Law Journals: The Appalachian Journal of Law

The Appalachian Journal of Law

of the

Appalachian School of Law

The Appalachian School of Law offers two scholarly writing journals edited by students.  I profile the second journal -- the Appalachian Natural Resources Law Journal -- here. 

In 2000, the students and faculty began operating the Appalachian Journal of Law.  It has published articles from prominent academicians, judges, lawyers, and business leaders.  It also publishes student notes and comments. 

The Law Journal published its first issue in September 2002 and published one issue each year from that time until 2005.  It then began publishing a second issue focusing on ADR.

  

The ADR issue has gotten notice in the ADR field because the Editorial Board has solicited articles by contacting the leading dispute resolution LL.M. programs and by communicating through list serves that reach over 10,000 ADR practitioners and scholars. 

To ensure that all students have an opportunity to join, the Law Journal has held a write-on competition since the summer of 2003. 

Executive Editorial Board, Senior Editors, & Associate Editors 

The Executive Editorial Board (Editorial Board) manages the Law Journal.  The prior year’s Editorial Board elects current Editorial Board members.  Third-year students who do not serve on the Editorial Board serve as Senior Editors.  The Senior Editors directly supervise the editing and critiquing work of Associate Editors on the Law Journal’s lead articles.  

To be eligible to serve on the Law Journal during a student’s third year, a student now must serve one year on the Law Journal as an Associate Editor in an acceptable manner and write a note that the Editorial Board and faculty adviser deem of publishable quality. The note requirement ensures that Associate Editors receive a rigorous writing experience during their second-year in law school.  It also ensures that all third year members of the Law Journal, whether Editorial Board members or not, have sufficient experience to direct and supervise the work that Associate Editors do on the Law Journal’s lead articles.

Satisfaction of Seminar Requirement

Students who serve two years on the Law Journal in an acceptable fashion and who write a publishable note may substitute that service for the two-credit Seminar Requirement in their third year. 

In the past decade, the Law Journal has come a very long way – moving from a concept to a traditional primary law journal and increasing the number of issues that it publishes from one to two a year.

Associate Professor Doug McKechnie serves as the faculty advisor.