Tue, Mar 6, 2012
Article from Minnesota Lawyer
Lawyerist recently had a good post with tips for publishing a law journal article while you are still in law school. Publishing an article is a good way to demonstrate work ethic, writing skills and expertise in a substantive area of law. Once you have written the paper itself (which most law schools require you to do at least once anyway), finding a place to publish the article is probably less difficult than you think it is, with hundreds of journals from which to choose. If the article is accepted, you also get the benefit of having your work vetted and critiqued by others, which should further sharpen your writing and analytical skills. If you are having trouble picking a topic, law library websites often have a host of resources that are specifically geared to article writing.
If you don’t have the time to write a 30-page paper, consider writing an article for a bar association newsletter, or better yet, an industry newsletter that circulates to potential clients. Within every bar association there are dozens of practice sections and committees, many of which publish newsletters and journals as a service to members. In addition to being shorter, an article in one of these publications has the advantage of being targeted to an audience that is likely to be interested in what you are writing about. Getting published in one of these journals can be as simple as sending an e-mail to the chair of the section.
This post was written by:
Michael Goodwin - who has written 19 posts on JDs Rising.
Michael Goodwin is an associate attorney at Jardine, Logan & O'Brien in the Twin Cities. Michael's practice involves a range of insurance defense and coverage issues. Michael currently serves as the Outreach Committee Chairperson for the Minnesota State Bar Association New Lawyers Section. He earned first place in the 2010 Levit Essay Contest, a national writing contest sponsored by the ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers’ Professional Liability and Long & Levit, LLP. Michael graduated from Hamline University School of Law in 2009. During law school he was a board member of the Hamline Law Review and he completed a judicial externship in United States District Court. A native of Sioux City, Iowa, Michael was a newspaper reporter prior to enrolling in law school.
Article from Minnesota Lawyer