Cleveland-Marshall College of Law

Getting Your Work Published

By Barbara Tyler, Legal Writing Professor Emeritus and former Director, Legal Writing, Research and Advocacy Program

If your paper is not selected for publication by the journal or law review, submit it elsewhere and get it published. If you write an article for a seminar or for L860 credit, and your advisor indicates it is of publishable quality, place it and get it published. Articles by students, even short ones, often find homes in law reviews elsewhere. Over the last five years of advising students on L860 projects and teaching Scholarly Writing, I have seen no fewer than ten students send their work out and get accepted in journals all over the country, from University of Florida (immigration) to Sports Lawyer (NFL signing bonus) to Albany Law Journal (The FDA and drug approval). This effort paid off for many of these students since they received job offers well before graduation.

Here are some tips for getting your article published:

  1. Make certain the citation form is perfect (Bluebook) and the grammar and spelling impeccable. Get advice from your advisor or your legal writing teacher. The more polished your article looks, and the less the editorial board must do, the more likely it is to accept your article.
  2. Make certain that the format looks like a completed law review note. Use footnotes rather than endnotes and single space them. Make sure that spacing is correct and uniform throughout the article and the font is readable.
  3. Print out the final copy of your article. Take it to a print company, if necessary, to get a nice laser printed copy.
  4. Write a cover letter. See sample at end of this list. I always advise writers to focus on any other degrees, skills, and training and not to mention they are law students.
  5. Look up the list of law reviews and specialty journals.
  6. http://www.andersonpublishing.com/lawschool/directory/
  7. Target some journals by specialty subject in your area.
  8. Get the current years' edition on line of U.S. News and World Report. It lists the top law schools and divides them into Four ranks. If you target the bottom or last quartile of law schools (#135-180), you are nearly certain to place your article. These schools do not get the volume of submissions that the ivy league schools do and are often hungry for good work. This may sound tacky, but it works. Target about 20 of them. Target your in-state schools in the bottom quartile.
  9. Timing is important. Spring and Fall are the best times to send these off. Student editors are on schedules to fill space vacancies for this and the following year.
  10. Send out the cover letter and a hard copy of your article to all the schools you target. (It costs to copy-but worth it)
  11. Wait for the offers. One student I had in Spring 2001 got an offer on the third day after sending her article out. Generally, you may hear something quickly if your timing is right.
  12. You may want to wait to accept an offer until you hear from other law reviews you have contacted. You can reasonably expect editors to wait a week or two for you to accept-no longer.
  13. Order sufficient re-prints of your article to distribute to friends, family and future employers. I usually order 50-100.
 

SAMPLE COVER LETTER

 

June 19, 2000

Articles Editor

University of Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky, 40292

 

Dear Articles Editor:

The article that I have just completed seems to fit nicely into the social justice and public policy themes of your newly created Brandeis Law Review. Enclosed is a timely article which tells the personal stories of several families who are either Holocaust survivors themselves, or whose relatives were victims of the Holocaust and whose art was stolen by the Nazis in World War II. This plundered art has now appeared in some of the United States most prestigious public museums. (SUM UP THE STORY)

The Article deplores this fact and decries the lack of legal grounds available in the United States to claimants. Litigation costs in recovering stolen art are staggering. The newly formed Holocaust Assets Commission Act may be the only hope available for return of family owned art to its original owners.

(GIVE YOUR TAKE ON THE ISSUE)

I have published several other articles in the medical/legal field as well as case notes on current cases and am a Registered Nurse as well as a Legal Writing Professor at Cleveland Marshall College of Law. Indiana Law Review is publishing my article dealing with the practice of medicine on the Internet this summer. (GIVE SOME OF YOUR BACKGROUND QUALIFICATIONS-OR TELL WHAT INTRIGUED YOU ABOUT THE SUBJECT)

I believe this article and its advocacy stance for justice for Holocaust survivors and their families would fit very nicely into your volume. Thank you for your consideration. The article is available on disc using Word Perfect. You may call me at __________. Or email me at________________.

(TELL THEM HOW TO CONTACT YOU)

Warmest personal regards,


___________________________

 

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