Panels

Writing About the Law: From Bluebook to Blogs and Beyond will consist of a breakfast and introductory remarks, two morning panels, a lunch with a keynote address, an afternoon panel, and a breakout session with Law Review editors. Please see the details below. For a comprehensive listing of the speakers and their bios, please click "Speakers" on the left column or click on the individual speaker below. To register, click "Registration" on the left column.

Symposium Schedule:

Breakfast & Introductory Remarks
Morning Panel #1: Just Cite It! The Traditional Law Review Structure
Morning Panel #2: Lost in Translation (?) Writing About Law for a Non-Legal Audience
Lunch/Keynote Address
Afternoon Panel: Beyond the Bluebook: The Future of Writing About the Law
Break-Out Session for Law Review Editors  

Morning Panel #1: Just Cite It! The Traditional Law Review Structure

Law reviews have been attacked as irrelevant and their student editors criticized as incompetent, yet legal scholars still need to publish in law reviews to get and keep their jobs. What role does the traditional law review play, what role should it play, and should it be continued?

Panelists and Moderator:

• James Lindgren, Professor, Northwestern University School of Law and Cofounder of the section on Scholarship of the Association of American Law Schools.
• Randy E. Barnett, Professor, Georgetown University Law Center and senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the Goldwater Institute.
• Ann Althouse, Professor, University of Wisconsin School of Law and author and blogger.
• Paul Caron, Professor, University of Cincinnati School of Law and Publisher and Editor of TaxProf Blog.
• Cameron Stracher (Moderator), Codirector, Program in Law & Journalism and Publisher, New York Law School Law Review.

 

Morning Panel #2: Lost in Translation (?) Writing About the Law for a Non-Legal Audience

Writing about law for a lay audience poses its own unique challenges. What is lost and what is gained by having to translate complex legal concepts into concise news reporting, incisive commentary or compelling drama?

Panelists and Moderator:

• Adam Cohen, editorial board member, The New York Times.
• Jamie Heller, Deputy Managing Editor, The Wall Street Journal Online.
• Richard Sweren, writer and co-executive producer, Law & Order.
• Dahlia Lithwick, Supreme Court reporter, Slate.
• Brandt Goldstein (Moderator), Visiting Associate Professor of Law, New York Law School.

Lunch / Keynote Address

The Keynote Speaker will be John Osborn, author of The Paper Chase and Visiting Professor, University of San Francisco School of Law.

Afternoon Panel: Beyond the Bluebook: The Future of Writing About the Law

In a world increasingly dominated by blogs and online publications, does traditional legal scholarship have a future? Will legal scholars abandon the traditional law review to write for a popular audience, and if so, why? What will this brave new world look like?

Panelists and Moderator:

• Bernard Hibbitts, Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Editor in Chief of Jurist.
• Rosa Brooks, Professor, Georgetown University Law Center and op-ed columnist, Los Angeles Times.
• Jack Balkin, Professor, Yale Law School and Founder and Director of the Information Society Project.
• Lawrence B. Solum, Professor, University of Illinois College of Law and author of Legal Theory Blog.
• Rodger Citron (Moderator ), Assistant Professor of Law, Touro Law Center.

 

Break-Out Session for Law Review Editors

Law review editors will discuss the pitfalls, problems, and perks of running a (mostly) student-edited academic journal.

Moderator Cameron Stracher, New York Law School.