MEMORANDUM 97-67

December 24, 1997

The Journal of Legal Education, published by the Association of American Law Schools, is the premier professional journal on issues affecting legal education. For the past six years, Case Western Reserve University Professors Jonathan Entin and Erik Jensen have served as editors. They have announced that they plan to leave the editorship of the Journal of Legal Education on December 30, 1998. All of us in legal education are grateful for their stewardship of the Journal and for the contributions of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law as the host school. The purpose of this memorandum is to invite your law school and a member or members of your faculty to submit a proposal to assume the editorship of the Journal of Legal Education.

The AALS Executive Committee seeks to ensure that the Journal of Legal Education continues to be a high quality journal that provides an open forum for all members of the legal education community and captures the excitement and ferment within legal education today. Thus, the Executive Committee seeks to forge a partnership with a law school (or law schools) that will assume responsibility for the Journal of Legal Education for the next five years. The enclosed Request for Proposals describes the goals, editorial structure, budget and application procedures for the Journal. I hope that your school and a member(s) of your faculty will be interested in submitting a proposal. The deadline for submitting proposals is March 15, 1998. Please post the enclosed flyer on your faculty bulletin board.

The information included in the enclosed Request for Proposals will assist law schools to apply for the responsibility of editing the Journal. The Executive Committee will announce its selection no later than August 1^st. Proposals, which must be in our office by March 15^th, should be sent to: Journal of Legal Education Proposals, Association of American Law Schools, 1201 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20036.

We urge you to consider seriously this opportunity for your school and for legal education.

Enclosures

AALS SEEKS PARTNERSHIP WITH NEW EDITOR/LAW SCHOOL

Professors Erik Jensen and Jonathan L. Entin, and the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, have served as editors for the AALS Journal of Legal Education since summer 1992. They have announced their plans to leave the editorship of the Journal on December 31, 1998. Under their guidance, the Journal has continued to grow in quality and vision. The AALS Executive Committee seeks to ensure that the Journal continues to be the premier professional journal on issues affecting legal education, providing an open forum for all members of the legal education community and capturing the excitement and ferment in legal education today. Thus, the Executive Committee seeks to forge a new partnership with a law school (or law schools) that will assume responsibility for the Journal of Legal Education for the next five years.

Information, including a Request for Proposals, is available from your Dean’s Office. The proposal should come both from an institution and an editor (or editors) at that institution. The deadline for submissions is March 15, 1998. The Executive Committee will announce its selection no later than August 1, 1998.

JOURNAL OF LEGAL EDUCATION PROPOSALS
Association of American Law Schools
1201 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036

JOURNAL OF LEGAL EDUCATION

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

SUMMARY OF SPECIFICATIONS

This is a notice to member law schools inviting proposals for sponsorship of the Journal of Legal Education.

PURPOSE OF PROPOSAL: To select the editor(s) and institutional sponsorship of the Journal of Legal Education for a five-year term (renewable at the option of the Executive Committee) to begin on January 1, 1999, with the conclusion of Case Western Reserve University’s editorship of the Journal.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS: March 15, 1998

DEADLINE FOR ANNOUNCING SELECTION: On or before August 1, 1998

AVAILABLE FUNDS FOR BASIC OPERATING COSTS:

AALS direct financial support: to be negotiated (currently about $30,000)

The West Group direct financial support: $10,000 per year

Subscription income: approximately $15,000 per year

The West Group also absorbs all the costs of printing the Journal.

INCIDENTAL COSTS: Other costs incidental to the publication of the Journal (e.g., word processing equipment and office space) will be the responsibility of the school that sponsors the Journal.

CRITERIA FOR PROPOSALS:

Proposals are to be submitted by institutions but must identify the editor(s).

Proposals must explain the general strategy proposed by the editor(s) for achieving the goals of the Journal outlined in Part II.

If the editor(s) plans to adopt a unique or distinctive substantive approach for the Journal, or a major departure from its present format, these plans must be described.

Proposals must include a financial commitment from the sponsoring law school, along with a budget.

If the proposal involves co-editors from different law schools, each editor's school must assume responsibilities of sponsorship. The proposal should describe how the co-editors plan to organize the work.

The budget should detail any arrangements the school proposes to compensate the editor(s) -- whether through release time, salary supplement, or otherwise -- and to compensate administrative/secretarial staff.

 

PROPOSALS TO BE SENT TO:

Journal of Legal Education Proposals
Association of American Law Schools
1201 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036

JOURNAL OF LEGAL EDUCATION

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

PART I

BACKGROUND

Case Western Reserve University has served as the host school for the Journal of Legal Education since July 1992. In August 1996 Case Western Reserve’s initial five year contract was renewed through December 31, 1998. Under the leadership of Professors Jonathan Entin and Erik M. Jensen (prior to her appointment to the Federal judiciary, Karen Nelson Moore, and prior to his appointment as Associate White House counsel, William P. Marshall), the quality of the Journal has continued to improve significantly, following the efforts of Professors David Vernon and Roger Cramton, the prior two editors. The Journal of Legal Education publishes four issues per year. (On occasion, a fifth symposium issue has been published.)

For the first 23 years of the Journal's existence (1947-1970), the AALS Executive Committee designated a law school to be responsible for editorial functions, and the law school selected the editor(s). In 1970, in accordance with a recommendation of the Journal of Legal Education Advisory Committee, the Executive Committee no longer developed cooperative arrangements with an institution, but instead directly appointed an editor, leaving it to the editor to negotiate arrangements with his or her school for a school contribution, if any. In 1992 the Executive Committee determined that a combination of the prior two practices should be employed, that is, that a proposal should come both from an institution and an editor (or editors) at that institution, The Executive Committee will make its selection based both on the individual(s) proposed as editor(s) and the institutional proposal.

PART II

GOALS FOR THE JOURNAL OF LEGAL EDUCATION

Although the substantive focus of the Journal of Legal Education will be decided by the next editor(s), it is essential that the Journal continue to be an outstanding professional journal that captures much of the excitement, indeed controversy, of our profession of legal education. To achieve this fundamental goal, the Executive Committee believes that the following must occur:

The Journal must continue to publish the work of a diverse collection of authors and perspectives -- the Journal must be a truly open forum for all members of the legal education community and must make visible the full range of opinion in legal education.

The editor(s) must enjoy high intellectual stature among colleagues in legal education, and demonstrate an interest in all aspects of legal education.

Although the scholarly direction of the Journal will be determined by its next editor(s), several specific types of articles that should be considered are:

A primer on developing areas of scholarship at the "cutting edge".

Exchange of ideas on curricular reform.

Interdisciplinary learning theory.

Issues in the legal profession that may affect what we do in legal education.

History of legal education -- e.g., experiments that failed.

Review of teaching materials/casebooks: one issue might be devoted to reviews of teaching materials either annually or biennially.

Institutional issues: fundraising, admissions, testing issues.

Professional identity issues.

History or biography of leaders in legal education.

A forum for presenting the work of younger, lesser known teachers.

A section for reporting on or incorporating law student perspectives.

PART III

BACKGROUND ON EDITORIAL STRUCTURE AND CONTROL

The editorial model envisioned by the Executive Committee vests in the editor(s) responsibility for deciding which articles to publish, for selecting reviewers of submitted manuscripts, and for determining the weight to be given to reviewers' comments in revising manuscripts and deciding whether to publish them. The editors will be responsible for identifying appropriate themes for symposia and for soliciting manuscripts. Schools are not limited to the current editorial structure, which is co-edited at a single institution. There are a range of options that may be proposed -- continuing the present co-editor arrangement; having a single senior editor; selecting co-editors from a consortium of schools in a city or region. Whatever model is chosen for the faculty editorial "group", the school will need a copy editor. The Executive Committee is open to proposals from faculty at a variety of levels of experience, although the editor should be a faculty member who has already attained tenure or its equivalent, and who has a well-established reputation for excellent scholarship.

The editor(s) should be prepared to make an annual report to the Executive Committee of the Association of American Law Schools, reviewing the accomplishments of the Journal of Legal Education, its policies, plans for the coming year, and the budget.

Editorial Board. The editor will have an advisory board or editorial board that is expected, upon request, to provide energetic advice to the editor on matters of editorial policy and finances. This board is appointed by the president of the Association in consultation with the editor(s). An important obligation of the editorial board will be to read all the issues of the Journal and provide feedback to the editor on each issue and on the year's output. Members of the editorial board will also be used as reviewers of manuscripts.

PART IV

BUDGET AND STAFFING

In the recent past, the administrative and editorial support required to run the Journal of Legal Education has included law student research assistants, administrative assistant/ copy editor, secretary, and specialized experts, e.g., a statistical consultant. The configuration of administrative and editorial support for the editor(s) should be left to the sponsoring law school(s). The proposal, however, should include what the plans are for providing administrative and editorial support and what kind of support will be provided.

Applicant institutions may anticipate that a portion of these annual expenses will be covered by a direct subsidy provided by The West Group in the amount of $10,000 per year and subscription income in the amount of approximately $15,000 per year, for a total of about $25,000 a year. (The West Group also generously absorbs all of the costs of printing the Journal and has since 1948, when the first issue was published.) The AALS has contributed about $30,000 per year. (The specific amount of the AALS contribution is to be negotiated and will depend upon the nature of the proposal and the amount of the school's contribution.) Based on the past experiences of the Journal of Legal Education and other faculty-edited journals, it is estimated that $45,000 - $80,000 should cover most of the costs of operating the Journal, depending upon the configuration of the support provided. (For example, the salary of a copy editor will vary significantly, depending upon whether a student copy editor, a part-time copy editor, or a full-time professional copy editor is used.) An estimated budget is included at Appendix A. Other costs incidental to the publication of the Journal, including word processing equipment, office space, and honoraria or release time for faculty editors, will be underwritten by the school that publishes the Journal.

Subscription rates may not be raised without consultation with the Executive Director of the AALS.

PART V

HOW TO APPLY

To apply for sponsorship of the Journal of Legal Education, a law school must submit two (2) copies of the following:

Proposal narrative

Budget information

Resume(s) of editor(s)

Institutional arrangements if a consortium of law schools undertakes the responsibility for the Journal

 

General Instructions for Proposal Narrative

Applicants are invited to address any theme or focus for the Journal of Legal Education that the applicant editor(s) may have. If the editor(s) plans to adopt a unique substantive approach for the Journal, or a major departure from its present format, these plans must be described. The proposal narrative should present the applicant's view of the Journal's goals and describe and justify the strategies to be used to accomplish those goals. What will the most important focus or emphasis, if any, be for the Journal? What audiences will, or should, the Journal serve, and how? What mechanism will the editor(s) use to ensure that the major issues and perspectives and approaches in legal education are addressed? How does the editor(s) intend to strike an appropriate balance among the variety of viewpoints? How will the editor(s) ensure that the Journal becomes the major part of a network for exchange of ideas concerning pedagogy, scholarship, and other aspects of legal education within the legal education community?

In addition, the proposal narrative should address each of the following criteria, and anything else that the applicant cares to address:

1. Institutional capability: The proposal should enable the Executive Committee to determine the capabilities of the host institution to sustain a high-quality publication for a minimum of a five-year period. There should be evidence of an appropriate organizational structure and commitment to provide the services of appropriate staff.

2. Contribution of the institution: This section should apprise the Executive Committee of the availability of appropriate resources -- what services and resources will the host institution provide the Journal? In what ways might the host institution contribute to the Journal's accomplishment of the goals set out in Part II?

3. Background of editor(s): This section should describe the experience of the proposed editor(s) that may be relevant to the editing of the Journal.

4. Budget: This section should include a narrative description of the budget needed to operate the Journal as proposed by the proposer.

 

General Instructions for Budget Information

The proposal should enable the Executive Committee to determine the extent to which the institution is recommending an adequate and cost-effective budget, including the extent to which (1) the budget is adequate to support the activities of the Journal; (2) the equipment and supplies that the institution plans to furnish are adequate; and (3) costs are reasonable in relation to the objectives of the proposal. Personnel items should include the position titles of key support staff and number of hours as well as any plans for consultant services.

APPENDIX A

JOURNAL OF LEGAL EDUCATION

ESTIMATED ANNUAL EXPENDITURES

---------------------------------

1. Whether law schools pay honoraria, provide release time, or compensate the editors in some other way will vary greatly depending upon the arrangements made by the individual law schools with their editor(s). Thus no expenses are shown for this item.

2. The salary of a copy editor will vary depending upon whether a student copy editor, a part-time copy editor, or a full-time professional copy editor is used. Thus, the range might be anywhere from $5,000 to $40,000 (including fringe benefits).

3. The salary figure for the secretary/business manager includes fringe benefits.

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