Are people thinking about joining a journal for a reason other than a resume boost? What are those reasons?

What would help make your decision about joining a journal easier?

-- AdamCarlis - 02 Jul 2008

I accepted the Sci. & Tech. Law Rev. during the early application process for a couple different reasons. Firstly, I know the incoming EIC and am interested to see what he can do to the system within the journal framework. Secondly, during the year I was a regular at NYU's Information Law reading group, where we spent a lot of time discussing pre-publication law review articles relating to technology. So: I'm very interested in the subject matter (although not in all of the articles, which can be as long and overwrought as any).

And if you say it really quickly maybe somebody will just get "Law Review" out of it.

As to the process: a less opaque selection process for the brass ring would help, wouldn't it? It's hard to decide, if you have a non-binding early acceptance, whether to take on over seventy pages of obscure (unless you're one of the lucky people who did NALSA moot court this year) law right after finals. Are your grades going to be good enough to put you in contention? What is good enough? How much does it matter relative to your writing? How many trees must bite the sawdust for the baroque silliness of the application procedures?

Should you voluntarily suffer for a week for a chance to take on more suffering during the year in exchange for a résumé bump of unknown but extant value?

In the end, the whole process (other than the early applications for journals with specific subject matter, which make plenty of sense to me) just looks to me (with my perspective and potential sour grapes laid out above) like more 1L hazing from the least secret of societies. I'm glad I chose to get it over with personally, but I'm sure some of us will find Law Rev. work personally rewarding (someone has to be on the edge of the normal distribution...) and many more of us will find it rewarding in our quests for that next gold star.

-- DanielHarris - 02 Jul 2008

After I hear back from some more journals, I plan to get upperclassmen's advice on this question (why join / which to choose). With their permission, I'll post their responses here.

-- AndrewGradman - 02 Jul 2008

//insert Daniel's first paragraph here//

My logic is that if I'm going to spend absurd amounts of time reading something scrupulously, I might as well be interested in what I'm reading. Maybe, just maybe, it'll make me more knowledgeable? If that's all I get out of it, that's worth it.

-- KateVershov - 02 Jul 2008