I did some poking around on the subject of how one “makes Law Review” (i.e. is selected to be a member of a student-run law journal) at a law school. The “writing competition” seems to be generally known as the “Write-On Competition” and its weight for law review selection varies from school to school. In some cases the competition is the sole criterion and in others it is considered along with grades/class rank.
Some excerpts and links follow. Please forgive the length. Pause to read the Volokh link for a bit of refreshment and a few chuckles. The note at the end is of interest.
*********************************************
http://www.law.georgetown.edu/journals/WriteOnInformation.htm
http://www.law.georgetown.edu/journals/gjil/GJILWriteOnInformation.htm
Selection for Georgetown Journal of International Law (GJIL) is based on a combination of grades (50%) and on the write-on competition score (50%). Please feel free to contact me via email ( ram93@law.georgetown.edu) if you have any questions. We wish you the best of luck on exams and the write-on competition. Enjoy the summer!
http://www.law.udc.edu/?page=LawReview
Students are eligible to join Law Review at the end of their full first or second years at UDC-DCSL, either based upon their grade average or by participating in a write-on competition.
http://volokh.com/posts/1192207892.shtml
10.12.2007 4:28pm
(link) Eugene Volokh (http://volokh.com/):
Some law reviews are mostly, or entirely, write-on, with no grade-on element. The UCLA Law Review, for instance, is probably 80% write-on or so, though the precise formula is complex.
http://law.bepress.com/templelr/competition.html
Annual Write-On Competition
How does the San Diego Journal of Climate and Energy Law select its members?
Full-time students entering their 2L or 3L year and part-time students entering their 4L year or below are eligible to compete to join the San Diego Journal of Climate and Energy Law (JCEL). To be considered for membership, students must participate in JCEL’s write-on competition. JCEL’s write-on competition is held in collaboration with the San Diego Law Review and the San Diego International Law Journal.
What is the write-on competition?
The write-on competition is a cooperative effort between JCEL, the San Diego Law Review and the San Diego International Law Journal that enables interested students to apply to all three journals at the same time. The competition consists of a legal problem that each competitor must analyze and address. Each eligible competitor is provided with a copy of the problem and copies of all the relevant statutes, cases and other sources of law. No additional research is allowed. Students then prepare briefs, approximately ten pages in length, that address the relevant legal issues involved in the problem. Students must also perform a citation edit using The Bluebook. Grading of the write-on competition is completely anonymous, and selection onto JCEL is entirely merit-based. All competitors must do their own work and shall not confer with other competitors about the write-on problem. Cooperative efforts will be deemed honor code violations and will be reported as such.
http://www.nyls.edu/academics/jd_programs/law_review/write-on_competition
http://nevadalawjournal.org/
In addition to the Editorial Board, the NLJ is made up of junior staff members, mostly in their second or third year of law school. Junior staff members are selected based on their class-rank and/or demonstrated abilities as provided by an annual “Write-On” competition. At least 5% of the junior staff members are selected based on their grades, while the other portion of junior staff members have the option of competing in the “Write-On.” The Editorial Board determines the number of junior staff members selected for the NLJ and has the duty of selecting the top “Write-On” submissions.
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Law-Review-Write-Competition/dp/1594605203
Making Law Review: The Expert’s Guide to Mastering the Write-on Competition [Paperback]
Wes Henricksen (Author)
Publisher: Carolina Academic Press (September 19, 2008)
http://uclalawreview.org/?page_id=248
http://lawreview.tmc.cooley.edu/Default.aspx?pageId=117296
Prospective Members
Eligibility Criteria
Students who have completed 20 credit hours with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above and who have a grade of 3.0 or above in Research and Writing are invited, by the Law Review, to enroll in Scholarly Writing – a two-credit honors writing class. Upon completion of Scholarly Writing with a “B” or better, students are invited to interview for positions on the Law Review.
Students who have completed 20 credit hours with a cumulative GPA of 2.75 to 2.99 and who have a grade of 3.0 or above in Research and Writing are eligible to compete in the Write-On Competition.
The Write-On Competition
The Thomas M. Cooley Law Review is pleased to announce its Michaelmas 2010 Write-On Competition. The competition will run from October 11 to October 29, 2010. This competition offers students who would otherwise be ineligible for membership to participate in the Scholarly Writing class and demonstrate their ability to become a member of Law Review.
The Michaelmas 2010 Write-On Competition will begin on October 11 at 8:00 a.m., and end on October 29 at 5:00 p.m. To participate in the Write-On Competition, you must have:
A cumulative GPA of 2.75-2.99;
A “B” or better in Research and Writing;
Completed at least 20 credit hours.
Students who have a 3.0 or better cumulative GPA after completing 20 hours and have received a “B” or better in Research and Writing are automatically eligible for Scholarly Writing and need not participate in the Write-On Competition.
http://www.rutgerspolicyjournal.org/membership.html
The Volokh Conspiracy - Bizarre Harvard Law Review Student Note
http://volokh.com/posts/1211824928.shtml
AND
http://www.harvardlawreview.org/hlr_477.php
Harvard Law Review Membership Selection Policies
Membership in the Harvard Law Review is limited to second- and third-year law students who are selected on the basis of their performance on an annual writing competition. Harvard Law School students who are interested in joining the Review must write the competition at the end of their 1L year, even if they plan to take time off during law school or are pursuing a joint degree and plan to spend a year at another Harvard graduate school.
Information for prospective transfer students.[link]
In recent years, the number of students completing the competition has ranged from 200 to 255. Between 41 and 43 students are invited to join the Review each year.
Fourteen editors (two from each 1L section) are selected based on a combination of their first-year grades and their competition scores. Twenty editors are selected based solely on their competition scores. The remaining editors are selected on a discretionary basis. Some of these discretionary slots may be used to implement the Review’s affirmative action policy.
I still don’t understand how he became President of the USA.