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How much does being published matter?

Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:30 pm
by Anonymous User
Hey everyone, hope everyone is well.

One of the jobs I'm looking at has their hires publish an article (with one of the lawyers at the job) in the New York Law Journal.

I was wondering how much I should weigh such an opportunity into my decision making. Is it particularly beneficial?

Thanks.

Re: How much does being published matter?

Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 10:15 pm
by Anonymous Loser
Being published in a scholarly journal might be an important factor to consider, but publication in the NYLJ shouldn't really be the key criteria in your decision as far as I'm concerned.

Re: How much does being published matter?

Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:12 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous Loser wrote:Being published in a scholarly journal might be an important factor to consider, but publication in the NYLJ shouldn't really be the key criteria in your decision as far as I'm concerned.
Of course not. It wouldn't be the sole decision, but it's part of the opportunity (which, on the whole, is fantastic).

I'm just curious how much weight it carries with future employers (such as with firms during 2L OCI).

Re: How much does being published matter?

Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:48 pm
by TTT-LS
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Re: How much does being published matter?

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:11 am
by Anonymous User
TTT-LS wrote:I don't think firms care much. Some might care a little, but on the whole I don't think the publication would be a game changer. Judges, on the other hand, will pay more attention to publications if you do end up applying for clerkships.
Thank you. Clerking is certainly something I am interested in doing, so I will take that into consideration.

Re: How much does being published matter?

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:22 am
by tome
For firms: GPA ---- daylight ---- everything else. I know that you did not ask only in terms of job prospects, much lest firm prospects, but law school is a professional school, and TTT-LS already gave you the other major job angle.




edit: BTW, this is how you got into LS in the first place (UG GPA and LSAT) so it should be no surprise that it is important to the next step.

Re: How much does being published matter?

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:37 am
by Anonymous Loser
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous Loser wrote:Being published in a scholarly journal might be an important factor to consider, but publication in the NYLJ shouldn't really be the key criteria in your decision as far as I'm concerned.
Of course not. It wouldn't be the sole decision, but it's part of the opportunity (which, on the whole, is fantastic).

I'm just curious how much weight it carries with future employers (such as with firms during 2L OCI).
I apologize - looking back, my response is worded a bit more strongly than I'd really intended. Rather than "the key criteria," I probably should have said "a key criteria." Sounds like you've got a good handle on evaluating this opportunity, I certainly didn't want to imply that you are approaching this decision with anything less than sound reasoning.

Mostly I wanted to comment on the nature of the periodical: not to minimize the NYLJ, but publication in a practitioner's daily newspaper like the NYLJ is not going to sway future employers nearly as much as getting published in a law review/journal. It's nice to list on your resume, but no where near as cool as checking Westlaw to see how many times your comment got cited.

I think you are getting good input from TTT-LS, his comments pretty much sum up the impact of publications on future prospects.

Re: How much does being published matter?

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:48 am
by Anonymous User
IT would be difficult to evaluate the impact of publication alone. those who managed to publish in law review and/ or good law journals are more likely than not students with good GPA. I dare say almost no (or none) with bad GPA publish in law review/ journals.

Re: How much does being published matter?

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:55 pm
by asoli
This may be the wrong place, but I didn't want to start a new thread as this is somewhat related. How does being published as an undergrad play into law school admissions?

Re: How much does being published matter?

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 2:02 pm
by underdawg
asoli wrote:This may be the wrong place, but I didn't want to start a new thread as this is somewhat related. How does being published as an undergrad play into law school admissions?
miniscule

Re: How much does being published matter?

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 2:15 pm
by 270910
NYLJ isn't really the kind of article that's going to impress judges. It won't be unimpressive, but it'll be a softer soft than an academic (read: likely substantially less useful) article.