmental law
Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
, or human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
(e.g., Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review
Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review
The Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review is a student-run law review Harvard Law School. The journal is published two times per year and contains articles, essays, and book reviews concerning civil rights and liberties...
, Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy
Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy
The Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy is an interdisciplinary law journal published by students at the Duke University School of Law....
, the NYU Journal of Law & Business, the Cornell International Law Journal
Cornell International Law Journal
The Cornell International Law Journal is one of the oldest international law journals in the United States. It was founded in 1967 by members of the Cornell Society of International Law at Cornell Law School...
, the North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology, or the Lewis & Clark Environmental Law Review
Environmental Law (law review)
Environmental Law is a law review focused on environmental and natural resources law published by students at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1969, it is the nation's oldest law review covering natural resources and environmental law...
). There are also a small number of journals focusing on statutory, regulatory, and public policy issues (e.g., the Journal of Legislation
Journal of Legislation
Journal of Legislation is a major scholarly journal published by Notre Dame Law School. The current Editor-in-Chief is Emily Martin.The Journal of Legislation is a legislative law review which focuses on analysis and reform of public policy. The primary purpose of the Journal is to provide a...
or the NYU Journal of Legislation & Public Policy).
United States
As law professor Erwin N. Griswold wrote of the Harvard Law Review: "Some people are concerned that a major legal periodical in the United States is edited and managed by students. It is an unusual situation, but it started that way, and it developed mightily from its own strength." During the 1990s, the American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
followed suit and began coordinating its own practitioner journals with law schools, courting student editorial bodies for publications including Administrative Law Review
Administrative Law Review
The Administrative Law Review was established in 1948 and is the official law journal of the American Bar Association Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice.-Overview:...
, The International Lawyer
The International Lawyer
The International Lawyer is a peer-reviewed journal of legal scholarship, and the official quarterly publication of the American Bar Association's Section of International Law and Practice...
, Public Contract Law Journal
Public Contract Law Journal
The Public Contract Law Journal is the official journal of the American Bar Association Section of Public Contract Law...
, and The Urban Lawyer. Despite Griswold's confidence in student editors, criticism of this practice continues. In 2004, Judge Richard Posner
Richard Posner
Richard Allen Posner is an American jurist, legal theorist, and economist who is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School...
wrote a scathing attack entitled "Against the Law Reviews" in the magazine Legal Affairs. However, Justice Posner also wrote that his own time as President of the Harvard Law Review represented a “Golden Age… for student-edited law reviews”.
Canada
In Canada, the fully student-run law reviews (without a Faculty Editor-in-Chief) include, in order of the frequency they are cited by the Supreme Court of Canada: the McGill Law JournalMcGill Law Journal
The McGill Law Journal is a scholarly legal publication affiliated with the student body of the McGill University Faculty of Law in Montreal, Quebec, published by a non-profit corporate institution independent of the Faculty run exclusively by students. It also publishes the Canadian Guide to...
/Revue de droit de McGill, the Queen's Law Journal
Queen's Law Journal
Queen's Law Journal, formally Queen's Intramural Law Journal, is a Canadian legal journal focusing on the Canadian legal community. It is published by Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada-References:*...
, the Alberta Law Review
Alberta Law Review
The Alberta Law Review is a peer-reviewed law review or legal journal, published quarterly by the Alberta Law Review Society. The Society is a non-profit organization consisting entirely of students from both the University of Alberta Faculty of Law and the University of Calgary Faculty of Law.The...
, University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review
University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review
The University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review is a law review at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, run by law students at the Faculty and publishing scholarly work by law students from any institution.It was first published in 1942...
, the University of Ottawa Law Review, and the University of British Columbia Law Review
University of British Columbia Law Review
The University of British Columbia Law Review is a law review run by the students at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law.-External links:*...
. Membership requires demanding time commitments, and many editors move on to top clerkships, top articling or first year associate positions both inside and outside of Canada, or eventually join the legal professoriate in Canada. The country also has several specialized publications run entirely by students.
Continental Europe
Outside of North America, student-run law reviews are the exception rather than the norm. In Continental Europe law reviews are almost uniformly edited by academics. However, a small number of student-edited law reviews have recently sprung into existence in Germany (Ad Legendum, Bucerius Law Journal, Freilaw Freiburg Law Students Journal, Goettingen Journal of International LawGoettingen Journal of International Law
The Goettingen Journal of International Law ' is a jurisprudential online-journal that was founded by students in 2007.It focuses mainly on international law in general and a wide variety of neighbouring topics like international economic law, international penal law and international relations...
, Hanse Law Review, Marburg Law Review, StudZR Heidelberg Student Law Review) and the Czech Republic (Common Law Review). A student-run publication has also been established in Italy, under the name Bocconi School of Law Student-Edited Papers, adopting the format of working paper series, as a way to complement - rather than compete with - peer-reviewed publications and offer scholars an additional round of feedback. In relation to the law of the European Union, the leading journals such as the Common Market Law Review
Common Market Law Review
The Common Market Law Review is a legal journal published by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law in cooperation with Leiden University and Kluwer Law International. It was founded in 1968, and focuses on issues in European law...
are also not student run.
United Kingdom
Within the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, as in the rest of the Commonwealth outside of North America, all of the leading law reviews are edited and run by academics. The leading law reviews in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth more generally are the Law Quarterly Review
Law Quarterly Review
The Law Quarterly Review is an academic legal periodical published by Sweet & Maxwell. It was first published in 1885...
, the Modern Law Review
Modern Law Review
The Modern Law Review is a law review published in the United Kingdom by John Wiley & Sons and which has traditionally maintained close academic ties with the Law Department of the London School of Economics....
, the Cambridge Law Journal
Cambridge Law Journal
The Cambridge Law Journal is a peer-reviewed academic law journal published by Cambridge University Press. It is the principal academic publication of the Faculty of Law of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1921 it is the longest running university law journal in the United Kingdom . Its...
and the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
The Oxford Journal of Legal Studies is a legal journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford....
. None is student run or edited.
The UCL Jurisprudence Review
UCL Jurisprudence Review
The UCL Jurisprudence Review is an annual collection of essays in jurisprudence published by an independent student group at University College London Faculty of Laws...
was the first student law review when it began publishing in 1994. Since then, the Edinburgh Student Law Review
Edinburgh Student Law Review
The Edinburgh Student Law Review is an academic journal published by students studying at the University of Edinburgh; the journal is written, edited, and peer-reviewed entirely by students of the University...
, Student Journal of Law, Cambridge Student Law Review, UCL Human Rights Review, Warwick Student Law Review, "Durham Law Review",, and the Southampton Student Law Review have also emerged.
Ireland
In IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, the leading student law reviews are the Trinity College Law Review, the UCD Law Review, the Irish Student Law Review and the Cork Online Law Review.
Nordic Countries
In Iceland, Úlfljótur Law Review, has been in publication since 1947. In 2007 it celebrated its 60th anniversary. Since its creation in 1947 it has been edited and run by students at the Department of Law, University of Iceland. Úlfljótur Law Review is the most senior of all academic journals still in publication at the university and held in great respect by Icelandic jurists and legal scholars.In Finland, Helsinki Law Review, edited by students at the University of Helsinki, has been active since 2007. Earlier, University of Turku published Turku Law Journal from 1999 to 2003.
Sweden's first law review is Juridisk Publikation. The first number of Juridisk Publikation was published in April 2009. It originated as a review by students from Stockholm University. It is now delivered to Swedish law students from all universities, but edited by top students from the law schools in Lund, Stockholm and Uppsala.
In Norway, the first student edited law review Jussens Venner was founded in 1952 by students Carsten Smith and Torkel Opsahl (both of whom later became distinguished academics). Occasionally it features peer-reviewed articles, but its editors are composed of one student from the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo and one student from the Faculty of Law at the University of Bergen. Its articles are mainly related to the curriculum at these universities.
Australia
In Australia, the leading student-edited peer-reviewed academic law reviews are the Melbourne University Law ReviewMelbourne University Law Review
The Melbourne University Law Review is a triannual law journal published by a student group at Melbourne Law School. The journal publishes articles on all areas of law, as well as case notes, book reviews, and review essays.- Overview :...
and Sydney Law Review
Sydney Law Review
The Sydney Law Review is a peer-reviewed law journal established in 1953.- External links :* ]]...
, although the Melbourne University Law Review regularly outperforms Sydney Law Review on impact, citation in journal and cases and combined rankings. These publications are among the most-cited law reviews by the High Court of Australia and among the most cited non-US reviews by US journals. http://lawlib.wlu.edu/LJ/index.aspx The top international law journal in Australia is the Melbourne Journal of International Law
Melbourne Journal of International Law
The Melbourne Journal of International Law is a peer-reviewed law review associated with the Melbourne Law School which publishes articles in all areas of public and private international law. The journal was established in 2000 and is published twice annually with a particular focus on the...
, also a student-edited peer-reviewed academic law review. http://www.mjil.org The Melbourne Journal of International Law is also considered to be more influential and prestigious than most generalist law reviews in Australia. The top ten ranked Australian law reviews, according to impact, citations and combined rankings, are:
| Rank | Journal Combined |
| 1 | Melbourne University Law Review |
| 2 | The Sydney Law Review |
| 3 | The Journal Jurisprudence |
| 4 | Melbourne Journal of International Law |
| 5 | Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy |
| 6 | Federal Law Review |
| 7 | The University of New South Wales Law Journal |
| 8 | Deakin Law Review |
| 9 | The University of New South Wales Law Journal |
| 9 | Australian Journal of Corporate Law |
| 9 | Monash University Law Review |
| 9 | Public Law Review |
| 9 | Torts Law Journal |
Brazil
In Brazil, law reviews are usually run by academics as well, but there are efforts by students to change this. The University of Brasilia Law Students Review (REDUnB) was reborn in 2007, and is now on its 8th edition. However, academics and official rankings usually refuse to evaluate student law reviews as "equals". To pursue academic recognition by the Brazilian Ministry of Education, review bodies must include post-graduated and ranked academics, which prevents students law reviews to even be recognized or compared to other similar legal periodicals.India
Among academic law journals in India, the Journal of Indian Law Institute and the Delhi Law Review published by the Faculty of Law, University of DelhiUniversity of Delhi
The University of Delhi is a central university situated in Delhi, India and is funded by Government of India. Established in 1922, it offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate level. Vice-President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the Chancellor of the university...
since 1972 are most prominent and respected among Indian legal scholars and academicians.
National Law Schools/Universities are now leading the law review publication field, with notable reviews being the NALSAR Student Law Review
Nalsar University of Law
The Nalsar University of Law, or officially the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research , is a legal studies institution located in Shamirpet, Hyderabad, India. It was established in 1998 as a state university in an Act of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly...
and the National Law School of India Review
National Law School of India Review
The National Law School of India Review is a peer-reviewed law review published by the Student Advocate Committee of the National Law School of India University.- History :...
.
Online legal research providers
Online legal research providers such as WestlawWestlaw
Westlaw is one of the primary online legal research services for lawyers and legal professionals in the United States and is a part of West. In addition, it provides proprietary database services...
and LexisNexis
LexisNexis
LexisNexis Group is a company providing computer-assisted legal research services. In 2006 it had the world's largest electronic database for legal and public-records related information...
give users access to the complete text of most law reviews published beginning from the late 1980s. Another such service, Heinonline
HeinOnline
HeinOnline, sometimes spelled Hein Online, is an internet service launched in 2000 that is a source of legal information, much like Westlaw and LexisNexis. Like those services, use of HeinOnline requires a subscription, although most law schools provide access to students for free. It is published...
, provides actual scans of the pages of law reviews going back to the 1850s. On 17 March 1995, the Web Journal of Current Legal Issues
Web Journal of Current Legal Issues
The Web Journal of Current Legal Issues is a peer reviewed academic legal periodical published online since 17 March, 1995. It was the first online open access academic law journal in the United Kingdom...
, became the first law review available exclusively on the Internet.
Student activity
Membership on the law review staff is highly sought after by some law students, as it often has a significant impact on their subsequent careers as attorneys. Many federal judges and partners at the most prestigious law firms were members or editors of their school's law review. There are a number of reasons why journal membership is desired by some students :- some see the intense writing, research and editing experience as invaluable to the student's development as an attorney;
- others see the selection process as helping differentiate the best and the brightest from an already strong group of law students.
At schools with more than one law review, membership on the main or flagship journal is normally considered more prestigious than membership on a specialty law journal. This is not the case at all schools, however. At many schools, the more prestigious journal is the specialty journal; a low-ranked general journal will rarely attract as much attention as a category-leading specialized journal. Often the best indicator is the age of the journal; a newer journal will rarely have the same clout with employers that the older journal has, even when the older journal is specialized. In any case, membership on any such journal is a valuable credential when searching out employment after law school.
The paths to membership vary from law school to law school, and also from journal to journal, but generally contain a few of the same basic elements. Most law reviews select members after their first year of studies either through a writing competition (often referred to as "writing on" to the law review), their first-year grades (referred to as "grading on" to the law review) or some combination thereof. A number of schools will also grant membership to students who independently submit a publishable article. The write-on competition usually requires applicants to compose a written analysis of a specific legal topic, often a recent Supreme Court decision. The written submissions are often of a set length, and applicants are sometimes provided with some or all of the background research. Submissions normally are graded blindly, with submissions identified only by a number which the graders will not be able to connect to a particular applicant. A student who has been selected for law review membership is said to have "made the law review."
Secondary journals vary widely in their membership process. For example, at Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
, the only one of its nine journals that has a competitive membership process is the flagship Yale Law Journal—all others are open to any Yale Law student who wishes to join. By contrast, other secondary journals may have their own separate membership competition, or may hold a joint competition with the main law review.
A law review's membership is normally divided into staff members and editors. On most law reviews, all 2Ls (second-year students) are staff members while some or all 3Ls (third-year students) serve as editors. 3Ls also typically fill the senior editorial staff positions, including senior articles editor, senior note & comment editor, senior managing editor, and, the most prestigious of all, editor-in-chief of the law review. (Upon graduation, the editor-in-chief of the law review can often expect to be highly recruited by the most prestigious law firms.) As members, students are normally expected to :
- write a note or comment of publishable quality (although it need not actually be published), and to
- edit and cite-checkCase citationCase citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
the articles that are being published by the law review, ensuring that references support what the author claims they support and that footnotes are in proper BluebookBluebookThe 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....
format, depending on the publication's preference.
The editorial staff is normally responsible for reviewing and selecting articles for publication, managing the editing process, and assisting members in writing their notes and comments. Depending on the law school, students may receive academic credit for their work on the law review, although some journals are entirely extracurricular.
External links
- John Doyle, Law Journals: Submissions and Ranking
- Ronen Perry, De Jure (sic) Park (an article about the future of law reviews)
- Ronen Perry, Correlation versus Causality: Further Thoughts on the Law Review/Law School Liaison
- Ronen Perry, The Relative Value of American Law Reviews: A Critical Appraisal of Ranking Methods
- Ronen Perry, The Relative Value of American Law Reviews: Refinement and Implementation
- University Law Review Project
- Reviews with Online Content
- Current Law Journal Content
- Contents Pages from Law Reviews and Other Scholarly Journals
- Bernard Hibbitts, Last Writes? Re-assessing the Law Review in the Age of Cyberspace
- Wes Henricksen, Making Law Review: The Expert's Guide to Mastering the Write-On Competition
- Current Issues of Top Law Reviews