The Stanford Law Review (print: , online: ) is a legal journal

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...

 produced independently by Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School is a graduate school at Stanford University located in the area known as the Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law...

 students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State

United States Secretary of State

The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...

 Warren Christopher

Warren Christopher

Warren Minor Christopher was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician. During Bill Clinton's first term as President, Christopher served as the 63rd Secretary of State. He also served as Deputy Attorney General in the Lyndon Johnson administration, and as Deputy Secretary of State in the Jimmy...

 as its first president. The review produces six issues yearly between December and June.

Admissions

The Stanford Law Review selects members based on a competitive exercise that tests candidates on their editing skills and legal writing ability. There is not a firm number of accepted candidates each year; recent classes of new editors have ranged from about 40 to 45. The candidate exercise is distributed to candidates after the completion of their first year at the Law School. Transfer students are also eligible for admission through the same process.

Notable alumni

The review's editorial board

Editorial board

The editorial board is a group of people, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.- Board makeup :...

 has a president, who is effectively the editor-in-chief of the publication. The current president is Masha G. Hansford. Notable past presidents include Warren Christopher

Warren Christopher

Warren Minor Christopher was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician. During Bill Clinton's first term as President, Christopher served as the 63rd Secretary of State. He also served as Deputy Attorney General in the Lyndon Johnson administration, and as Deputy Secretary of State in the Jimmy...

 (1949), Brooksley E. Born

Brooksley Born

Brooksley E. Born is an American attorney and former public official who, from August 26, 1996, to June 1, 1999, was chairperson of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission , the federal agency which oversees the futures and commodity options markets...

 (1964), Raymond C. Fisher

Raymond C. Fisher

Raymond C. Fisher is a federal appeals judge who has served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 1999.-Education and legal training:Fisher attended University High School, earned his B.A...

 (1966), David F. Levi

David F. Levi

David F. Levi is a U.S. jurist and current Dean of the Duke University School of Law. From 1990–2007, he was a Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, serving as Chief Judge since 2003. At the time Levi left the bench, he was widely considered to be one...

 (1980), and Paul G. Cassell

Paul G. Cassell

Paul George Cassell is a former United States federal judge.Born in Orange, California in 1959, Cassell received a B.A. from Stanford University in 1979. He later received a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1984. He was a law clerk for the Hon. Antonin Scalia, U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit...

 (1984). Other notable alumni are William Rehnquist

William Rehnquist

William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer, jurist, and political figure who served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and later as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States...

, Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor is an American jurist who was the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She served as an Associate Justice from 1981 until her retirement from the Court in 2006. O'Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981...

, Joshua Bolten, Carlos Watson, and Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel

Peter Andreas Thiel is an American business magnate, venture capitalist, and hedge fund manager. With Elon Musk and Max Levchin, Thiel co-founded PayPal and was its CEO...

.