Membership Selection

Each year the Albany Law Review selects new members through the grade-on process and through the annual Summer Writing Competition.

Students will be invited to join the Law Review if they have finished in the top 10% of the first-year class.  These invitations are generally extended on or around the day spring semester grades are released.

Any other rising 2L student who has a cumulative G.P.A. of at least 2.50 after the end of the academic year can gain membership to the Law Review by participating in the Summer Writing Competition.  Upper-class students who were not eligible to participate after their first year can participate in the Competition if their cumulative G.P.A at the end of the academic year is at least 2.50.  Upper-class students who did not participate after their first year for any other reason than ineligibility are not eligible to participate.    

The Competition is traditionally held for two weeks following the release of spring semester grades and is conducted in conjunction with the other Albany Law journals.  The Competition consists of a writing portion and a subedit portion.  The writing portion requires participants to analyze a legal problem using a closed set of materials.  Except for the Bluebook and a non-legal dictionary, no outside research is permitted.  The subedit portion requires students to proofread and edit a portion of a legal article for grammatical, spelling, punctuation, and citation accuracy.

As soon as the Writing Competition starts, participants can access and print the necessary materials online through TWEN.  Competition submissions can be hand delivered to the Law Review Suite or mailed.  No electronic submissions are accepted.  Students need not be present in Albany to participate in the Writing Competition.  General instructions for registering for the Writing Competition are made available in March and April of each year, and specific instructions regarding logistics and format are provided in the Writing Competition materials on TWEN.

Members of the Law Review Editorial Board evaluate and grade the writing submissions anonymously and objectively.  There is no fixed number of invitations extended to write-on participants because the number of new members fluctuates from year to year.  Invitations are generally extended to Writing Competition participants in late July.

Questions about membership selection should be directed to Caroline Nelson, Executive Editor for Research and Writing, at cnelson@albanylaw.edu.