Posner on Law Reviews

There has been an interesting discussion in the blawgosphere (yes, that's a play on words involving "blog" -- which I surely needn't, but still will, remind readers is itself a contraction of "weblog" -- and "law") about the role that student-edited journals play in legal academia and the life of a law student.

The discussion was tripped off by none other than the very eminent Richard Posner, who ruminated on the issue in this Legal Affairs article. U Texas law professor and philosopher Brian Leiter weighs in with his reactions (he largely agrees with Posner) here. Over at Crooked Timber, Micah Schwartzman has a very thoughtful and law student-sympathetic reaction of his own to some of Posner's points. And finally, on the Volokh Conspiracy, Orin Kerr offers his own perspective on one issue raised by Schwartzman and Posner: the length of law review articles.

All of the articles raise interesting issues for law students, professors and schools to consider as they seek to advance legal thought, educate students and provide appropriate and efficient outlets for scholarly work. I urge everyone to take a look.