Write-on to the Montana Law Review

Highlights:

• Sign up at Student Services for an anonymous number.
• Twelve (12) copies of your note, and an envelope containing required grade information, are due at Student Services on April 4, 2008 by 5:00pm.
• All submissions must be anonymous.  Your designated number should appear on everything you submit.
• The Honor Code mandates NO HELP FROM ANYONE (except in very limited circumstances discussed in detail below).
• Make sure no current staff member hears anything about your note or about your intention to write a note.
• Questions about the write-on process can be addressed to third-year students Robin Turner (robin.turner@umontana.edu) and Rennie Stichman (rennie.stichman@umontana.edu).

Information about the 2007-2008 Montana Law Review Staff Positions

Montana Law Review:

The Montana Law Review is a journal devoted to scholarly research in all areas of the law.  The Law Review publishes material on subjects of interest to the legal community at large and on subjects of particular interest to practicing lawyers in Montana.  The purpose of the Montana Law Review is to inform and influence in order to improve the creation, administration, and practice of law in this state, region, and nationally.

Law review membership is composed of second and third-year students.  The Editorial Board, made up of third-year students who have served as staff members during their second-year, is primarily responsible for writing, editing, organizing, and publishing the law review.

Each staff member is responsible for contributing a written submission to be considered for publication, editing submitted material (cite checking), assisting with publication, sales of law review clothing, and assisting with law review sponsored events.  The written submission may be a comment, survey, or case note.  Staff members receive a letter grade for one academic credit per semester based on the quality of cite checking and the written submission.  Editors receive a letter grade for two academic credits per semester based on the quality of work performed as an editor.

Application Procedure:

An applicant must submit a note on a case from a pre-approved list of cases.  No other cases will be considered for write-on submissions.  The list of cases will be distributed prior to winter break.

The submission should be ten to fifteen pages up to a maximum of twenty-five pages in length, including footnotes, and must be an original submission prepared solely for write-on purposes; no previous work from other classes or projects may be submitted.  The case note must be typed double-spaced using twelve-point Times New Roman font, with one-inch margins on all sides.  Do not pad your note for a higher page count; unnecessary or irrelevant material will be counted against you. Download Submission Guidelines >>
 
Use the ALWD citation manual as a guide for citation and style, but use footnotes rather that in-text cites.  Be sure to pay attention to the special rules for law review citations.  The form of the note should be similar to that of notes appearing in past issues of the Montana Law Review.  Note, however, that articles appearing in the Montana Law Review will conform to Bluebook citation and style.  Applicants should NOT use the Bluebook citation style.
           
The current year staff will select next year’s Montana Law Review staff members based on the criteria distributed on a separate sheet.  Selections will be based primarily on note submissions because we believe that writing samples provide the most reliable indication of a person’s research and writing abilities.  If necessary, selected attorneys and professors may also evaluate submissions.
           
A maximum of 12 applicants will be offered 2008-2009 staff positions.

Anonymity:
Strict anonymity will be enforced. 

• Do not put your name, or any other readily identifiable information anywhere on the writing submission or grade information.             
• Do not discuss your note or the fact you are writing a note with any of the current year staff.
• Direct specific technical questions about your case note to Robin Turner (robin.turner@umontana.edu) or Rennie Stichman (rennie.stichman@umontana.edu).  Please do not ask Robin or Rennie any substantive, research, or citation questions.   Approaching current staff members on your case note will cause you to lose your anonymity and subsequently your work done on your case note.

Honor Code:

• Except for the exceptions listed below, applicants may not receive help in any phase of their case note.  Applicants’ notes may not be edited by others.  Nor may applicants receive help with substantive issues.  No help is permitted from an applicant’s classmates, family members, professors, or friends. 
• For general assistance with research and citations, however, applicants may seek out Fritz Snyder or Stacey Gordon.  Before asking any question relating to a case note, an applicant must disclose to Fritz or Stacey that questions relate to his or her case note.  “General assistance” means Fritz or Stacey will help an applicant find or use a particular research tool, but will not offer detailed help in finding particular information. 

Submissions are due by 5:00 p.m. at Student Services on April 4, 2008 (the week following spring break).  The selections for staff members will be announced sometime in May.

Research:
Applicants should have unfettered access to Lexis and Westlaw during the winter and spring breaks. 

A Note on Case Notes:

The best guide to writing a note is to read other notes, either in the Montana Law Review or in other law reviews.  Read several to acquaint yourself with the scope and style.  Doing so should facilitate your understanding of the function and form of a note.

A note analyzes a recent court decision or statute and its legal context.  This generally means examining the relationship between the decision and the existing case and/or statutory law, discussing important issues, cases, and legislation within that area.  An “article” is an essay written by a legal scholar or practitioner.

A case appropriate for a case note has one of the following characteristics: it represents an important change in the law, it reinterprets old law and characteristics, it conjures up significant effects, or it displays interesting judicial reasoning.

After a brief introduction, a note begins by clearly stating (in the writer’s own words) the important facts and judicial history of the case.  The note then states the specific holding on each important issue, summarizing the court’s reasoning for each holding.  The author’s analysis and argument will then follow to reflect the nature of the note and provide a “road map” for the reader.  The substantive part of the note begins by describing relevant existing law and the major developments both supporting and opposing the holding of the case.  The length of the case note’s conclusion depends on the approach taken by the author.  If the author reaches the legal conclusion in a previous section, a brief summary is sufficient.  Read the parties’ briefs in your chosen case, if available. 

Again, we strongly recommend that you read several notes before starting work on your submission, especially ones previously published in the Montana Law Review.  We do not expect your submission to be as polished as a published case note.  Click here for a more extensive discussion on writing a case note.