Details on the Law Review Summer Competition

Students of the Georgia State University College of Law become members of Law Review by invitation based on exceptional academic standing or performance in a rigorous annual Writing Competition. Law Review participation provides an intensive educational experience beyond the basic law school curriculum by enhancing analytical, organizational, and writing skills. These qualities are highly respected by members of the legal community and are regarded as essential to the successful practice of law.

Selection for Law Review is done in the following manner:

Ten students will be extended invitations based solely on academic standing. Invitations will be extended to the ten top-ranked students with additional invitations extended to the next eligible student in the event a student declines the invitation.

These students will not have to technically participate in the summer Writing Competition. However, since rankings are not released prior to the start of the competition, a student who chooses not to participate (and falls outside the top ten) runs the risk of not receiving an invitation.

The remaining 22 invitations will be extended to qualified students based on performance in the annual Writing Competition. As an initial qualification for selection to Law Review, you must have a grade point average that places you in the top 60% of your class. The competition will extend over a four-week period (starting the week after finals - Monday, May 12th, at 9am, through Monday, June 9th, at 9am), and students will be permitted a maximum of two weeks within that four-week window to complete the competition. Students will download a packet of information from a TWEN website, and the two-week clock will begin. For example, if you download the packet on Tuesday, May 13th, at 1pm, you must upload your paper by Tuesday, May 27th, PRIOR to 1pm. All papers must be uploaded by June 9th, at 9am. No additional research is necessary. In fact, outside research is not allowed. Everything a student needs will be in the packet.

Selection for the remaining 22 slots will be based on the following:

The top ten written submissions will be extended invitations to Law Review.

The remaining 12 slots will be extended based on a combination of both grades and writing ability. Both components will be given equal weight. All students in the competition (excluding the ten who “grade-on” and the ten who “write-on”) will be assigned two ranks. First, they will be ranked in order based on their class rank. For example, if there are 30 students in the competition, they will be ranked 1-30. Second, these students will be ranked in order of their writing quality. These two rankings will be combined, and the 12 slots will be offered to those students with the best overall ranking. In the event of a tie for the 12th slot, the grade ranking will be the tiebreaker.

If anyone has any questions on how this selection process works, feel free to email Paul Barsness (the 2008-2009 Editor-in-Chief) at pbarsness1@student.gsu.edu. If anyone has any questions about the Writing Competition in general (What is a student note? How is it formatted? etc.), you should first try and come to the Q&A session in mid-April. You should also browse law reviews in the library to see what a student note looks like (keeping in mind your paper will be substantially shorter). If you are unable to attend the Q&A session, you should email your questions to Alexis Fairweather (the 2008-2009 Student Writing Editor) at alexis.fairweather@finnegan.com.

Thanks for your interest in Law Review. We look forward to working with all of you.