Grade on to law review - why? Forum

[CRizzy141]

I was just pondering this question and figured I'd throw it up here. Why allow students to grade on to law review? Is this just a policy that evolved from the disproportionate weight given the credential by prospective employers?

[ggocat]

I would expect that the policy of selecting people based on grades is more of a status quo policy than anything else. In other words, I don't think this policy "evolved" from a better policy. Maybe I'm wrong. Would be interested to read an article about the history of membership selection criteria.

There are pros and cons to using grades as a selection method. I tend to think, though, you get a better selection based on a writing and editing competition. (This coming from someone who graded on).

[mallard]

Not exactly sure why professors would be worse at selecting good law review candidates than students who just got on the previous year themselves.

[nahgems]

Law school grades are based on essay exams. Essay exams test both legal analysis and writing ability. These are important skills for law review. A write-on competition is based on a single data point. If you screw up one paper, then you don't make it. GPA is based on information from several classes. I'm not sure why grades wouldn't be used.

[ggocat]

Law school grades are based on essay exams. Essay exams test both legal analysis and writing ability. These are important skills for law review. A write-on competition is based on a single data point. If you screw up one paper, then you don't make it. GPA is based on information from several classes. I'm not sure why grades wouldn't be used.

Well, the type of writing one does on law review is more similar to the writing done during a writing competition compared to the writing done for exams. Law review writing entails meticulous research, incredible diligence, crafting a theme, and spending countless hours to revise the article. You can generally write poorly on an exam and still get plenty of points if you are able to spot issues and argue the facts both sides. Of course, exam preparation skills could sometimes be equated with a law review writer's preparation.

Writing is an important aspect that is fundamentally different for exams and law review. The other aspect is editing. This merely requires diligence, patience, and a very high attention to detail. Attention to detail translates well from exam grades (you must be able to spot issues both on exams and in editing). I'm not sure how much the diligence really plays in. Someone can perform very well on an exam if they obtain a decent outline. I received good grades in some classes that I prepared very little for. I think you must be more dedicated/diligent to succeed in a write-on competition compared to exams.

So, some people who grade on will have the diligence/patience/dedication/writing ability. But others won't simply because law school exams can be "beaten" even if you lack some of the qualities of a good law review editor or writer. I think a protracted write-on competition (upwards of a month), plus a detailed in-class Bluebook exam, would be a good way to select members. Grades could play a role (as they do at most schools).

Finally, selecting members from a write-on competition primarily or solely means that you are getting people who really want to be on law review. At any school any year I greatly suspect there are people with goods grades invited on to law review who only accept the invitation because it's law review. They don't intend to put in the extra effort, and they join law review because it looks good to employers and because they are expected to do so. I would guess that people who write on will view law review more as a privilege than a right (people who grade on maybe falling into the latter category). The write-on competition is a significant time commitment, and putting in a good faith effort is a showing that the person will put in a good faith effort later on. Some schools don't require law review members to participate in the write-on to be eligible to grade on.

[PSLaplace]

My school's law review is mostly write-on, with a handful of spots reserved for the students with the very top grades. The rationale for this, I think, is to keep the top 2-3% in the running for prestigious clerkships.

[steve_nash]

All of the students who graded-on to my law review still turned in submissions for the writing competition. Based on the anonymous reviews, they all (with the exception of one) were among the top 20 ranked notes, and a majority of them were in the top 10. So there is some truth to the matter that those with the highest grades will be among the top writers or Bluebookers on law review. That gives some justification to allow grading-on.

[grobbelski]

Law school grades are based on essay exams. Essay exams test both legal analysis and writing ability. These are important skills for law review. A write-on competition is based on a single data point. If you screw up one paper, then you don't make it. GPA is based on information from several classes. I'm not sure why grades wouldn't be used.

I mean, the exact same is true for the argument against using grades. If you screw up one paper (the exam) that will be statistically significant enough to drop you out of the top 6 or 7% that grade on (that is how many grade on at my school, I'm assuming it's a fair approximation for most schools). Further, it is less likely someone will screw up on a paper when they have seven or more days to write it and think about it, as opposed to four hours.

[ggocat]

All of the students who graded-on to my law review still turned in submissions for the writing competition. Based on the anonymous reviews, they all (with the exception of one) were among the top 20 ranked notes, and a majority of them were in the top 10. So there is some truth to the matter that those with the highest grades will be among the top writers or Bluebookers on law review. That gives some justification to allow grading-on.

The year I reviewed write-ons at my school, the one person who participated in the competition and also graded-on wrote a horrendous note that was an outright rejection. We have a pure grade-on for the top 10%, then go to the write-on competition.