Discipline Legal studies Edited by Hilary Ledwell Frequency 8/year | Language English Publication history 1891–present | |
Publisher The Yale Law Journal Company, Inc. (United States) |
The Yale Law Journal is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School. The journal is one of the most cited legal publications in the nation and usually generates the highest number of citations per published article.
Contents
The journal, which is published eight times per year, contains articles, essays, features, and book reviews by professional legal scholars as well as student-written notes and comments. It is edited entirely by students. The journal has an online companion, the Yale Law Journal Online, which features op-ed length pieces and responses from scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. Prior to 2009, the Yale Law Journal Online was known as The Pocket Part.
The Yale Law Journal, in conjunction with the Harvard Law Review, the Columbia Law Review, and the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, publishes the Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, the most widely followed authority for legal citation formats in the United States.
Notable alumni
Past editors of the Yale Law Journal include prominent law professors (Akhil Amar, Ian Ayres, Stephen L. Carter, Alan Dershowitz, John Hart Ely, Joseph Goldstein, Dawn Johnsen, Randall Kennedy, Kris Kobach, Charles A. Reich, John Yoo, and Kenji Yoshino), the deans of Yale Law School (Robert Post), Harvard Law School (Martha Minow), Columbia Law School (David Schizer), Northwestern University School of Law (David E. Van Zandt, now the president of The New School), Bates College (Clayton Spencer) Michigan Law School (Evan Caminker), New York University School of Law (Richard Revesz), Georgetown Law Center (T. Alexander Aleinikoff), Emory University School of Law (Robert Schapiro), Washington and Lee University School of Law (Nora Demleitner), Stanford Law School (Bayless Manning) political figures (journalists Michael Barone and Jeff Greenfield, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, Senator Arlen Specter, Senator Michael Bennet, Senator Richard Blumenthal), Supreme Court justices (Abe Fortas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor), and other judges (Guido Calabresi, Steven M. Colloton, Robert Katzmann, Brett Kavanaugh, Scott Matheson, Sidney Stein), and Rabbi Yona Reiss, head of Beit Din of Chicago Rabbinical Council.
Admissions
The journal holds a two-part admissions competition each spring, consisting of a "source and citation exam" followed by a traditional writing competition. Students may also join the staff if they publish a note in the Journal.
Notable articles
Some of journal's most cited articles include:
Both Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor published Notes with the Journal, which were scrutinized during their nomination processes to the Supreme Court of the United States.