Duke Law Journal — LLMpedia

Duke Law Journal
Title	Duke Law Journal
Discipline	Law
Editor	Editorial Board (student-run)
Publisher	Duke University School of Law
Country	United States
Frequency	Quarterly
History	1951–present

Contents

Duke Law Journal is a student-edited legal periodical published at Duke University School of Law that covers scholarship on constitutional law, corporate law, intellectual property, civil procedure, criminal law, administrative law, and comparative law. Founded during the postwar expansion of American legal scholarship, the journal has published articles, essays, and book reviews by prominent judges, academics, and practitioners from institutions such as United States Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, and Stanford Law School. Its pages have featured contributions referencing major legal events and statutes including the Brown v. Board of Education litigation, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Movement, the New Deal, and interpretations touching on the First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, and Administrative Procedure Act.

History

The journal was established in 1951 amid the era of legal realism influenced by scholars from Columbia Law School, University of Chicago Law School, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and University of Pennsylvania Law School. Early editorial leadership drew on networks connected to figures associated with the Warren Court, the Roe v. Wade decision era, and postwar legal reform debates surrounding the Taft-Hartley Act and McCarran Internal Security Act. Over decades the publication engaged with landmark judicial opinions such as Marbury v. Madison, Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona, and Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. through symposia and responses involving commentators from Georgetown University Law Center, University of Michigan Law School, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. The journal adapted to shifts prompted by the Civil Rights Movement, the War on Drugs, and post-9/11 jurisprudential debates influenced by rulings in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Boumediene v. Bush.

The editorial board is composed of student editors drawn from Duke University School of Law cohorts, selecting staff writers via a competitive process similar to models at Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, and Stanford Law Review. The board coordinates annual symposia and organizes submissions from scholars at New York University School of Law, University of Chicago Law School, University of Virginia School of Law, and University of Texas School of Law. Publication follows a traditional cite-checking and bluebooking regimen aligned with the Bluebook conventions used widely at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and Columbia Law School. Issues are released quarterly, presenting articles, notes, and book reviews that engage precedents from the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The journal has published influential pieces addressing topics tied to cases like Roe v. Wade, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, United States v. Nixon, and regulatory frameworks under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Internal Revenue Code. Contributors have included scholars and jurists affiliated with Antonin Scalia-era commentary, scholars from Richard Posner’s networks at University of Chicago, and constitutional scholars associated with Alexander Bickel and Bruce Ackerman. Articles have been cited in opinions by justices of the United States Supreme Court, judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and state supreme courts such as the Supreme Court of North Carolina. The journal’s commentary has influenced debates over the Administrative Procedure Act, Medicare Act interpretation, antitrust matters under the Sherman Antitrust Act, and intellectual-property disputes touching on the Copyright Act and Patent Act.

Alumni and contributors include graduates who went on to clerk for the United States Supreme Court, serve on faculties at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, Stanford Law School, or join firms and institutions like Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, the United States Department of Justice, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Notable contributors and cited authors have included judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, academics linked to Cass Sunstein, Jack Balkin, Pamela Karlan, and public intellectuals cited alongside scholarship from Robert Bork and Duncan Kennedy. The journal has published works by visiting scholars associated with the Brookings Institution, the Hoover Institution, and the Brennan Center for Justice.

The journal hosts annual symposia that convene participants from Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, Stanford Law School, New York University School of Law, and policy centers such as the American Enterprise Institute and the Center for American Progress. Symposia have focused on topics connected to landmark legislation including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and reforms in response to decisions like Brown v. Board of Education and Citizens United v. FEC. The journal sponsors awards recognizing outstanding notes and articles, echoing prize traditions found at publications like the Harvard Law Review and the Yale Law Journal.

Print subscriptions circulate among libraries at institutions such as Duke University, Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, and Stanford University while digital access is provided through databases commonly used by scholars at HeinOnline, Westlaw, LexisNexis, and institutional repositories at Duke University Library. The journal maintains an online platform for recent issues and hosts symposium materials that attract readership from faculties at University of Chicago, Georgetown University Law Center, University of Michigan Law School, and practitioners from firms like Latham & Watkins and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. It engages with digital citation practices consistent with platforms used by SSRN and integrates indexing compatible with legal research at the Library of Congress.

Category:Academic journals