Harvard Law Review

Students at a big school make a book.

The book is about law. It started a long time ago.

A man named Louis Brandeis helped start it. Many famous people worked on it. One leader was Barack Obama.

Many judges also helped with the book. It is a very special group. It helps people learn about rules.

The Harvard Law Review is a monthly journal.

It is made by students at Harvard Law School.

A man named Louis Brandeis helped start it in 1887. He later became a judge on the Supreme Court.

Many famous people were part of the group. Barack Obama was a president of the Review.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg also worked there as an editor.

Many other leaders and judges have joined too.

Students must work hard to join. They take a writing test. They also use their grades to help them get in. The group also makes a guide called The Bluebook. This guide helps people write about laws correctly. The Review is very important in the world of law. It ranks first in many studies. It has been around for a very long time.

The Harvard Law Review is a very important law journal.

It is run by a group of independent students. These students go to Harvard Law School. The journal is published every month from November to June. In November, the journal focuses on the Supreme Court of the United States. It also has an online version called the Harvard Law Review Forum. This forum lets people share quick scholarly responses. The journal is very highly ranked in the world of law.

In 2015, it ranked first out of 143 law journals.

Joining the journal is a big achievement for students. Many years ago, editors were chosen only by their grades. The student with the best grades became the president. Now, the rules are a bit different. Students must do well in their first year of law school. They also enter a special writing competition. This contest has two parts. Students must edit an article that has not been published yet. They also must analyze a recent court case. To keep things fair, the judges grade these papers without knowing the students' names.

This journal has a very long history. It published its first issue on April 15, 1887.

A lawyer named Louis Brandeis helped start the journal. He later became a famous Justice of the Supreme Court. The journal used to live in Austin Hall. Since the 1920s, it has lived in a white building called Gannett House. This building uses a style called Greek Revival. The journal is one of three honors societies at the law school. Students can only join one of these three groups.

Many famous leaders have been part of the Review.

Barack Obama was a president of the journal in 1991. He later became the 44th President of the United States. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an editor there for one year. She also became a famous Supreme Court Justice. Other leaders include Susan Estrich and Raj Marphatia. Many other editors became judges or government officials.

This includes people like Merrick Garland and Mike Pompeo. The journal even helps make a famous guide. This guide is called The Bluebook. It tells people how to cite legal facts correctly.

Sometimes, the journal faces hard choices about what to publish. In November 2023, the leaders decided not to publish a specific essay. This essay was written by a student named Rabea Eghbariah. The leaders said they had safety concerns. Some other editors disagreed with this choice. They said it was an unusual decision. They worried it might stop people from sharing ideas. Later, the essay was published in other places. These moments show that the work of the journal is very serious. It is a place where people study and discuss the law.

The Harvard Law Review is a prestigious legal journal.

It is managed by an independent group of students at Harvard Law School. This publication is highly respected in the legal field. In 2015, its impact factor was 4.979. This score placed it first among 143 journals in the "Law" category. The journal is published monthly from November through June. The November issue focuses on the previous year's term of the Supreme Court of the United States. It also maintains an online journal called the Harvard Law Review Forum. This forum allows for rapid scholarly responses to the main journal's content.

Becoming an editor is a rigorous process for law students.

From the 1880s until the 1970s, editors were chosen based on their grades. The student with the highest academic rank served as the president. Today, the selection criteria have changed. Students must perform well during their first year of law school. They also participate in a writing competition held at the end of that year. This competition has two specific parts. Students must edit an unpublished article. They must also provide an analysis of a recent Supreme Court or Court of Appeals case. To ensure fairness, these submissions are graded blindly to maintain anonymity.

The selection process includes several different paths to membership. Fourteen editors are chosen using a mix of first-year grades and competition scores. Specifically, two editors are selected from each 1L section. Another twenty editors are chosen based solely on their performance in the writing competition. The remaining twelve slots are filled on a discretionary basis. The journal uses some of these discretionary slots to implement its affirmative action policy. Once the editors are chosen, they elect a president from among their peers. This structure ensures the journal remains a student-led organization.

The Harvard Law Review has a long and significant history.

It published its very first issue on April 15, 1887. This makes it one of the oldest student-edited law reviews in the United States. Louis Brandeis helped establish the journal. At the time, he was a Boston attorney and a recent alumnus. He later became a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Since the 1920s, the journal has been located in Gannett House. This white building features the Greek Revival architectural style. Before moving there, the journal was based in Austin Hall.

Many influential leaders have served as editors or presidents.

Barack Obama served as president of Volume 104 in 1991. He eventually became the 44th President of the United States. Ruth Bader Ginsburg served as an editor for one year. She later became a Supreme Court Justice. Other notable alumni include Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. The journal also produces The Bluebook. This is the primary guide for legal citation formats in the United States. It is created alongside the Columbia Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal.

The journal has also navigated difficult editorial decisions.

In November 2023, the leadership stopped the publication of an essay by Rabea Eghbariah. The essay was titled "The Ongoing Nakba: Towards a Legal Framework for Palestine." The president, Apsara Iyer, stated the decision was due to safety concerns. However, twenty-five editors published an objection to this choice. They argued that the decision threatened academic freedom. The essay was eventually published in other venues, such as The Nation and the Columbia Law Review. These events highlight the complex responsibilities of managing a scholarly publication.

Serving on the Review connects students to various professional paths. Many former editors become prominent judges or government officials. For example, Merrick Garland and Mike Pompeo have both been part of the legal community.

Others have served as Cabinet secretaries or ambassadors. The journal is one of three honors societies at Harvard Law School. The other two are the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and the Board of Student Advisors. Students may only join one of these three organizations. This exclusivity emphasizes the high level of achievement required to participate.