How do I join Texas A&M Law Review?

Participation in the Write-On Competition (the “Competition”) is required for admission onto a student publication. Grades alone are not a means of automatic admission.

The Write-on Competition

The Law Review, together with the Journal of Property Law, conducts the write-on to evaluate the writing, editing, and citation skills of prospective candidates. At the end of the Competition, the journals individually grade the submissions and extend offers to students who meet their grading criteria.

• When is it?

  While the exact time frame differs from year to year, the Competition will generally begin in mid-May. The Competition may last up to ten days.

• Who can participate?

  No student is prohibited from participating in the Write-On process; however, publication membership requires students to be within the top 75% of their class after their 1L Spring semester. Because the Competition process will traditionally occur before the release of Spring grades and class ranks, a student currently outside the top 75% may still participate with the knowledge that movement into the top 75%, in addition to a qualifying score in the Competition, may result in publication membership.

• Do Grades Matter?

  Although grades alone will not guarantee you membership on a publication, students in the top 30% of the class after their Spring semester will receive additional points to their raw score from the Competition assignments.

• What does the write-on consist of?

  The Competition consists of three parts:
  1) a writing requirement
  2) a technical edit, and
  3) a citation edit

• What is the writing requirement?

  For the writing requirement, students are required to write a case note where they analyze a court opinion. Using legal analysis, students should argue why they agree or disagree with the case’s outcome. The writing requirement will be a closed universe (like LARW memo 1), and the end product may be up to 10 pages. 

• What is the technical edit?

  For the technical edit, students will receive a writing sample with grammar, punctuation, spelling, and other types of errors. Students should identify these errors and make the appropriate corrections. Students will be required to consult a style manual (e.g., the Redbook) to complete the technical edit.

• What is the citation edit?

  For the citation edit, students are given several footnotes that may or may not contain mistakes. Using the Bluebook (and possibly the Greenbook), students are to identify any citation errors and include a brief note about what needs to be changed. 

Please note this is a short summary of the Competition. The instructions for the Competition contain more detailed information on each section. Additionally, the publications staff will have events before the Competition to discuss all details.

Transfer Student Write-On Competition

The publications will host an individual Write-On Competition for transfer students. This Competition will generally happen in August. All transfer students who were in the top 75% of their former schools are eligible to participate.

If you have any questions, please contact the Law Review’s executive editor at executive.editor@lawreview.law.tamu.edu.