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61 U. Chi. L. Rev. 541 (1994)
Counter-Manifesto: Student-Edited Reviews and the Intellectual Properties of Scholarship

handle is hein.journals/uclr61 and id is 547 raw text is: Counter-Manifesto: Student-Edited Reviews and the Intellectual Properties of Scholarship Wendy J. Gordont In the great scheme of things, how important are the prob- lems with law reviews? Jim Lindgren's essay is a bit overheated, even for someone enamored of polemic as a literary form.' But he does have a point: if law reviews are going to be published, the task should be done better than it is. That does not mean getting rid of student law reviews. Not even for Jim2-but it does require patience and further inquiry into the nature of legal scholarship. I join in several of Jim Lindgren's suggestions. Most impor- tant, authors' names and affiliations should be physically re- moved from articles before selection begins, as at least a partial prophylactic against good articles being ignored.3 In addition, t Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law. Copyright * 1994 by Wendy J. Gordon. I began preparing this essay while I was Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. I am indebted for discussion of this topic to many colleagues at both BU and Yale, as well as to Sam Postbrief, the editors of this Review, and the participants in the January 1994 AALS meeting convened to consider forming a new section on law reviews and legal scholarship. I should also note that I have a longstanding friendship with my antagonist here, Jim Lindgren, who has on occasion made excellent suggestions about my writ- ing-for example, it was he who told me about Joseph Williams's useful book Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (Chicago, 3d ed 1989)-and who has often provided both a willing ear and advice when law review editors were getting me down. Also, as I myself have never been guilty of any of the editorial sins that swarm through Jim's pages- having never myself been among a law review's editors-I feel free to defend the latter with gusto. ' See James Lindgren, Return to Sender, 78 Cal L Rev 1719, 1719 (1990) (Polemics have a long and honorable history. ). 2 Jim's suggestions for improvement do not include elimination of the student-run law review. See James Lindgren, An Author's Manifesto, 61 U Chi L Rev 527, 535 (1994) (Manifesto). You may be wondering, why Jim rather than the expected Professor Lindgren? Law review criticism may be one of the few places where law review editors are willing to bend their usual rules, and here it's the customs of formality and distance that are giving way a little. ' Conceivably a professor's school affiliation and prior scholarly output can provide a useful aid to student editors buried under piles of manuscripts. This is conceded by Jor- dan H. Leibman and James P. White, How the Student-Edited Law Journals Make Their Publication Decisions, 39 J Legal Educ 387 (1989), who nonetheless favor initial blind

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