Law Review is secretarial work; zero relation to practice Forum

[09042014]

Most members literally just proof read and cite check. That's retardedly simple stuff. How did this ever become prestigious. And who decided this will help anyones "writing ability." What are you smoking. First of all, there is no writing except a note. A note that is only reviewed by someone a year senior who still has no idea what they are doing. And it's academic writing not legal writing.

There is zero benefit from these things. They should be banned.

[El Pollito]

It's a solid heuristic for hiring gunners.

[09042014]

It's a solid heuristic for hiring gunners.

They could just use grades, which is all Law review is. So it's a total waste of time.

[IAFG]

It's a solid heuristic for hiring gunners.

They could just use grades, which is all Law review is. So it's a total waste of time.

If they just used grades they might not know to freeze you out

[09042014]

It's a solid heuristic for hiring gunners.

They could just use grades, which is all Law review is. So it's a total waste of time.

If they just used grades they might not know to freeze you out

I didn't have nearly hte grades for law review. I wasn't even the top 10% of the not top10%.

[IAFG]

It's a solid heuristic for hiring gunners.

They could just use grades, which is all Law review is. So it's a total waste of time.

If they just used grades they might not know to freeze you out

I didn't have nearly hte grades for law review. I wasn't even the top 10% of the not top10%.

But the gunnerier person with your GPA might be a good hire.

[09042014]

They could just use grades, which is all Law review is. So it's a total waste of time.

If they just used grades they might not know to freeze you out

I didn't have nearly hte grades for law review. I wasn't even the top 10% of the not top10%.

But the gunnerier person with your GPA might be a good hire.

They wouldn't get law review though.

There are barely any pure write on slots, and nobody considers them real law review anyway.

[IAFG]

Surely you're not suggesting firms don't care about LR aside from grades? Making writing on a painful waste of your last 2 years of LS?

[09042014]

Surely you're not suggesting firms don't care about LR aside from grades? Making writing on a painful waste of your last 2 years of LS?

I daresay I am.

[Blindmelon]

Surely you're not suggesting firms don't care about LR aside from grades? Making writing on a painful waste of your last 2 years of LS?

I daresay I am.

Firms care about LR, although you shouldn't other than that it looks alright on your resume. I would take top 10% over LR easily, but from someone who was only in the top 1/3rd, I think it really helped during OCI.

Then again, you all with your fancy T14 schools, it probably doesn't matter other than for clerking.

[09042014]

Surely you're not suggesting firms don't care about LR aside from grades? Making writing on a painful waste of your last 2 years of LS?

I daresay I am.

Firms care about LR, although you shouldn't other than that it looks alright on your resume. I would take top 10% over LR easily, but for someone who is only in the top 1/3rd, I think it really helped during OCI.

I'm not sure anyone actually is impressed though. Maybe it tricks them into thinking you are top 10%.

[Blindmelon]

Surely you're not suggesting firms don't care about LR aside from grades? Making writing on a painful waste of your last 2 years of LS?

I daresay I am.

Firms care about LR, although you shouldn't other than that it looks alright on your resume. I would take top 10% over LR easily, but for someone who is only in the top 1/3rd, I think it really helped during OCI.

I'm not sure anyone actually is impressed though. Maybe it tricks them into thinking you are top 10%.

Eh, its just another way to cut down the pile of OCI bids. If there aren't enough top 10% people, might as well pick the next grade bracket down + LR. At least thats how it seemed at BU. I went from 2 pre-selects to getting another 8 Alts when the top 10%s turned things down.

[bk1]

Most members literally just proof read and cite check. That's retardedly simple stuff.

You're not the best messenger for this.

[09042014]

Most members literally just proof read and cite check. That's retardedly simple stuff.

You're not the best messenger for this.

Well journal clearly didn't teach me anything.

[olive16]

Law Review is secretarial work; zero relation to practice.

Uhh, no shit Sherlock.


But there is a benefit: namely, employers like it for whatever reason, and some judges affirmatively require it. Suggesting that students turn down law review is dumb flame if they want biglaw and/or Art. III clerkship.

[IAFG]

Law Review is secretarial work; zero relation to practice.

Uhh, no shit Sherlock.


But there is a benefit: namely, employers like it for whatever reason, and some judges affirmatively require it. Suggesting that students turn down law review is dumb flame if they want biglaw and/or Art. III clerkship.

U don't even need LR for COA

[olive16]

U don't even need LR for COA

For some judges, sure, you don't "need" it. For others, it is a requirement. In all cases, it helps.

[A. Nony Mouse]

It's a solid heuristic for hiring gunners.

Exactly. Being able to grind through piles of boring material in which you have no personal investment on subjects you know nothing about is exactly what some employers want.

[09042014]

Law Review is secretarial work; zero relation to practice.

Uhh, no shit Sherlock.


But there is a benefit: namely, employers like it for whatever reason, and some judges affirmatively require it. Suggesting that students turn down law review is dumb flame if they want biglaw and/or Art. III clerkship.

I question whether firms actually give a shit.

For clerking, I'd probably agree.

But it's not "no shit Sherlock." Most people think it's actually useful.

[moonman157]

Question then: should I do write-on? Definitely not grading on. Already on a secondary journal. CCN going for NYC biglaw and no interest in clerking. I'm thinking it would be a waste of time to do the write-on competition, and an even greater waste of time if I somehow (by some sort of miracle) got onto law review, but I also feel guilty because law school makes you feel guilty every time you see people working harder than you

[09042014]

Question then: should I do write-on? Definitely not grading on. Already on a secondary journal. CCN going for NYC biglaw and no interest in clerking. I'm thinking it would be a waste of time to do the write-on competition, and an even greater waste of time if I somehow (by some sort of miracle) got onto law review, but I also feel guilty because law school makes you feel guilty every time you see people working harder than you

Absolutely not.

[olive16]

Most people think it's actually useful.

If by most people, you mean "0Ls, 1Ls and freshly minted 2Ls," you're right. But in my experience, law students by Spring 2L or 3L realize that LR (and journal work in general) is bullshit. That doesn't change the fact that it is beneficial to have LR on your resume when applying for clerkships. Whether employers/firms care about it is a closer Q, but in my experience, I think they do for various reasons.

I know you're addressing this to 0Ls and 1Ls, so here's my take for those kids: if you have strong grades, you can probably get prestigious biglaw without LR. If you have marginal to strong grades, I think LR helps, even if you wrote on (contestable). If you have weak grades, LR probably won't help. For clerkships, the importance of LR increases significantly. Some judges won't consider you without LR. Others will, but LR might, at the very least, get your application pulled from the pile. Also keep in mind that Art. III clerkships are way harder to get than biglaw, and so any marginal advantage helps. Some judges will even solicit applications from your school's flagship journal (speaking form experience). If you want a clerkship, you'd be dumb to turn down LR, even with average grades.

[Nelson]

The benefits to your career of journal maybe are minimal but so is the time required. I'll never understand the whining about the time commitment for journal for 2Ls (board is an entirely separate thing). The amount of time required by adequate cite checking is pretty negligible. Writing a comment is a slightly larger pain in the ass, but all schools have the ABA writing requirement anyway and at my school you can also use that comment for an independent study (which is an easy ungraded 3 credits). I think I got my time's worth for cite checking just in free drinks at journal events.

[Lexaholik]

Law review membership is a proxy for your ability to tolerate countless hours of mundane work for marginal benefit. Is it a surprise that big law firms love to hire law review editors? They don't want you to make that pragmatic cost/benefit calculation when they ask you to review piles and piles of documents.

[fanlinxun]

To the extent law review is secretarial work it is actually a pretty good preview of your first year in firm life. Also, you might be surprised at how much developing the ability to pay attention to minute details when going through something incredibly long and boring (and seemingly insignificant) will help you moving forward. The substance is different, but not as much as you might think.