Award-winning Student Lawyer magazine is published each month from September through May by the American Bar Association's Law Student Division. It circulates to approximately 40,000 readers, most of whom are law student members of the ABA.

Student Lawyer is a legal-affairs features magazine, not a legal journal, that competes for a share of law students' limited spare time. The articles we publish, therefore, must be informative, lively, well-researched good reads. We do not accept poetry, fiction, or footnoted academic articles or briefs. These guidelines are for freelance writer submissions only. For letters to the editor, reviews, opinion essays, and student/school news, please refer to our guidelines for those types of submissions.

Each issue of Student Lawyer includes feature articles by freelance writers and experts (lawyers and nonlawyers alike) of roughly 2,500 words apiece. We publish features on careers, job searching, societal trends that affect law schools and students, trends in the legal profession or law of interest to law students, and legal education issues. Writers should provide thorough reporting, lively writing that appeals to a broad audience, and insightful analysis. They should expect to work extensively with the magazine's editor to provide missing or additional information, to clear up the unclear, and to polish any rough edges.

Columns also offer publication possibilities for freelance writers and experts. Most are prepared by regular columnists, but we're open to new talent. "Coping" helps law students deal with the unique challenges of law school. "Legal Writing" offers tips for readers to improve their writing and communications skills. "Jobs" helps readers market themselves to potential legal employers. "Hot Practice" explains how leaders in the American Bar Association are involved in cutting-edge legal fields. And "Profile" tells stories of lawyers who are doing something out of the ordinary with their careers. Columns should be about 1,200 words. If you'd like to propose a new column on a topic that would serve law students, please send us your résumé, three clips, and your ideas for possible columns.

We don’t make assignments to writers we’re unfamiliar with, but we are always willing to look at material on spec. If you’re interested in writing for us, e-mail us an article submission or a detailed query with three previously published clips.

The best way to find out what Student Lawyer is all about is to read an issue. They’re available for $8 apiece (plus postage and handling) from the ABA Service Center, 800-285-2221. Questions? Contact the editor by e-mail (studentlawyer@abanet.org) or phone (312-988-6048).

All contributions must include the writer’s name and full contact information. Submit articles by MSWord file attachment to studentlawyer@abanet.org.

Student Lawyer Writers' Guidelines
Letters to the Editor, Opinion Essays, Reviews, Student/School News

Award-winning Student Lawyer magazine is published each month from September through May by the American Bar Association's Law Student Division. It circulates to approximately 40,000 readers, most of whom are law student members of the ABA.

Student Lawyer welcomes unpaid submissions from readers as well as paid features and columns from professional writers. Student Lawyer is a legal-affairs features magazine, not a legal journal. We do not accept footnoted academic articles or briefs, poetry, or fiction. For feature articles and columns that require lively writing and extensive reporting and analysis, please see our guidelines for freelance submissions.

Letters to the editor. Brief, to-the-point letters that respond directly to a Student Lawyer article are preferred.*

Opinion essays. Readers may submit 600-word essays for Student Lawyer's Opinion department. To be accepted for publication, the essay should address an issue especially relevant to our nationwide law student readership (i.e., not legal issues generally) and have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. We can accept an essay previously published (for instance, in a law school newspaper) if the writer provides contact information for the previous publisher and if we're able to secure reprint permission.*

Reviews. Student Lawyer accepts 600- to 1,500-word reviews of books, films, and other media that have a connection with the law or unique perspective of law students. Submissions will be evaluated for writing quality and relevance to our readers.*

Student/school news. Please keep Student Lawyer and our Division Dialogue section in mind when issuing news releases, photos, and other material about student events and accomplishments. We also want to know about interesting students to profile in our Spotlight department. To submit a suggestion to Spotlight, please e-mail us a person’s name and contact information, as well as a brief description of why they deserve to be featured. Photos should be high-resolution (300 dpi) images saved as a TIF, EPS, or JPG. Our deadline for brief news items is the first of the month three months prior to publication.

*General submission requirements. Editorial contributions are evaluated by the editor and student editor and are subject to review by a committee of the Law Student Division. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and space, and to reject any unsolicited item. Because of our production schedules, an item may not appear until at least three months after submission, often longer.

We cannot guarantee publication of any particular contribution. You may enhance your chance at publication by discussing approaches beforehand with the editor, by e-mail (studentlawyer@abanet.org) or phone (312-988-6048).

All contributions must include the writer’s name, school and year, and full contact information. The e-mail subject lines when sending submissions should have “Letter to the Editor,” “Opinion,” “Review,” or “Student News” in the subject line. Student Lawyer’s e-mail address is studentlawyer@abanet.org. MSWord attachments are preferred.

E-mail submissions are strongly preferred. You may also mail or fax your item to: Editor, Student Lawyer, ABA Publishing, 321 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60610, 312-988-6081.