Academic Legal Writing - Eugene Volokh [6]
The applicant gratefully accepted the advice. He chucked the “Possibilities of Reverter” paper and went about developing a new topic. Some months later, he produced a dynamite piece that became one of the seminal published articles in a developing area of the law. Eventually, he did clerk for the Supreme Court and has since become a widely respected and often quoted legal academic. His name is Eugene Volokh.
INTRODUCTION
A good student article can get you a high grade, a good law review editorial board position, and a publication credit. These credentials can in turn help get you jobs, clerkships, and—if you're so inclined—teaching positions. The experience will hone your writing, which is probably a lawyer's most important skill. Likewise, a good article written while you're clerking or in your early years as a practicing lawyer can impress employers (academic and otherwise) and clients.
And your article may influence judges, lawyers, and legislators. Law is one of the few disciplines where second-year graduate students write (not just cowrite) scholarly articles; and these articles are often taken seriously by others in the profession. Lawyers read them, scholars discuss them, and courts—including the U.S. Supreme Court—cite them.
Occasionally, student articles and articles by young practicing lawyers have a huge impact. Here are a few examples, limited to student articles published since 1990 (there are many others from the 1980s and before):
• Janet Hoeffel's student article, The Dark Side of DNA Profiling: Unreliable Scientific Evidence Meets the Criminal Defendant (Stan. L. Rev. 1990), has been cited by over 95 academic works, 27 cases, and at least 12 briefs. (Since Westlaw's BRIEFS-ALL database is quite limited in its coverage, the brief counts in this list are likely to be substantial underestimates.)
• Victor J. Cosentino's student article, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation: An Analysis of the Solutions (Cal. Western L. Rev. 1990), has been cited by over 15 academic works, 19 cases, and 32 briefs.
• Kevin Werbach's student article, Looking It Up: Dictionaries and Statutory Interpretation (Harv. L. Rev. 1994), has been cited by over 125 academic works, 13 cases, and 16 briefs.
• Mark Filip's student article, Why Learned Hand Would Never Consult Legislative History Today (Harv. L. Rev. 1992), has been cited by over 90 academic works, 10 cases, and 23 briefs.
• Rachel Godsil's student article, Remedying Environmental Racism (Mich. L. Rev. 1991), has been cited by over 150 academic works and 2 cases.
• Bradley Karkkainen's student article, “Plain Meaning”: Justice Scalia's Jurisprudence of Strict Statutory Construction (Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 1994), has been cited by over 120 academic works, 2 cases, and 2 briefs.
• Jim Ryan's student article, Smith and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act: An Iconoclastic Assessment (Va. L. Rev. 1992), has been cited by over 120 academic works, 1 case, and 9 briefs.
• Chris Ford's student article, Administering Identity: The Determination of “Race” in Race-Conscious Law (Cal. L. Rev. 1994), published by the California Law Review (a top 10 journal) while Ford was a student at a different law school, has been cited by 105 academic works, 1 case, and 2 briefs.
• Craig A. Bowman & Blake M. Cornish's article, A More Perfect Union: A Legal and Social Analysis of Domestic Partnership Ordinances (Colum. L. Rev. 1992), has been cited by over 115 academic works, 4 cases, and 4 briefs.
• Your author's student article, Freedom of Speech and Workplace Harassment (UCLA L. Rev. 1992), has been cited by over 190 academic works, 14 cases, and 31 briefs.
As you can see, influential pieces aren't