Legal Commentary

This article reports (based on this article in the National Jurist) that  most law reviews are desperate for articles  and end up publishing poorly written and shoddy sholarship.  The article posts two questions to "Law Blog loyals": "First, does law review experience actually make better law students and lawyers . . . ?  Second, do you agree . . . that the importance of law review in the job search process is leading to shoddy scholarship and academic waste?"

I tend to think that the answer to the first is "yes" and the answer to the second is "yes, but."  Let me explain.

I think journal experience is beneficial.  Journal members learn at least two skills: how to Bluebook and how to edit.  Granted, journal Bluebooking is different than brief Bluebooking, and scholarly editing is different than brief editing, but there are also similarities, and I think those similarities end up enhancing lawyerly skills.  Obviously, the level of benefit depends upon the journal, but I think it is a benefit in any case.  I was on two journals at Duke (yes, I was not very bright back then) -- Duke Law Journal and Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum.  I got more out of my experience on Duke Law Journal, but I benefitted from my experience on DELPF, too.  A third skill that many journal members develop is writing, if they have the opportunity to publish a student note or comment.  Not every journal member does that, but those that do usually gain valuable writing experience.  And I have seen some excellent student notes, even from relatively lower-ranked journals.

I do think that the abundance of journals can lead to shoddy scholarship and academic waste in some cases.  But my guess is that most cases of shoddy scholarship and academic waste would have been done anyway and still have found its way into some publication medium even without such an abundance of journals.  And, I think there is real value in most journal writing, even those that have little name recognition.  Practitioners are often relegated to more obscure journals, and although sometimes those articles are less scholarly and more doctrinal (or even patently advocacy pieces), they can still add positive value to the overall discussion.  And, finally, I think that there are some real niches that secondary journals fill even if the supply of articles is low.  The University of Arkansas has three journals, for example.  The Law Review, the Journal of Food Law & Policy, and the Journal of Islamic Law & Culture.  The latter two may struggle to fill volumes, but they are also fairly valuable products in niche markets.