Welcome to Law Reviews
![handle is hein.journals/mulr26 and id is 9 raw text is: Foreword
WELCOME TO LAW REVIEWS*
THE HON JUSTICE MICHAEL KIRBY AC CMGt
[This is a riposte to perhaps the most famous law review article of them all: 'Goodbye to Law
Reviews', written by Fred Rodell in 1936. The author acknowledges 'ten deadly sins 'committed by
law reviews and their contributors. These are: publishing for the sake of it; publishing boring and
excessively lengthy articles; writing uncritical, unoriginal articles for law reviews that publish them;
establishing an editorial advisory board that does nothing; ignoring economic demands in
publication decisions; publishing to gather dust; pandering to mere needs for academic publication:
ignoring costs; and failing to embrace electronic publication strategies that are kinder to the trees
than the reviews on paper in the past have been. On the other hand, the author points to the special
contribution that law reviews can make to the analysis of legal authority, the development of legal
principle and the exploration of legal policy. He instances the impact that timely consideration of
important legal issues can have where such issues are, or are liable to come, before appellate courts.
He illustrates this proposition by reference to the recent decision of the High Court of Australia in
Brodie v Singleton Shire Council. Experience on a law review can also provide good training in
legal writing and editing. Most importantly, a law review can help advance new ideas in the lav;
which contribute to the law s unending search forjustice.]
CONTENTS
I T en D ead ly S in s .......................................................................................................... I
1I W o rd s o f P raise ........................................................................................................... 6
A The Academic Contribution to Legal Principle .......................................... 6
B Timely Commentaries on Contemporary Legal Problems ....................... 7
C Citations of Law Reviews and Judicial Practice ....................................... 9
D Training for Clear Legal W riting .............................................................. 10
Ill G ood C om panions ................................................................................................ 10
IV Appendix: Australian Law School Journals and Reviews ................................... 12
I TEN DEADLY SINS
One of the most famous law review articles ever written is Fred Rodell's
'Goodbye to Law Reviews'.' It has become such a classic that it was recently
reprinted in the Australian Law Journal2 with a commentary by John Gava.3
This foreword is based on an address given to mark the first publication of the Macquarie Law
Journal, Sydney, 3 August 2001.
t BA, LLM (Syd), BEc (Syd), Hon DLitt (Newc), Hon LLD (Macquarie), Hon LLD (Syd), Hon
LLD (Nat Law Sch, India), Hon DLitt (Ulster), Hon LLD (Buckingham), Hon DUniv (SA), Hon
FASSA; Justice of the High Court of Australia.
(1936) 23 Virginia Law Review 38. In 1962, Rodell reworked his theme: Fred Rodell, 'Goodbye
to Law Reviews - Revisited' (1962) 48 irginia Law Review 279. For a recent retrospective of
reviews, see Bruce Ziff, 'The Canadian Law Review Experience: Introduction to the Sympo-
sium' (2001) 39 Alberta Law Review 611 and the select bibliography compiled by Tracie Scott,
'The Role of the Law Review: A Select Bibliography' (2001) 39 Alberta Law Review 690.
2 Fred Rodell, 'Goodbye to Law Reviews' (1999) 73 Australian Law Journal 593.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/mulr26&div=7&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Welcome to Law Reviews
Contact us for annual subscription options:
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