CFP Journal of the Legal Writing Institute

Legal Writing Institute (LWI)

The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute issues a call for essays on the topic of professional status issues for legal writing faculty. The deadline for submissions is Sept. 2, 2019.

The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute invites you to submit an essay to be considered for publication in its upcoming Volume 24. We welcome essay submissions on the topic of professional status issues for legal writing faculty. We encourage you to think about the topic broadly, considering the following questions:

  • What does “improved status” mean? We are especially seeking essays that go beyond the topic of tenure status to address other aspects of professional status, such as long-term contracts, pay, voting rights, benefits, sabbaticals, teaching of other courses, class size, relationships with other faculty, opportunities for professional writing, opportunities to attend conferences, opportunities to present research at faculty meetings or seminars, relationships with students, relationships with law school administration, opportunities to serve in law school administration, etc.
  • How can legal writing faculty help each other improve our professional status and experience? More specific topics that could be discussed include mentoring each other, collaborating on research and writing articles, co-presenting at conferences, giving each other feedback on article drafts, writing recommendation letters for each other, supporting each other for tenure or long-term contact processes, etc.
  • How do our interests as faculty in improving our status align with students’ interests?
  • What happens when an individual’s interests do not align with programmatic interests?

Essays should continue the Journal’s mission, which is to provide a forum for the publication of scholarly works on the theory, substance, and pedagogy of legal writing. Essays may be scholarly either because they fully prove a thesis with relevant support or because they are part of a larger, coordinated section of related essays that build on each other toward a shared thesis. Essays should not feel like an underdeveloped article. The form an author chooses — essay or article — should be driven by the thesis and its necessary proof. An essay is typically shorter, less formal, and more personal than an article. Essays typically focus on an unusual experience in, or insight into, the field, or careful analysis of a new topic; they often demonstrate a deft hand with humor or a lovely way with words. We envision essays ranging in length from 500 to 3,000 words, but the Board will consider essays of any length.

Please submit your essay for consideration by email no later than Monday, September 2, to the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Lindsey Gustafson (lpgustafson@ualr.edu). Please contact Elizabeth Inglehart (e-inglehart@law.northwestern.edu) or Liz Frost (efrost@uoregon.edu) with questions or concerns. We look forward to reviewing your submissions.

About the author

Research/Instruction Librarian, Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library, Dale E. Fowler School of Law at Chapman University