An Invitation
I received this in my email last night:
Mr. X,
Congratulations, it is with great pleasure that I invite you to join the American University Law Review. I sincerely hope that you will choose to become a member of our staff. Law Review offers many challenging and rewarding experiences, and I look forward to your joining us. Given your outstanding academic performance [emphasis mine], I am confident that you will make a valuable addition to our staff.…
Should you accept our offer we will notify you of the time as we approach orientation. We have also scheduled a happy hour to welcome you to the Law Review, and will provide details soon. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me by email or phone using the information below. Again congratulations, and I look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Editor-in-Chief
For those not familiar with law review, this definition gives a pretty good overview of what it is and how one gets on. I took a little bit of a gamble by not entering the write-on competition in hopes of grading-on. Some bets pay off.
The actual work of being on the law review consists mostly of long hours in the library ‘spading’ (checking the source material for each and every author footnote) and making sure that the citation format is exactly right. To give you a sense of how much fun this can be, this article on anthrax hoaxes from the most recent issue of the law review is 74 pages long and has 534 footnotes. Now imagine looking up each and every one of them to make sure the author got them right. Thrilling, non?
I have to pay extra tuition for all of this boring drudgery (it’s not just a job, it’s a class), but law review is one of those tickets you have to punch to have a good shot at a job with a prestigious firm or a clerkship with a judge, so I’m going to accept the invitation.
In other news, my half-marathon training is kicking my ass and leaving me tired all the time, my friend Ross is coming up to visit this weekend (we’re gonna go see the 2 Skinnee Js at the 9:30 Club on Saturday), and final exams for the Summer semester are less than two weeks away. More succinctly, I’m a little busy and that’s why my blogging has been light.
Yours truly,
Mr. X
…a wee bit proud today…
Bad ass, brother! Congrats.
I’m bringing martini fixin’s this weekend and i’m down for some irresponsible celebratin’ as soon as we get up there.
peace, ross
You may want to check out Fred Rodell’s article, Goodby to Law Reviews.
That is an excellent article. I’ve some good ideas about ways that the process can be improved, but I’ll probably have limited success in implementing them as a first-year staffer. Now if I can get one of the editor jobs in my second year…
Yours truly,
Mr. X
…fight from the inside…
Congratulations, sir. Welcome to the ranks of AU Law Review! Now, SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND START SPADING!
(I’m only half joking, in that I don’t get to make the orders – I just do the spading)
I can’t hardly wait. I was awesome at spades in undergrad. Big joker, little joker, the whole thing.
Yours truly,
Mr. X
…at least there’s a happy hour…
I’m soooo happy for you!
And, have fun at 2 Skinnee J’s…I’ll be thinking about you while I’m at the beach hanging out with the drummer from CCR.
Congrats on Law Review. Try and keep yourself afloat.
Well done, X. I know this was a goal for you, and I’m proud to see you’ve achieved it.
Congrats.