Recommended Citation

Daniel H. Foote, Student-Edited Law Reviews and Their Role in U.S. Legal Education, 6 U. Tokyo L. Rev. 257 (2011), https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/faculty-articles/996

Authors

Daniel H. Foote, University of Washington School of LawFollow

Student-Edited Law Reviews and Their Role in U.S. Legal Education

Document Type

Article

Abstract

>p>For well over a centur y student-edited law reviews have been a major vehicle for publication of scholarship on law in the United States. At those law reviews, students bear responsibility for nearly all aspects of the publication process, including the vitally important task of selecting what works will be published. Criticisms have been raised over various aspects of this system, but they have not stemmed the rise of student-edited law reviews. Today, such law reviews are firmly entrenched as a central feature of the U.S. legal system; and, facilitat­ ed by advances in technology, the number of student-edited law reviews continues to climb. Works published in those law reviews - ineluding notes and comments written by students as well as articles written by scholars — have had great impact on the development of U.S. law. At the same time, law reviews serve as a valuable component of the U.S. legal education system.

After introducing a few facts and figures regardlng the position occupied by student-edited law reviews, this Article examines their historical background. The Article then considers the value of law review membership, by reference to a discussion of the tasks performed by members. The Article closes with a discussion of various criticisms and concerns that have been raised regarding student-edited law reviews.