The Big News!

The big news of late is that I have been invited to join law review. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this legal jargon, first, you should consider that a blessing. But, just for the record, law review is a journal containing scholarly articles, essays, and other commentary on legal topics by professors, judges, law students, and practitioners.

Law reviews are usually published at law schools and edited by law students. The legal profession is the only one of its kind where the students actually publish the scholarly work. For instance, medical journals are published by health care professionals, not med school students. But, most of the time, the research conducted by these health care professionals could not have been possible without the assistance of an army of students; and, without the research, the article would never reach publication.

Most law schools publish their law review volumes several times a year. It is our chief editor’s goal to publish three times this year. This, and other fun details, were included in the 130+ page handbook that we received with our invitation to join law review. We are expected to review the handbook before we return to classes, and use it as a reference tool throughout the semester.

Not long after accepting the invitation to join law review, I received an e-mail referencing my first “cite-checking” assignment. Cite-checking is the grunt work of law review; and, thus, it is delegated to the new candidates (like me). I would not say this out loud, but I actually enjoy the cite checking process. For instance, the article that I am working on has been written by a professor. He has included 365 footnote references. Each of these references must be verified. The law review staff divides the work and assigns a portion of the footnotes to each staff member. It is my task to (1) find the source, (2) verify the source, and (3) make a copy of the source material before the article can be published.

Other than cite-checking articles, the other major project that I will be assigned this year will be the composition of an article for the law review, which is called a Note. A Note is a comprehensive analysis of a recent significant case, statute, or administrative regulation. Most Notes include a historical examination of the legal issues involved, an examination of the court’s holding and its legal significance, and the writer’s analysis or proposed solution. The Note must be a minimum of 20 pages and include at least 100 footnotes. It is estimated that a Note takes approximately 150 hours to write.

During my second year on law review (and I hope that there is a second year) I will be required to write a Comment. A Comment focuses on a specific legal issue and analyzes the pertinent cases, statutes, law review commentary, and other materials. Comments conclude with an alternative approach to the problem, such as a model statute. Traditionally, Comments are less descriptive and more analytical than Notes. Through a Comment, a writer seeks to resolve a conflict in the law, such as a circuit split. The Comment must be a minimum of 30 pages.

If it sounds like a lot of work, then I have done a good job of conveying that point. Law review is a tremendous amount of work. But, it makes you a better law student, and it makes you very marketable as a young attorney. For instance, some firms will only grant interviews to those who have served on law review. This is a tremendous responsibility, but I am very excited to have this opportunity. All too soon we will find out how many hours of sleep this "big news" is going to cost me.