All About Law Review
Congratulations – you’re at or near the end of your 1L year, and now you’re considering whether to go out for Law Review! It’s a big decision – and we want you to know the potential upsides, as well as the sacrifices involved.
Before delving into more about Law Review, it is important to first address one of students’ most pressing questions: what if I don’t want to (or am not accepted to join) Law Review? That is perfectly okay. Law Review isn’t for everyone, and it isn’t a requirement for enjoying success in law school or your future legal career. You certainly aren’t alone – just ask LGBTQ+ Bar Advocacy Counsel, Mari Nemec, who didn’t pursue Law Review (No, really. Email her at mari@lgbtqbar.org if you’d like to discuss this topic!). Law Review can be helpful for networking and is generally considered a boost to your resume, but the same skills you build in Law Review can be honed elsewhere (like on a research paper with a professor). Additionally, some students are better suited to activities like Moot Court rather than Law Review. If Law Review isn’t for you, or if you aren’t accepted to join, it is not the end of your legal career. In fact, not joining Law Review may be something that helps you discern the best professional path for your legal career.
What Is “Law Review,” And What’s Involved in Serving?
Most law schools produce at least one journal publication, usually on a quarterly basis each year. The body of law review journals published by law schools across the country (and globally) represent the scholarly output of the legal profession. These journals incorporate both
- “Articles” – legal pieces written by law professors (and occasionally practicing lawyers or judges) which add to the understanding of a particular area of law, interpret or critique a particular case or line of cases, or delve into the history of a legally related place or event – and
- “Notes” – typically shorter legal pieces written by students at that school, sometimes specifically for that journal, sometimes as a further development of a piece the student wrote for a law school class.
These journals are collectively referred to as “Law Review.” Like law schools themselves, Law Reviews are formally and informally ranked for relative prestige (based largely upon the prestige of the school itself, but also upon the reputation that the Law Review itself has among published authors.) Law professors are required to publish as part of their quest to gain tenure on their faculty, so they are a constant source of publication material for the Law Review staff. Each year, the annual Law Review editions are produced from start (selection of the Articles and Notes) to finish (printed publication) by the Law Review staff. The Staff is comprised of a Board of Directors made up of 3L students, as well as a number of other 2L and 3L students. The Board may have all or many of the following Editor positions:
- Editor in Chief (EIC): Runs the business of the Law Review; plans and runs regular staff meetings; serves as liaison with the Advisors and the school’s Administration when needed; fills in as a Jack of All Trades as needed.
- Articles Editor: Reads the Article submissions that come in from would-be authors, selects (usually with approval of the EIC and possibly others) which articles will be published in each edition and makes offers to those authors; serves as primary point of contact with the selected authors until a contract for publication is confirmed (which can take a while, as authors often gain an offer and then “shop” their article and the fact of the offer to a more prestigious journal in an effort to improve their ultimate placement.)
- Executive Editor: Serves as the primary point for editing the Articles that have been selected for publication, and often communicating the necessary edits to the author for approval. Heavy BlueBooking skills required!
- Managing Editor: Serves as the primary point for cite-checking the Articles that have been selected for publication. Lots of Law Library work!
- Notes Editor: Serves as the point for selecting (and sometimes editing) Notes for the journal.
The journal will also typically have one or more Advisors from the Faculty or Administration of the school, and often will have a paid law school staff member for administrative support as well. When you join Law Review as a second year law student, your job will primarily be to check the sources cited in the pieces selected for publication, and ensure that the sources say what the author cited them for.
What are the benefits?
Experience. Serving on the staff of a Law Review will hone your BlueBooking and editing skills to an extraordinary level of precision. It will help make you a better legal writer as well.
Credentialing. If you’re interested in securing a clerkship with a Judge, serving on a Law Review is just short of mandatory. Judges want their clerks to have the level of attention to detail and BlueBook knowledge that only Law Review provides. Similarly, it’s a big boost on a resume if you plan to go for a job with an AmLaw 100 law firm.
Camaraderie! When you serve on Law Review, you will spend a LOT of time with your fellow journal colleagues. Many students find that their closest friendships are forged on the Law Review.
Convenience. Law Reviews typically have a large office within the law school, and staff members spend a lot of their downtime in the office. If you get a board position as a 3L, you’ll likely be assigned a desk and be able to use the office as your home away from home!
Publication Opportunity. At some schools, journal service gives you a better chance of having your Note published – another important credential for future employers to see.
What are the Downsides?
The big downside is likely obvious – time. Law Review service takes an intense amount of time; 8-10 hours a week minimum your second year, and potentially double that if you hold a Board position your 3L year. Law Review is essentially an unpaid job. If your mental health is in the “not thriving” category, if you need all your time for studies to keep your grades where you want them, or need for your non-academic time to be dedicated to a paid job or another major responsibility such as parenting, it might be too much pressure to do Law Review as well. And that’s okay. While there are many benefits to doing Law Review, it’s also true that most students don’t serve on a journal and still end up with great careers. A degree of privilege is required for most students to be able to dedicate the necessary time to an unpaid experience like this; if it’s going to put too much strain on your core functionality, just pass.
Going out for Law Review
At some schools, an invitation to serve on Law Review is automatic based on grades from the first year. Other schools have a testing process which usually involves some actual legal writing, some testing of BlueBooking skills, and some time in the law library checking sources. Still other schools have a hybrid process that considers both grades and a Law Review test. Most schools hold testing in the first couple of weeks of the 2L year; some may do it at the end of the 1L year or over the summer.
If your school’s journal incorporates a Law Review test, the best way to prepare in advance is to review the major rules covered in the BlueBook, and practice using them (you might want to ask your Legal Writing instructor for a writing piece to practice on.) Once you’ve got the test in hand, be sure to follow all the law school testing best practices: read the whole test – instructions and question – through at least once, be sure you understand the instructions, and then check the instructions one last time before you turn in your final product to make sure you did everything that was asked. For the writing section, spend some time outlining your response (using ONLY the materials given to you if it’s a closed-universe scenario – don’t do any independent research unless the instructions tell you to!) before starting to write. Remember that this is a test of your writing and logic and ability to use the materials given to you effectively, it is NOT a test of your knowledge of law. Finally, proof your work several times before you submit your piece. This is your one opportunity to show the staff that you have the skills they need, and that you’ll be a superb colleague for the next two years.
Alternative Journals
If your law school has more than one journal opportunity, consider carefully which might be right for you. Some schools have a “flagship” journal with general content and another with specialized content in a particular subject matter area such as Environmental Law, Business Law, or Law & Sexuality. Typically the primary journal will be considered the more prestigious one, but that calculus may flip for you if your career interest lies in the area of the specialty journal. The job duties are fundamentally the same, and having the chance to work on articles and meet authors teaching and writing in your subject area may be one of the most rewarding things you get to do in law school! Talk with students on both journals before deciding which to go for, and then follow your heart as much as your head. If you get the opportunity to serve, you’ll want that dedication of valuable time to be spent with people you enjoy and on topics you find interesting.
Additional Resources about Law Review: