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Wondering what the TLS wisdom on this situation is.

I am on LR and have a SA for summer of 2012 lined up with a biglaw firm. I'd like to do a clerkship at some point, but, after giving it some serious thought, I think I would only apply in the Central District of California (I'm at USC/UCLA). I realize this is one of the most competitive districts, so there is a high chance I won't get one. Ideally I would apply now and if (when) I don't get it, I'd apply again after a year or 2 in biglaw.

So here is the thing:

I hate law review. Hate really isn't a strong enough word, but you get the idea. Will not doing LR during 3L hurt me for clerkships if I apply with work experience after a few years? If so, how much?

At the vast majority of LRs, if you just stop after 2L, you have to notify your employer - which I can tell you - they will NOT be happy about. Not to mention it is a giant FU to your fellow staffers. If you hate it, consider how much you'll consider not having a job or clerkship if you drop out.

I thought the notification was only for dropping out mid 2L year (or thats what another thread lead me to believe).

Edit: this is OP

I can't speak for CD Cal, but as a former district court clerk in a fairly competitive area, someone who quit law review after one year would be an auto ding. It would look like you only did it until you had gotten what you needed and then failed to follow through on your commitment.

Since, as you said, it is a highly competitive process, you absolutely should finish out your LR commitment until you've got that lovely J.D. in hand.

At my schools the 3ls who aren't editors don't really have to do much. Just don't run for anything. Or better yet, run for something easy. We have a party planner whose entire job is collecting money for two parties and bringing a bag of shitty candy every week. They get the title Development Editor.

Anonymous User wrote:I thought the notification was only for dropping out mid 2L year (or thats what another thread lead me to believe).

Edit: this is OP

This would vary by school. At Michigan, you must take it off your resume altogether and notify employers.

I'm confused. Are you saying you don't want to be a board member or that you want to actually quit LR? At my school, 3Ls who aren't board members don't do anything. If you hate LR, running for a board position is probably not worth it. If you are asking whether you should quit LR, then the answer is no, regardless of how it would be viewed for clerkships.

Let me add that LRs generally try to destroy you if you don't fulfill your commitment (otherwise several people would quit after OCI). At my school they note it on your transcript and supposedly notify your employer.

Anonymous User wrote:I'm confused. Are you saying you don't want to be a board member or that you want to actually quit LR? At my school, 3Ls who aren't board members don't do anything. If you hate LR, running for a board position is probably not worth it. If you are asking whether you should quit LR, then the answer is no, regardless of how it would be viewed for clerkships.

Let me add that LRs generally try to destroy you if you don't fulfill your commitment (otherwise several people would quit after OCI). At my school they note it on your transcript and supposedly notify your employer.

Your lucky. Out 3L non-board members citecheck (albeit less) just like 2Ls.

OP here: I guess I have to ask about mine specifically, and apparently I know nothing about law review.

I was unaware that at many places the non-board 3Ls don't do much...I assumed I would have to still cite check etc. I was also unaware that 1 year was considered backing out of a commitment -- I was originally under the impression that all 3Ls were on the board and so a certain % didn't even make it for year 2.

Law review isn't even hard, its just so asinine and inefficient that I feel like I'm having a stroke every time I walk into the office.

Fuck. Looks like I'll just have to do it and not run for anything.

Anonymous User wrote:OP here: I guess I have to ask about mine specifically, and apparently I know nothing about law review.

I was unaware that at many places the non-board 3Ls don't do much...I assumed I would have to still cite check etc. I was also unaware that 1 year was considered backing out of a commitment -- I was originally under the impression that all 3Ls were on the board and so a certain % didn't even make it for year 2.

Law review isn't even hard, its just so asinine and inefficient that I feel like I'm having a stroke every time I walk into the office.

Fuck. Looks like I'll just have to do it and not run for anything.

Maybe do it from home and turn it into a drinking game?

blowhard wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here: I guess I have to ask about mine specifically, and apparently I know nothing about law review.

I was unaware that at many places the non-board 3Ls don't do much...I assumed I would have to still cite check etc. I was also unaware that 1 year was considered backing out of a commitment -- I was originally under the impression that all 3Ls were on the board and so a certain % didn't even make it for year 2.

Law review isn't even hard, its just so asinine and inefficient that I feel like I'm having a stroke every time I walk into the office.

Fuck. Looks like I'll just have to do it and not run for anything.

Maybe do it from home and turn it into a drinking game?

OP here:

I like your style.

This may out my school, but one of the many reasons I hate it is that this is not possible. We use hardbound reporters for cases and journals ("because the pagination might be different") which makes no sense even if true because anyone looking up your sources will be doing it online, so it would make MORE sense to use those page numbers.

Even better, this means that we have to go down to the library and load up cart after cart of reporters and journals to take back to the office. One day, after spending literally hours carting books around, I realized that one journal's volume 48 was split between pages 1-900 and 901-1500 and I had gotten the wrong one. If there had been nobody else in the office I seriously would have just started throwing things...

That felt good to vent.

In any event, I may just use the internet next year anyway...

Anonymous User wrote:

blowhard wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here: I guess I have to ask about mine specifically, and apparently I know nothing about law review.

I was unaware that at many places the non-board 3Ls don't do much...I assumed I would have to still cite check etc. I was also unaware that 1 year was considered backing out of a commitment -- I was originally under the impression that all 3Ls were on the board and so a certain % didn't even make it for year 2.

Law review isn't even hard, its just so asinine and inefficient that I feel like I'm having a stroke every time I walk into the office.

Fuck. Looks like I'll just have to do it and not run for anything.

Maybe do it from home and turn it into a drinking game?

OP here:

I like your style.

This may out my school, but one of the many reasons I hate it is that this is not possible. We use hardbound reporters for cases and journals ("because the pagination might be different") which makes no sense even if true because anyone looking up your sources will be doing it online, so it would make MORE sense to use those page numbers.

Even better, this means that we have to go down to the library and load up cart after cart of reporters and journals to take back to the office. One day, after spending literally hours carting books around, I realized that one journal's volume 48 was split between pages 1-900 and 901-1500 and I had gotten the wrong one. If there had been nobody else in the office I seriously would have just started throwing things...

That felt good to vent.

In any event, I may just use the internet next year anyway...

That blows. We definitely don't use Westlaw's pagination because of that concern but you realize you can see the actual image of the reporter scanned on Heinonline right? Like literally, the scanned page. Maybe suggest they get with the times?

Anonymous User wrote:

blowhard wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here: I guess I have to ask about mine specifically, and apparently I know nothing about law review.

I was unaware that at many places the non-board 3Ls don't do much...I assumed I would have to still cite check etc. I was also unaware that 1 year was considered backing out of a commitment -- I was originally under the impression that all 3Ls were on the board and so a certain % didn't even make it for year 2.

Law review isn't even hard, its just so asinine and inefficient that I feel like I'm having a stroke every time I walk into the office.

Fuck. Looks like I'll just have to do it and not run for anything.

Maybe do it from home and turn it into a drinking game?

OP here:

I like your style.

This may out my school, but one of the many reasons I hate it is that this is not possible. We use hardbound reporters for cases and journals ("because the pagination might be different") which makes no sense even if true because anyone looking up your sources will be doing it online, so it would make MORE sense to use those page numbers.

Even better, this means that we have to go down to the library and load up cart after cart of reporters and journals to take back to the office. One day, after spending literally hours carting books around, I realized that one journal's volume 48 was split between pages 1-900 and 901-1500 and I had gotten the wrong one. If there had been nobody else in the office I seriously would have just started throwing things...

That felt good to vent.

In any event, I may just use the internet next year anyway...

Why the hell doesn't your journal use Heinonline?? (And westlaw has scanned reporter images for most cases.) We rely on print only too, but you can find scanned PDF's of most things online (minus statutes...those can be a pain).

Richie Tenenbaum wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

blowhard wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:OP here: I guess I have to ask about mine specifically, and apparently I know nothing about law review.

I was unaware that at many places the non-board 3Ls don't do much...I assumed I would have to still cite check etc. I was also unaware that 1 year was considered backing out of a commitment -- I was originally under the impression that all 3Ls were on the board and so a certain % didn't even make it for year 2.

Law review isn't even hard, its just so asinine and inefficient that I feel like I'm having a stroke every time I walk into the office.

Fuck. Looks like I'll just have to do it and not run for anything.

Maybe do it from home and turn it into a drinking game?

OP here:

I like your style.

This may out my school, but one of the many reasons I hate it is that this is not possible. We use hardbound reporters for cases and journals ("because the pagination might be different") which makes no sense even if true because anyone looking up your sources will be doing it online, so it would make MORE sense to use those page numbers.

Even better, this means that we have to go down to the library and load up cart after cart of reporters and journals to take back to the office. One day, after spending literally hours carting books around, I realized that one journal's volume 48 was split between pages 1-900 and 901-1500 and I had gotten the wrong one. If there had been nobody else in the office I seriously would have just started throwing things...

That felt good to vent.

In any event, I may just use the internet next year anyway...

Why the hell doesn't your journal use Heinonline?? (And westlaw has scanned reporter images for most cases.) We rely on print only too, but you can find scanned PDF's of most things online (minus statutes...those can be a pain).

No idea. It makes me sad.

from someone unqualified for LR:

you should not quit, but if you really do quit, maybe you can try getting your own works published in a reputable law journal (if LR is not possible) at other schools.

I think someone here said it before: he was not on any journal but he got his works published in two very nice secondary journals at other schools. he's doing a COA clerkship now.

Every LR is different, so stuff can't necessarily be generalized. Even knowing you hate LR, I'd at least look into what each board position did and consider if any of them sound bearable. My board position meant I had to edit some more, but I didn't have to do any of the stupid carting around of books (2Ls and non-board 3Ls did that). The time commitment was higher, but it was doing more substantive shit than grunt work, which at least made me feel better about it. Board on LR is a decent long-term investment for a year's worth of hatred, there's a reason board positions are on like every attorney bio.

Do like I do, quick scan of your assignments and sign off on them. I quickly realized that the edits, cite checking, and comments I made were not being used by authors, so I decided to put minimal effort into it. I actually found that the author of one article was just making shit up. I put comments into the article, only to find in subsequent drafts the author didn't care. If the author doesn't care about their own work, why should I?

Anonymous User wrote:Law review isn't even hard, its just so asinine and inefficient that I feel like I'm having a stroke every time I walk into the office.

LOL. Yup. Law journals are just about the most useless exercise in law school. But, this:

Ludovico Technique wrote:At my schools the 3ls who aren't editors don't really have to do much. Just don't run for anything.

Can't believe anyone has to use hard copy reporters. That blows.

Also, our office has a fridge which almost always contains beer.

prezidentv8 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Law review isn't even hard, its just so asinine and inefficient that I feel like I'm having a stroke every time I walk into the office.

LOL. Yup. Law journals are just about the most useless exercise in law school. But, this:

Ludovico Technique wrote:At my schools the 3ls who aren't editors don't really have to do much. Just don't run for anything.

OP here:

This seems to be the consensus. Oh well, c'est la vie. Thanks for the advice everyone.

does getting on board matter at if you don't want clerkship?
will firms you are summering at care if you don't get a position in LR?

Be a Note Editor.

With my journal, this requires you emailing the 2Ls a few times a semester, making sure they turn in some stuff, and then making sure their notes aren't total pieces of shit.

My Note Editor last year seriously did nothing but write back saying "Thanks" when I turned in one of maybe 5 assignments the whole year. He did the same with everyone else I know. No one got any feedback whatsoever because he simply did not give a shit and no one in their right mind is going to complain about that.

Anonymous User wrote:Be a Note Editor.

With my journal, this requires you emailing the 2Ls a few times a semester, making sure they turn in some stuff, and then making sure their notes aren't total pieces of shit.

My Note Editor last year seriously did nothing but write back saying "Thanks" when I turned in one of maybe 5 assignments the whole year. He did the same with everyone else I know. No one got any feedback whatsoever because he simply did not give a shit and no one in their right mind is going to complain about that.

problem is is that i am no longer eligible for board. How will the firm I'm summering view this?

I've never heard of firms caring about senior board.