How to Write a Student Note Law Review
One of the biggest benefits y'all'll get from being a fellow member of law review is getting to draft and submit a student note for publication. Writing a law review note, or commodity that analyzes an original legal issue, presents a easily-on opportunity for you to learn most legal scholarship, improve your chances of being selected for your law review's executive lath, and, if published, to build your resume.
In a previous roundup of police force review submission season resources we shared some great articles on writing law review notes. Today we're highlighting some of the best tips from those articles to assist you develop your annotation - from brainstorming a topic, to evaluating your called theme, and preparing your article for submission.
Stride 1: Choosing a theme for your note
The first step towards writing a standout police review notation is choosing a timely and compelling theme. It's imperative to brainstorm to weed through possible note ideas from the time yous're selected for police force review, and to know how to spot the winners. In her "Guide to Writing a Student Constabulary Review Note" Leora Harpaz, Professor at Western New England College School of Law, outlines advice for choosing a publication-worthy note topic. According to Professor Harpaz your note should:
- Focus on an upshot of electric current legal controversy, such as analyzing alien judicial decisions or sound reasoning in consenting or dissenting opinions surrounding a contempo courtroom determination
- Accost a topic that will not be overly analyzed by the time your note is considered for publication (call back your note may not be published until a year after you lot start it!)
- Offer original analysis and a novel perspective on an existing legal issue backed by persuasive authorities
- Have a balance betwixt being too broadly and too narrowly focused
Professor Harpaz said one common claiming for student annotation writers is selecting a topic of brewing or potential controversy in its beginning stages, such every bit before courtroom decisions take been issued. While early on-stage topics are a expert choice to avoid your notation becoming stale, they can as well arrive more hard to find back up for your argument. Harpaz said students shouldn't feel that they accept to devious away from early-stage topics, merely advises students to brand certain they have a foundation of solid legal regime to build upon.
Stride 2: Evaluating your law review note topic
Depending on how your law review works, you lot may accept to choose and thoroughly research ii note theme ideas and write up a strengths and weaknesses comparison of the topics to exist evaluated by your police review board. Other police force reviews may non require a topic comparison, but will likely expect notation candidates to provide some sort of statement of originality for their annotation topic and undergo a preemption bank check to rule out any take a chance of writing on a theme that's already been covered. Professor Harpaz offers a thorough explanation of how to evalaluate a note topic to help yous go started.
Whether you have to write up a formal annotation comparison or non, it'southward a good idea to have a Program B in the dorsum of your mind prior to your law review'southward preemption procedure. Though, to ease concerns almost your note theme beingness deemed unoriginal, quondam editor and fellow member of the notation option committee for the Indiana International & Comparative Law Review, Jonathan Burns said in his feel this is rarely a problem. Burns said about students tin can be assured that their note theme will exist deemed original so long as it'south non a knockoff of another newspaper or grounded in a general discussion of a well-known topic.
Burns advises students not to get caught upward on trying to notice a note topic that no one has ever written about, but rather to focus on budgeted their chosen theme from a unique angle. As long equally your notation helps motion legal discussion forward, it's alright if information technology has been or is being examined by other scholars.
Step 3: Researching and writing your law review note
One time your theme has survived any pre-analysis from your note pick committee, yous're gear up to start writing! Where to brainstorm? Everyone has their own process for researching and writing outlines. You'll of course need to detect the method that works best for y'all.
The adept news when starting your note is that you have enquiry to build off of from your topic evaluation! Professor Harpaz suggests following the trail of research listed in the sources yous found during your notation evaluation in order to delve deeper into your theme. Read all of the cases cited in the primary case constabulary that y'all are focusing on and exercise artistic searches to find other related source materials. In one case you experience you've exhausted your enquiry efforts, Harpaz advises students to revisit their original proposed note theme and brand whatever necessary adjustments to it. Your research may lead y'all in a slightly different direction than expected.
In this early stage of outlining your note you lot volition also want to decide on the fashion and course your note will have. Volition you write a archetype case-note or an issue-focused notation? Choosing a class for your note up front will assist you maintain a steady focus every bit you lot organize your concluding paper. From there you'll want to start outlining your introduction, main sections, subsections, and decision. Exist certain to achieve out to your editorial board for whatsoever internal note writing resource, such as FAQs and tips sheets that you tin use to ensure your note organization meets the expectations of your selection committee.
In general, all notes should include 4 key components, which Jonathan Burns outlines in "How to Write a Law Review Notation Worthy of Publication: Writing the Note": an introduction, objective portion, subjective portion, and a conclusion. Burns advises students to pay special attention to their introduction as it will fix the tone of your note for the selection committee. He said a good introduction should not contain ambiguities, but rather clearly state the theme of your annotation and reveal your conclusion. Don't worry well-nigh foreshadowing here! The revelation readers get at the end of your newspaper should not be what your conclusion is but rather the journey yous took to go there.
Practice you have whatsoever tips for writing a constabulary review note to share? Nosotros'd love to hear them on Twitter at @scholasticaLR!
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Source: https://blog.scholasticahq.com/post/3-steps-to-writing-a-standout-law-review-note/