Prospective Members

Eligibility for Membership

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In order to become a KJEANRL staff member, a student must:
1. Be a full time student; and
2. Successfully complete the first year of law courses, including the Legal Research and Writing requirement; and
3. Either (a) Rank in the top 25 percent of his/her class at the end of the spring semester of the first year, or (b) Successfully compete in the write-on candidacy program conducted during the summer or fall following the first year of law school.

Duties of Membership

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All Journal members are responsible for completing work in three areas: writing, editing, and administration. In order to publish a Journal of the highest quality in a timely fashion, all staff members must complete their assignments to the best of their abilities and on time. The Journal awards credit hours on a Pass/Fail basis in consideration of the following:

1. Writing: Space in each issue of the Journal is reserved for student writings. Student writings take two forms- Notes and Comments. A comment is a piece based upon a recent case that substantially advances an evolving area of law, departs from precedent, or conflicts with other jurisdictions on the same legal issue. A Note, although it is often based upon recent cases, is a discussion and critique of a narrow yet significant area of law. A Comment is generally 12-15 pages in length, in contrast to 20-25 pages for a Note. Journal members must complete one Comment and, if not selected for the Editorial Board, one Note that are "ready for publication" in order to fulfill the writing requirement of staff membership. The "ready for publication" standard is more stringent than the "publishable" standard for the write-on program. The former standard entails thorough editing and revision completed by the author.

2. Editing: Editing of Articles, Comments, and Notes which have been selected for publication is an extremely important responsibility of all Journal staff members. All staff members are expected to do a Source & Cite Edit on a minimum of two written works during each school year of membership.

3. Administrative Work: Staff members must devote two hours per week for administrative work such as preparation of manuscripts for the printing process and operation of the blog.

Transfer Students

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Transfer students may become eligible for Journal membership through participation in either the summer or the fall write-on programs, or both.

Write-on Program Selection Criteria

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The initial write-on program is conducted in the late summer jointly with the Kentucky Law Journal. If necessary, an optional program may be conducted in the early fall by KJEANRL alone. Candidates may elect to participate in either or both programs. Those students participating in the summer program who are not offered membership may have the option of completing the second program in the fall (should it occur). This will entail completing a new problem and paper that will be graded separately from the first. The deadlines for each program are to be strictly enforced. Students wishing to write on must pay a non-refundable fee to each journal. The fee is not credited towards future dues if the candidate is invited to the Journal.

Membership Based on Grades

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Students who rank in the top twenty-five percent (25%) of their first-year class and who have successfully completed the Legal Research and writing requirement are invited to join the staff as soon as class rank is determined at the end of spring semester. Students who accept the invitation for membership may begin their participation in KJEANRL writing, editing, and administrative duties at the start of the following fall semester.

Selection of Editorial Board

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The Editorial Board is comprised of the following positions:

Editor-in-Chief
Executive Editor
Articles Editors
Notes Editors
Comments Editors
Technical Editor
Production Editor
Administrative Editor

The Editorial Board is responsible for planning and directing all Journal operations for one year, the most important of which is actually publishing the Journal.

The responsibilities of having a position on the Editorial Board require each Editor to be available for substantial Journal work during the summer before their third year. All Editors are expected to work full-time for at least one week at the beginning of the summer and to give substantial amounts of time to Journal work throughout the summer. By agreement between them, one must be available at all times and be responsible for the day-to-day Journal operation. Outside employment during the summer should not interfere with Journal duties.

Selection of Editors

After reviewing the applications submitted by interested Journal members, the outgoing Editorial Board shall select the new Editorial Board based on the members following qualifications:

Total Journal performance;
Demonstrated interest in the Journal and willingness to make sacrifices in time and effort during tenure;
Editing ability (as determined from Source & Cite Edits, writing assignments, and administrative work);
Leadership and achievement while in law school; and
Suitability for particular Editorial Board position responsibilities.

Assumption of Duties

The new Editorial Board will be selected prior to the Ides of March. The new Board will began receiving editorial assignments as soon as they are selected and should begin to plan schedules, authors, topics, and policies for their volume.