Stanford Law Review

Contents

Stanford Law Review The Stanford Law Review is a student-run legal periodical associated with Stanford University and published by the Stanford Law School community. Founded in 1948, the journal has published legal scholarship by jurists, scholars, and practitioners and contributed to debates involving the United States Supreme Court, the United States Congress, and leading law faculties such as Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and Columbia Law School. Its role intersects with developments in constitutional law, administrative law, and corporate law through exchanges with figures from the U.S. Department of Justice, the American Bar Association, and international tribunals like the International Court of Justice.

History

The Review was inaugurated in the late 1940s amid post‑World War II expansion at Stanford University and the growth of legal scholarship in the United States. Early issues featured symposiums responding to rulings of the United States Supreme Court and legislation emerging from the United States Congress, and contributors included academics from Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School, Yale Law School, University of Chicago Law School, and practitioners from the American Bar Association. Over decades, the journal documented landmark controversies involving the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the New Deal legacy, and regulatory transformations led by agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. Editors and alumni later joined federal appointments under administrations of presidents including Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, serving in roles at the U.S. Court of Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court, and state supreme courts.

The Review is organized and edited by law students from Stanford Law School who select articles, manage peer commentary, and oversee production. Leadership positions have been held by students who later pursued clerkships with judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. The editorial model mirrors structures used at Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and the Columbia Law Review, with boards that coordinate symposia, citations conforming to the Bluebook, and outreach to scholars from institutions like New York University School of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Duke University School of Law. Student editors collaborate with faculty advisers from Stanford Law School and visiting scholars from centers such as the Hoover Institution and the Brennan Center for Justice.

The Review issues peer‑reviewed and solicited articles, essays, book reviews, and student notes covering topics such as constitutional litigation related to the First Amendment, regulatory analysis touching the Federal Reserve System, and transactional law impacting entities like Microsoft Corporation and Apple Inc.. Special issues have responded to decisions by the United States Supreme Court including cases argued before justices like Earl Warren, William J. Brennan Jr., Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and John Roberts. The journal publishes symposia that convene speakers from institutions such as the Brookings Institution, Heritage Foundation, American Constitution Society, and international partners including the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court.

Scholarly work published in the Review has been cited by appellate courts, briefs filed before the United States Supreme Court, and by federal agencies such as the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Alumni and contributors include academics from Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, and practitioners at firms like Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Coverage in media outlets and analyses by policy organizations such as the Cato Institute and the Brennan Center for Justice have underscored the Review’s role in debates over antitrust matters involving the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and merger policy affecting corporations like AT&T and Time Warner. Peer publications including the Harvard Law Review and Yale Law Journal have noted the Review’s contributions to doctrinal and interdisciplinary legal scholarship.

The Review has published influential pieces by jurists, scholars, and policymakers including professors from Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, University of Chicago Law School, and NYU School of Law. Contributors have included future justices and judges who appeared before the United States Senate during confirmation processes, advocates who argued before the United States Supreme Court, and scholars engaged with international law at bodies such as the International Court of Justice. Notable symposium participants and authors have been affiliated with think tanks and centers including the Hoover Institution, the Brennan Center for Justice, the Cato Institute, and the Brookings Institution, and with firms that have participated in high‑profile litigation before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.