Information for Prospective Members
Maryland Law Review Membership
All eligible 1Ds and 2Es may petition
for membership on the Maryland Law Review
by competing in the spring petitioning process.
All members are expected to make a two-year
commitment to working on the Maryland Law
Review.
Member Responsibilities
To receive credit for their work on the Law Review, staff members must participate in the student writing process, complete editorial assignments, and perform assigned tasks during weekly office hours.
Writing Component
Every incoming staff member is expected to research and write a case note or comment on a recent decision in the Maryland Court of Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, or the Supreme Court of the United States. Student-authored work of the highest quality will be published in the Maryland Law Review either in print or on Endnotes.
Notes
The case note is a vehicle for thoughtful, original analysis of a court decision. Authors are required to think critically about the reasoning and result of the opinion and to explore its impact in a particular area of law. The case note format also affords authors an opportunity to recommend how a difficult or controversial legal issue could be resolved.
Comments
Staff members may choose to write a comment instead of a case note. A comment is an in-depth, original treatment of a legal problem or issue. Unlike a case note, however, a comment is generally not focused on one principal case.
Editing Responsibilities
Each staff member can expect to complete approximately three or four edits during the course of the year. These edits consist of proofreading content and checking sources for substance and technical form. Staff members will work on editorial teams with an articles editor and an associate editor. Each team will be responsible for an article from the time it is accepted until it is published.
Petitioning
The Maryland Law Review and the other
journals of the University of Maryland School
of Law conduct a joint petitioning competition
after exams in the spring semester. Students
have only one opportunity, the spring petitioning
process, to petition for membership on the
Law Review.
Petitioning requires prospective members to
write a case note on a recently decided case.
Law journals publish case notes in order to
provide the legal community with an update on
the law regarding issues on which the Supreme
Court, or the high court of a state, has recently
made a significant ruling. The case note form
offers practitioners, judges, and scholars a
factual summary and analysis of a court's opinion
within a broad legal context and provides an
objective critique of the court's reasoning.
Petitioners will not know the topic or the case
until they receive the petition packet at the
start of the petitioning process after spring
semester exams.
New Staff Selection: The Maryland
Law Review selects approximately twenty-five
to thirty new staff members each year through
the petitioning process. The first 75% of positions
will be filled by the petitions with the highest
numerical scores as evaluated by the Law Review.
The remaining 25% of positions are determined
by a combination of writing and grades. No one
will be invited to join the Maryland Law Review
without writing an acceptable petition.
Transfer Students: Transfer students may compete in a
limited writing competition conducted jointly
by the four journals in the fall semester.
Spring 2011 Petitioning Timeline
(1) Mandatory Meeting
Distribute Petitioning Instructions |
Wednesday, March 30, RM 107
3:05 pm-4:05 pm: Sections G, D, E, F
Thursday, March 31, RM 108
4:15pm-5:15pm: Sections H, I
Thursday, March 31, RM 460
6:30pm-7:30pm: Sections A, B, C, Evening |
(2) Journal Open House
Coordinated by RRGC |
Thursday, April 7, 4:15-7:15, Courtyard |
(3) Advertising Tables
Coordinated by MJIL |
Tues., April 12, 12-2 and 5-7, Mailboxes
|
| (4) Intent to Petition/Grade Waiver Forms DUE |
Wednesday, April 13 by 5pm
Due to box at library circulation desk |
| (5) Case Note/Scholarly Writing Presentation |
Thursday, April 14, RM 107, 3-5, 7-8
Writing Center Presentation |
| (6) Citations Presentation |
Tues., April 19, RM 107 3-5, RM 205 5:15-6:15
Writing Center Presentation |
(7) Posting of Preferences
Preference Sheet Compiled by JHCPL |
By Wednesday, April 20
List posted in mailbox area |
| (8) Petition packets available for pick-up |
Friday, May 13, RM 180, 12:30-3; 5-7pm |
| (9) Last day for late pick-up |
Sunday, May 15 (contact Preston) |
| (10) Petitions Due* |
Tuesday, May 31, RM 108, 4:30 -7:30pm
|
*For Mail-in Petitions, must return Intent to Mail Form to Angela Tate by May 23, 2011. If you mail this same form, it must be postmarked by May 23, 2011. Mailed petitions not received by June 3, 2011 are disqualified.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I petition if I’m going to study abroad?
Journals generally discourage their members from studying abroad. However, each journal has its own policy. Members should keep in mind that they may not receive academic credit for the semester they are abroad and will still have to fulfill their journal requirements.
- Maryland Law Review: MLR requires a two-year commitment, where students remain at the law school for 3 of those 4 semesters. Additionally, students must serve their first two semesters as a MLR staff member consecutively at the law school.
- Journal of Business & Technology Law: JBTL requires a two-year commitment and strongly discourages students from studying abroad. Although studying abroad is not prohibited, it does require prior approval from the JBTL Executive Board.
- Maryland Journal of Health Care Law and Policy: Students that will be studying abroad in their first fall semester on journal cannot petition for JHCLP. However, any other semester will be allowed, but credit will not be given and all writing requirement deadlines must still be met.
- Maryland Journal of International Law: If a student is going to go abroad they will not receive credit for the semester they are gone and they are still responsible for their case note regardless of when they go away.
- Maryland Journal of Race Religion Gender and Class: Students are responsible for writing their case note in the fall, even if they are abroad. If they go abroad, they will have double source pull and office hour responsibilities the following semester.
- If the date the petitions are due is a religious holiday, how can I hand in my petition early?
Students may turn in their petitions early via postal mail as stated in the petitioning packet. If a student chooses this option, he or she must turn in the Intent to Mail Petition Form to Angela Tate or postmark it no later than 4:00 p.m. on Monday, May 23, 2011.
- Who is eligible to petition in spring 2011?
Current 1D students, 2E students, eligible dual degree students and 1E students transferring to the day division in the fall are eligible to petition this spring. To be an eligible dual degree student, a student must comply with the following:
a) Commit to a journal's time requirements;
b) Have completed no more than 39 credits and no less than 25 credits of law school work;
c) Have not previously petitioned; and
d) Begin their first year on journal in Fall 2011
Additionally, dual degree students should be prepared to meet with the Managing Editor of each Journal they wish to petition for and a representative of the Office of Student Affairs in order to confirm eligibility.
Additionally, 1E students who are unsure whether they will be transferring to the day division in the fall should see FAQ #12.
- If I withdraw from the process now, can I petition later?
No, you may only petition once. A student is considered to have petitioned when he or she picks up the actual petition for the case note on May 13th.
- If I am offered a position with one journal, will I receive an offer from another journal?
No, you will only receive an offer from one journal.
- On what grounds could my petition be disqualified?
One example is that students who do not double space their petitions may face disqualification. If students strictly follow the guidelines in the petitioning packet, they need not worry about being disqualified.
- What kind of feedback can I receive following the petitioning process?
Due to the privacy of the blind grading process, journals will not be able to give feedback on the petitions. However, students may make an appointment with the writing center to go over their petition AFTER the petitioning process is complete. It is a violation of the Honor Code to have ANYBODY ELSE review your petition prior to submission.
- I am out of the country for the summer. Can you notify me by email whether I’ve made it onto a journal?
Yes. Please indicate your preference of contact on your Intent to Petition Form. If your information changes throughout the summer, please notify Preston Ridinger by email at umarylandlawpetitioning@gmail.com who will forward along your information to the administrative assistant in charge of the blind numbering. While every journal’s offer-response requirements differ, it is recommended that you have access to email at least every 48 hours to ensure a timely reply to your offer so that you do not lose your spot.
- If I’ll be unable to pick up my petition at the prescribed time, can I still petition?
Yes, so long as you fill out the required forms ahead of time. Students may have another person pick up their petitioning packet if they fill out the Third Party Pickup Form, due by April 13 at 7:30p.m. To be safe, if you are not positive that you can pick up the petition at the prescribed time, we recommend that you fill out the form just in case. Additionally, students can make a separate arrangement to pick up their petition with Preston Ridinger. To arrange a different pick up time, contact Preston Ridinger by email at umarylandlawpetitioning@gmail.com by Wednesday, April 13. Note however, the latest you may pick up the petition packet is Tuesday, May 17 and you will not be granted an extension as to the due date.
- I failed to pick up my petition at the prescribed time. Can I still petition?
No. Excluding rare emergency situations, you will be unable to petition if you do not pick up your petition at the prescribed time. To be safe, we recommend you fill out the Third Party Pickup Form just in case.
- May I list more than one person on my Third Party Pickup Form?
Yes. However, students may authorize NO MORE THAN TWO individuals to receive their petitioning packet on their behalf.
- I am a 1E student and I am unsure if I will be transferring to the 2D program prior to picking up my petition on May 13. What can I do?
Due to the economic situation, the Petitioning Committee understands that some 1E students will not know their class status prior to picking up their petition. Because picking up a petition on May 13 will prevent a 1E student from petitioning the following year as a 2E student if he or she does not transfer to the day division in the fall, the committee has outlined the following policy for a student in this situation:
- 1E students who will not know their class status prior to May 13, may submit a written request to petition in the 2011 Fall Semester, a process normally reserved for transfer students. This request must be sent to the Petitioning Committee via email to umarylandlawpetitioning@gmail.com by May 5, 2011. Students must describe in detail their situation and why they will not know their class status prior to picking up their petitioning packet on May 13.
- The Petitioning Committee will make decisions on a case by case basis whether to allow requesting 1E students to defer petitioning until the fall. Decisions will be made by May 9, 2011. If a student is denied this request, he or she may still petition this spring. However, if the student does not transfer to the 2D class in the fall, he or she will not be accepted onto a journal and cannot petition again. If a student who has failed to acquire an approved request from the Petitioning Committee does not petition in the spring and does transfer to the 2D class in the fall, he or she will not have the opportunity to petition again.
- Students should be aware that the Fall Petitioning Process is much more competitive and that there may some journals that will not participate if they reached their membership quotas in the spring.
- The instructions say that I can use a dictionary, does this mean English or legal dictionaries?
Only Standard English dictionaries are permitted during the petitioning process. Use of a legal dictionary will be grounds for an honor code violation and disqualification of your petition.
