Quantity-Time Commitments at Law Journals

Many editors complain that journal work keeps them very busy. They find that they have less time to spend on their classes or with their friends. You may have some control over how much time you spend doing journal work, especially as a third-year student. Because the time commitment on any given journal can be heavy and potentially inflexible, you should definitely get a clear picture of how much work the journal expects from its members before you decide to join.

TIP: Some journals give students-particularly One-Ls- the option to work on a discrete editing assignment without insisting on further commitments. Although these assignments (generally citation checking and line editing) tend to be less substantive than other journal work, they can give you an insightful introduction to that particular journal without making a long-term commitment.


At some schools, editors receive academic credit for being a member of the journal. Third-year members of the Hastings Law Journal, for instance, receive either one or two units of academic credit, depending on how much work they decide to do. Even if your journal keeps you busy, it may actually help make your class schedule more manageable. Before you decide to join a journal, find out whether you'll be rewarded with academic credit.

Allocation - Who Does What. On most journals, the members are divided into staff members (a.k.a. "editors") and the editorial board (a.k.a. "officers"). Board members tend to have more responsibility and greater input into the institutional decisions of the journal. Board members at some journals tend to do more work than staff members, but not always. The board members are usually selected by the journal's members or its outgoing board members in some kind of election process.

The board member structure can affect your experience on a journal in several ways. First, the ability to work on certain projects or certain types of work may be beyond your control unless you are a board member. Although some journals allow all members to be active in virtually every aspect of the publication process, other journals confine certain activities to a specific committee or group of officers (particularly the selection process for articles). If you think you may be interested in some, but not all, aspects of journal work, it is a good idea to look into how the journal distributes the work and how flexible that system is. Of course, if you enjoy a particular kind of editing and are appointed or elected to the right office, you could get a chance to do what you like for a very long time.

Second, whether you are an officer or a staff member can change your journal experience. By becoming a board member, you may be committing yourself to a heavier and less flexible workload. And while you might find the right niche for yourself, there's always a risk that you'll accept an office that you wind up disliking. (Tip: Board members sometimes receive perks in the form of academic credit or a financial stipend. Being a board member also looks good on a resume.)

A Nice Place to Visit But I Wouldn't Want to Live There

Before joining a journal, you should get a very clear idea of the scope of the commitment you are making. Be sure to find out how long your membership lasts (or is supposed to last). On the North Carolina Law Review and the Stanford Law Review, for instance, editors are expected to work on the journal for at least one full academic year. The Harvard Law Review demands a two-year commitment from its members. Also, you should know that many journals require their members to do work over the summer.

Many editors on law reviews report that the best part of working on a journal is its educational value. Editors have a chance to be exposed to interesting areas of the law beyond what they learn in the classroom. Their writing and editing skills tend to improve very quickly, as they work intensively writing or improving someone else's writing. Perhaps more importantly, editors on journals find that they learn how to work well with others on long-term projects, an essential skill for lawyers.

You learn to work with people. A journal is kind of like an assembly line. What you do affects other people down the line, ft there ate shortcomings in your work, it's going to be a burden on the next person. -MARC WILLIAMS, NOTES EDITOR, Southern California

Not everyone finds the training useful. Some editors find editing tedious and obscure. They complain that too much time is spent analyzing useless citation rules. Law review work can be a great educational experience, but it's not for everyone.

Resume Power

One of the most popular reasons for joining a law review is that it serves as a valuable credential in applying for jobs or clerkships. Employers and especially judges place some value on the sorts of writing and editing skills that journal work tends to nurture. Quality research and writing are an important part of many lawyers' work, especially in litigation. And your colleagues will probably often ask you to help edit early drafts of motions, briefs, and other legal documents.

Additionally, membership on the school's law review or other journals is often competitive and prestigious. The Cornell Law Review, for example, selected 42 members from a pool of 275 applicants in 1995. As such, the journal's name might make your resume look a little more impressive, in terms of raw prestige. Again, this can be particularly true if you become a board member or officer of your journal. The words "President" or "Editor-in-Chief definitely add a lot to a student's resume.

Of course, it is important not to overestimate that prestige value. Other factors, such as grades, will always factor into a judge's or employer's decision to extend an offer.

The Articles Editor position was helpful in landing my clerkship. My judge asked about it during the interview. I anticipate long-term career benefits from having served on the board, particularly if I ever apply for a teaching position. As to whether those expectations will be met, the jury is still out. -RICHARD MYERS, ARTICLES EDITOR, North Carolina