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.

Students are eligible for Law Review after they have completed their required first-year classes. Additionally, every student on Law Review generally must devote four consecutive semesters to Law Review.  The Law Review board may grant at least four waivers for students who are graduating three semesters after joining Law Review, with the understanding that those students may have extra work to complete during the summer before graduation.

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 that a student declines the invitation.

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

The remaining twenty-two 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 through Monday, May 11th, at 9 a.m., through Monday, June 8th, at  9 a.m.), 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 (course name: “GSU Law Review Write-On Competition”), and the two-week clock will begin. For example, if you download the packet on Tuesday, May 12th, at 1 p.m., you must upload your paper by Tuesday, May 26th, BEFORE 1 p.m. All papers must be uploaded by June 8th at 9 a.m. 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 twenty-two slots will be based on the following:

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

The remaining twelve 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 thirty 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 twelve slots will be offered to those students with the best overall ranking.

If anyone has any questions on how this selection process works, feel free to e-mail Ellenor Stone (Editor in Chief) at ehonig1student.gsu.edu. If anyone has any questions about the Writing Competition in general (What is a student Note? How is it formatted? etc.), please e-mail your questions to Kevin Bradberry (Student Writing Editor) at kbradberry2student.gsu.edu. You should also browse law reviews in the library to see what a student Note looks like (keeping in mind that your paper will be substantially shorter).

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

Transfer student eligibility

A transfer student is eligible to compete in the summer writing competition by providing a letter from his or her current school verifying class ranking in at least the top 30%. Additionally, because the Law Review board cannot compare rankings of students from other schools with rankings of students from Georgia State University, transfer students can only make Law Review by receiving one of the top written submissions.

Transfer students should contact Kevin Bradberry (kbradberry2student.gsu.edu) for complete information about the summer write-on competition.  The summer write-on competition TWEN page also has more detailed information about transfer student eligibility.