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July 28 2010

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It’s never too early to start thinking about law review…..

posted by Allie

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of meeting the new members of my law review.  They had orientation, and I was there to answer any questions.  When I got the email in my inbox reminding me of this upcoming meeting I could not believe it was already time to start thinking about law review again.  As I told the group on Saturday, the more seriously you take law review early one, the less stressed you'll be come final Note time.  There are a few things I wish I would have known before starting law review:

1) Take it seriously.  Now some of you out there may have hated your law review experience, and I'm quite honest that I had some qualms with my first year as well, but I still took it seriously.  You have to understand that it's a privilege to be on the review, and there are people who wanted to get on but didn't ...so don't take it for granted.

2) Recognize the benefits.  When you are working on the article edits, you may want to scream at the Bluebook, but learning that rules in that little book pay off.  Just this summer, I've had several projects that have been very time-sensitive, i.e. this has to go out the door today, and I was so thankful that I was well-versed in citing code, articles, and cases from all over the country.  It's nice to not have to dig through the Bluebook to find simple rules.

3) Realize the opportunity.  You may think that your Note's only value is that it's finally completed and you can move on, but there is some great potential if you write a great one.  I was researching a pretty controversial subject lately and could not find a case on point, so I turned to law reviews- I found this one Note, written by a student just 2 years ago that was directly on point to what I was researching.  This law student's note had been cited over 100 times!  Can you imagine writing something that valuable that it's actually on Westlaw?  Haha!

4) Finish strong.  I'm learning very quickly through work and through my last year at school, that the legal world is a very small place.  Your law review editor could be your opposing counsel someday, your articles editor could eventually be proof-reading your briefs.  You want to make friends with the people you come across, and you want to do your best work.  This is easier said than done, but do your best to make law review a priority, and do quality work.  You never know who is watching.

5) Choose your note topic wisely.  Do the leg work in choosing your topic.  Choose a topic that you enjoy, but also be mindful of the resources you'll have access to.  You want to write a well-researched paper, so you'll need good sources.  Also, don't pick something so "timely" that two months into your writing, the case goes up to the Supreme Court and the entire outlook of your paper has to change.


Best of luck to those of you about to embark on your first experience with law review!  And if you have any questions about law review, note topics, or general inquiries, feel free to email them lsj@thelawstreetjournal.com, and we'll be happy to answer them!

 

 

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Allie

About the Author: Allie
allie@thelawstreetjournal.com

Allie is a third year law student. She graduated from a small liberal arts college in 2008, married that same summer, and started law school in the fall. Talk about transitions! When she’s not studying, she loves to be with her hubby, Dustin. She also enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading, cooking, crocheting, gardening, and decorating her home. Her favorite shows are Friends, Fringe, 30 Rock, Modern Family, Project Runway, and Top Chef. She has no idea what area of law she wants to practice in but is most drawn to areas involving torts- she is fluent in Spanish and hopes to incorporate that into her legal career.

Comments

  1. Anonymous said on 7/29/10 at 2:51 PM

    Dear Allie, in my opinion law review SUCKS.  But in hindsight I should have had a better attitude about it.  I still struggle to see any real long-term benefit though. 

    Keep up the great writing!

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