2008 TRANSFER WRITE-ON COMPETITION PACKET

Membership Selection 

All Mason First Years with questions regarding the Law Review, the Write-On, or the Candidate Member experience can email us at gmlr@gmu.edu. Editors frequently check this email account.

The George Mason Law Review is a student run organization.  Members edit and publish scholarly articles written by professors, professionals, and select students.  All first year students who have a desire to participate in this honorable organization should be prepared for both the challenges and the fulfillment of membership. 

Eligibility and Selection

In order for rising second-year students to be eligible to join the Law Review as a Candidate Member, they must (1) participate in the Unified Law Journal Write-On in late May and (2) have a Grade Point Average in the Top 50% of the class at the end of the first year.

The Mason Law Journals usually conduct the Unified Law Journal Write-On over a two week span after the last first-year final exam. Participation allows Mason Law 1Ls to apply for the Law Review and the Civil Rights Law Journal.

We highly recommend that students participate in the Write-On.  While normally two weeks are allotted to prepare a Write-On entry, the entire time frame is not needed to prepare an adequate entry. Students should budget sufficient time in late May well in advance of finals to ensure they participate in the Write-On. The Journal experience is one of the best opportunities of your legal career, so you should ensure you have the proper time to dedicate to the Write-On.

The Write-On packet is e-mailed to students shortly after finals end. 

Candidates are required to write a short casenote using only the cases and articles in the packet.  No other research is necessary to complete the Write-On.  Candidates are also required to complete a brief spading exercise.

For an example of a top casenote from a previous year, click here.

The same casenote can be used for entry to both journals.

The selection process is conducted anonymously.  We will not know the identities of write-on submission authors until after they are selected.

Selection Process

The Law Review will select Write-On participants for Candidate Membership from two pools. All participants with a Grade Point Average in the Top 15% of the first-year class will comprise Pool 1. The best two-thirds of entries from Pool 1 will be extended invitations to join the Law Review as Candidate Members. Those not selected from Pool 1 will then have their entries included in Pool 2.

All eligible Write-On entries not selected via the Pool 1 process shall comprise Pool 2. The Law Review will offer remaining Candidate Member slots to the best entries in Pool 2.

Students selected for Candidate Membership will be notified in late July or early August.

Transfer Students

The 2008 Transfer Write-On Competition packet is now available!

Students transferring to Mason Law may participate in a Transfer Writing Competition for both Law Review and the Civil Rights Law Journal (CRLJ)during the summer. The Law Review will select the top entries and extend their authors offers of Candidate Membership. Grades do not factor in this selection process.

Any student that has been accepted as a transfer student at George Mason University School of Law is invited and encouraged to participate in the competition.  Students that have applied to George Mason School of Law but are still waiting on a response are also encouraged to participate, although acceptance on the Law Review and other journals will be contingent on a valid acceptance to GMU School of Law. 

The assignment will be a closed research project and submissions should be no more than 10 pages. Submissions are due on July 11 via e-mail. The write-on competition packet for currently enrolled first-year students is now available here, and students may read through the instructions if they would like to get a better sense of what the write-on entails (the topic and substance of the transfer write-on, of course, are completely different). Both Law Review and CRLJ will make membership selection decisions in mid to late July. Both journals have recently updated and re-designed websites with pertinent information about membership, publication, and other items that might be of interest to transfer applicants, so students can visit them for more information.

Candidate Membership

Candidate Members do not become Full Members until they:

1. write a casenote or comment of publishable quality;

2. complete all required spading (footnote editing) or other journal related work; and

3. complete the one credit Scholarly Writing class.

The Scholarly Writing class, which teaches students how to write a comment or casenote, also begins in August and continues throughout the fall semester.

Candidate Members will have to meet various article draft deadlines throughout the fall, and the final note is due in the middle of January.

The Law Review Board reads the student articles. In February, the Board informs students whether they have completed the necessary requirements to become a Full Member.

Members have an opportunity to apply for Board positions during the Spring Semester.  The new Board will be responsible for running the Law Review and publishing Law Review issues for the following year. If you have any questions regarding this process, please contact us at gmlr@gmu.edu.