Work & Write

Included in this group are practicing lawyers, people working in an academic setting (a director of a center at a law school, for example), and people who are teaching in positions that are not fellowships, VAPs, or tenure-track. What they all have in common is that while working, they are writing and publishing, and thus creating a body of scholarly work in preparation for going onto the teaching market. Available data indicate that in the 2023-2024 hiring cycle, around 10% of entry-level hires fell into this category.

Practice Experience

One common question from candidates is how law schools view practice experience. The answer is: it depends on the field. In private law, for example, even schools that are extremely scholarship-oriented value practice experience. But in general, the longer you been outside of the realm of academia without having published, the more challenging it may be to secure a position. Schools may worry that a candidate who has been practicing law for years may just be looking for a career move, and hasn’t thought carefully about the breadth and demands of joining the legal academy. Law faculties want colleagues who are strongly motivated to be professors. Again, publications—specifically those placed in reputable law journals—can serve as good evidence of your commitment to the scholarly enterprise.

Getting Started with Writing

How does one begin the process of writing, absent publications from law school? See below for resources that may be of assistance to the novice writer.

Research

Writing begins with reading. Once you have figured out the general area you are interested in writing about, read. If you live near a law school, go to their library and browse the stacks for books in your area of interest. Search for articles online, in Westlaw or Nexis. Build your knowledge base. Keep a tally of what you read and the ideas that come to you. Ultimately, you will develop a list of potential topics to focus on. Contact the faculty at your law school alma mater who teach in an area of interest, and ask them for guidance in developing a research plan. Look for blogs and virtual communities tied to your areas of interest and follow them. Locate subject matter-specific law conferences and attend, being sure to network with speakers and attendees.

Write, Circulate, Edit, and Polish

Everyone’s writing process is different; the key is that you develop a process and follow it. The research librarians at your alma mater will likely be willing to assist students and alums in locating information about the writing process. 

Once you have a good working draft, you will need to get feedback on your article to achieve a polished publication. You may consider sending your draft to the authors whose work you have relied on. Ask them to review the portion in which you cite their work, noting that you are sending your draft to ensure that you are accurately summarizing their work. 

You may also consider attending conferences, making sure to meet and get contact information for any panelists who have spoken on topics related to yours. When you are ready for feedback, ask them if they are willing to review or to recommend someone else who can. 

Finally, ask your mentor to recommend faculty to whom you can send your draft for review and feedback. The important thing is to have two or three people review the draft before you circulate it either to the hiring committee or for publication. 

For additional strategies, see the “Writing Resources” listed below.

Publishing

When is your article or essay ready? What you submit to a journal is not a rough draft; it should be as polished as you can make it. Footnotes or endnotes should be in bluebook form and typos should be eliminated, as should grammatical errors. Before you send your piece out, speak to a mentor or a former law professor about the submission process and strategies for article placement. You might also consult online resources such as Prawfsblog and The Faculty Lounge.

Placement of journal articles and essays plays a fairly large role in the evaluation process. Try to place your papers in the the highest ranked journal possible or a specialty journal.

Law reviews and journals have their own specifications for the submission process. This regularly-updated paper by Professors Allen Rostron and Nancy Levit provides an overview of the processes for a majority of law reviews, but be sure to double-check your intended journal’s specific guidelines for submission on its website.

When your article or essay is revised, edited, and of the best quality possible, submit it to law reviews that make the most sense for consideration.

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