Application Information

Journal Application Process

Welcome to the 2013 CLS law journal application process! Working on a CLS law journal can be a wonderful experience. CLS has many spots for students on journals covering a vast array of legal topics. We hope that many of you will apply and find the journal that is right for you.

Further details will be available in the journal application system on Lawnet. For additional application information please download the Journal Day Handbook and view the journal videos below.

Dates to Remember

The regular journal application process will open at 12:00pm EDT on Friday, May 17, and will close at 12:00pm EDT on Friday, May 24. You should make sure that your applications and journal rankings are complete and have been submitted on the system by noon EDT on the 24th. Please note that the application process is not expected to take the entire period for which it is open. Rather, it is long to give applicants flexibility in when they decide to work on their applications. More details regarding the expected time the Writing Component will take during the regular process will be available with the Writing Component materials on LawNet on May 17.

Anonymity

The journal application process is entirely anonymous. Please make sure that your application documents do not include your name or other identifying information and that you do include your registration ID number on all application documents.

Regular Application Process - How to Register and Apply

You will register and apply for journals via LawNet. Click on the "My Services" tab, and then on "Journals." This will bring you to a Welcome page. Once you are registered, the system will display your registration ID number. You will need to include this number on all application documents, and it should be displayed to you whenever you are in the system.

Once you are registered, you may explore the "Welcome" page, which contains a list of the journals, links to their home pages (where applicable), links to specific application instructions for each journal, email contacts for each journal, a chart summarizing the requirements to apply to each journal and some basic instructions. Please note that you are responsible for reading all general and journal-specific instructions to ensure that your applications are correct and complete.

On May 17 at 12:00pm EDT, the Writing Component (more details below) and the "Apply to Journals" page will be open to you, and will allow you to begin your applications. All relevant instructions will be available on the Welcome and Apply to Journals pages, including both general instructions applicable to all applicants, and specific instructions for each journal. As a preview, the application system has 3 basic parts: 1) a section where you will fill in basic identifying and contact information about yourself, which will be unavailable to journals until after they rank applicants, 2) a section where you will upload your required (and in some cases optional) application documents and information and 3) a section where you will rank journals once your applications for those journals are completed.

Please note that where information or documents are required, you will not be able to continue with your application unless you provide them. Most applications will involve some subset of a resume, personal statement/statement of interest, consent to release grades, and writing sample or the Writing Component. Some journals also request additional information (none of which is expected to be particularly time-consuming), or may not require some of the above items. For example, several journals do not require you to release your grades.

Please remember that if you were accepted onto a journal during the early application process, you may ONLY apply to the Law Review during the upcoming application process. If you are accepted on the Law Review, you will be permitted to join it and give up your early spot. You may not apply to any other journals. If you applied during the early process and were not accepted, you are free to apply to any journals that you wish, including the journal you applied to previously. Please remember that early spots were limited in number, and you still have a great chance of being accepted to a journal.

Regular Application Process - Writing Component

If you are applying for the Law Review, you will need to complete the Writing Component exercise. Other journals do not require you to participate in the Writing Component, although you are permitted to submit your Writing Component materials in lieu of a writing sample for those journals during the regular application process. Please note that most journals other than the Law Review have no preference between the Writing Component and a writing sample. If a journal has a preference, it will indicate that in its journal-specific instructions. As noted above, even if you participate in the Writing Component, the process is not expected to take the entire week.

Regular Application Process - Journal Selection

More detailed instructions regarding journal selection information will be available on LawNet, but the basics are as follows:

The journal offer process will occur through an automated "matching" system based upon student and journal rankings.
Applicants will be notified regarding journal selection in early July.
If you wish to be considered for Law Review, you must rank it #1. Rankings will blind in both directions, so ranking Law Review #1 will not hurt your chances of being chosen for another journal if you are not chosen for Law Review.
Students will match with a maximum of one journal, with the expectation that they will accept that journal's offer. Declining an offer will likely result in not being on any journal.
To maximize your chances of being on a journal, you should apply to as many journals as you can. There is no way to game the system.
If an applicant does not match with a journal and some journals are left with open spots, that applicant will be given an opportunity to apply to the open journals.

If you have any questions about the application process, please feel free to email Anne Green at anne.green@law.columbia.edu or the contact listed on LawNet for the individual journals. We wish you the best of luck!