Membership Selection
Legislative Journal membership is primarily a commitment to advancing the theory and practice of the law. It is a great privilege that connects students with past, present, and future members for years to come, as well as an endeavor that demands time, energy, and mental acuity. The skills and networking opportunities members establish serve them well regardless of the practice area or profession they ultimately enter. Additionally, the opportunity to publish one’s research in the form of a student comment is unparalleled in the law school experience.
Each spring, the Law Review and Legislative Journal hold a write-on competition to select new members. The application process is anonymous and offers are extended based on a combination of the student’s quality of writing, grades, and citation formatting. From this pool of applicants emerges a diverse membership, comprised of individuals with a variety of professional, educational, and social backgrounds who stand ready to make meaningful and unique contributions to the Legislative Journal. Members benefit and develop as young lawyers by honing their writing, editing, and analytical thinking skills, as well as through their interactions with their peers and authors throughout the editorial process.
After the Law Review has selected candidates who will be extended offers, the Legislative Journal then selects its members from all remaining candidates, in accordance with the following selection criteria:
- Candidates with the top 5 GPAs (i.e., including both full-time and part-time students) will be offered membership, assuming a good-faith effort in the write-on competition.
- Candidates whose submissions earned the 7 highest scores in the write-on competition will be offered membership, provided those candidates have qualifying GPAs (i.e., 2.8 or higher for rising 2Ls and 2Ws; 3.2 or above for rising 3Ls).
- The remaining positions will be filled in descending order, starting with the 6th-highest GPA, accepting any submission with a writing score that ranks in the top 2/3 of all submissions.
- The Legislative Journal will accept at least 30 new members.
Feel free to e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any further questions, or simply stop by the Legislative Journal’s office in the Journal Suite on the third floor of the library. We look forward to receiving your submissions.