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Abstract:
Anyone who enters the legal academy knows the pressure for new law professors to publish or perish. The use of student editors as the "gatekeepers" of legal scholarship is a distinctive feature of the legal academy. Yet, even with student editors holding the keys to academic success, few empirical studies have explored what factors student editors consider most important when making article selection decisions. The study reported in this Article attempts to shed light on this process and provide suggestions for new law professors as they navigate the law review article submission process. The present study examines how law review editors at all levels of the law school "tier" system (e.g., Top 15, Top 25, Top 50, Top 100, Third Tier, Fourth Tier and Specialty Journals) weigh the importance of author credentials, topic, format, and timing of an article submission in making their selection decisions. Although most editors consider each of these factors, the data also suggests that the higher-ranked journals rely more heavily on author credentials than lower-ranked journals. Editors at higher-tiered law schools were highly influenced by where an author has previously published. Further, while not a single editor at a Top 15 school considered an author's practice experience in making a publication decision, a majority of the editors at lower-tiered journals rated practice experience as an important factor in article selection. In addition, the study participants almost unanimously agreed that they were influenced by the topic of an article yet there were important differences among the law schools concerning the actual topics about which they would be most or least likely to publish. In addition to describing the survey results in more detail, this article will offer specific commentary from the student editors about their process of selecting law review articles.

law reviews, legal education, article selection, empirical study, student editors, top-tier law schools, Legal scholarship, law journals, empirical, legal education

Abstract:
Drawing inspiration from Abraham Lincoln's writing and writing habits, this article focuses on the use of brevity in legal brief writing. Part I defines “brevity.” Part II focuses on the persuasive power of brevity in legal writing. Part III reviews Lincoln’s legal career, focusing in particular on his use of brevity. Part IV examines Lincoln’s use of brevity to persuade as President by considering three speeches: the First Inaugural, the Gettysburg Address, and the Second Inaugural. Part V explores Lincoln’s writing and editing habits, and it urges lawyers to adopt Lincoln’s habits of writing early, visualizing audience, and ruthlessly editing. Lincoln worked hard for his eloquence and persuasiveness, and by adopting his habits we lawyers can also increase our eloquence and persuasiveness.

legal writing, legal rhetoric, writing habits, brevity, Abraham Lincoln, persuasion, First Inaugural, Second Inaugural, Gettysburg Address

Abstract:
This short article focuses on the persuasive power of brevity in legal writing, using Abraham Lincoln as a role model. Lincoln's eloquence was grounded in his ability to express much with few words. He learned the power of brevity while practicing law.

The article reviews Lincoln's legal career, and examines Lincoln's use of brevity to persuade in three of his presidential speeches. I explore Lincoln's writing and editing habits. I urge modern lawyers to adopt Lincoln's habits of writing early, visualizing audience, and editing with ruthlessness to increase eloquence and persuasiveness.

legal writing, Abraham Lincoln, persuasive writing, presidential speeches

Abstract:
Major League Baseball recognizes the value of the Seventh-Inning Stretch to give spectators a break and maintain interest in the game. This article suggests that law school professors use this tried, true, and familiar practice to teach new concepts and skills to law students. The article also suggests that law school professors step away from the podium and allow a pair of students to teach the new concept or skill during the five-minute Seventh-Inning Stretch. Section I describes the educational theory which supports the method, focusing on the challenge of capturing and maintaining law students' attention. Section II describes the method, including asking students to stretch and sing Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Section III provides a very specific example of how to use the method to teach a new concept, legal citation, to first-year law students. Section IV considers the advantages and disadvantages of the Seventh-Inning Stretch teaching method.

legal education, legal writing, student teaching

Abstract:
This article builds on prior scholarship which recognizes the value of storytelling in teaching legal ethics. The thesis is that sharing personal value dilemmas is an even more effective way to teach legal ethics, coining the term value dilemma to describe the myriad dilemmas that lawyers face during all stages of their careers. The article details the steps required to create and present effective value dilemmas in a Lawyering Skills class.

Law teaching, legal writing, legal ethics, lawyering skills

Abstract:
This article examines the importance of mentoring in the legal profession, with an emphasis on how a mentor teaches a lawyer both how to be a successful professional and a successful person. I share my mentor's best advice in the form of ten virtues he has consistently emphasized.

I review the history of mentoring in the legal profession, share examples of the current renaissance of legal mentoring, and explain the benefits of legal mentoring. I suggest qualities a lawyer should look for when choosing a mentor.

I then consider the ten virtues I learned from my mentor: diligence, initiative, efficiency, reflection, enjoyment, simplicity, civility, honesty, sharing, and equality. I discuss both the virtues and the practical habits my mentor suggested as ways to achieve each virtue. My hope is that other law students and lawyers will benefit from my mentor's advice. Additionally, I hope my article motivates lawyers to establish their own mentoring relationships.

Legal profession, legal ethics, mentoring

Abstract:
This Article examines Minnesota's approach to individual rights when those rights are protected under both the federal and state constitution. In a 2005 voting rights case, Kahn v. Griffin, 701 N.W.2d 815, 824-25 (Minn. 2005), the Minnesota Supreme Court in essence developed a decision-tree approach to decide issues of individual rights. Minnesota's decision-tree approach directs litigants to ask several questions, and follow the path dictated by the answers. More particularly, Minnesota's approach requires litigants and the court to ask a number of questions, each of which leads to a particular path dictated by either a "yes" or "no" answer. The path taken will determine if the Minnesota Supreme Court will (1) interpret its state constitution to be in conformity with the Federal Constitution and federal precedent; or (2) interpret its state constitution in a manner independent of federal precedent.

In essence, the Minnesota Supreme Court will independently interpret and apply the state constitution if either: (1) the state constitution protects a right that does not have an identical or substantially similar federal counterpart; or (2) there is an identical or substantially similar federal counterpart, but either the United States Supreme Court has made a sharp and radical departure from its precedent or federal precedent provides insufficient protection for Minnesota citizens' basic rights and liberties and the Minnesota court does not find a persuasive reason to follow that federal precedent.

Part II of this Article provides a historical overview of judicial federalism, describes the four approaches states have traditionally taken to federal/state constitutional interpretation - lockstep, interstitial, dual sovereignty, and primacy - and reviews the critiques of these four approaches. Part III gives a brief history of judicial federalism in Minnesota, focusing on the state constitution and Minnesota Supreme Court decisions. Part IV considers Kahn v. Griffin, the 2005 voting rights case that provided the vehicle for the Minnesota Supreme Court to develop its decision-tree approach. Part V describes the decision-tree approach and analyzes the guidelines the Minnesota court gives to aid litigants in answering questions required by it. Part VI discusses the advantages and potential critiques of the approach. Finally, this Article concludes that Minnesota's decision tree could serve as a model for other state courts seeking a practical and predictable, middle-ground approach that promotes uniformity and harmony between the federal and state courts.

Constitutional law, state constitutional law, constitutional interpretation, individual rights, voting rights, Minnesota Constitution