April 2011

Dear First-Year Students,

As you begin thinking about the 2011 Write On competition, I encourage you to consider joining the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review. Our journal offers its members opportunities to hone their editing and writing skills and to take valuable steps toward future employment in a variety of legal fields. Our membership comes from a variety of backgrounds, reflecting the diverse impact of environmental law.

GIELR is a leading journal in environmental law. We publish articles on climate change, endangered species, and water rights as well as energy, constitutional law, environmental ethics, and land use law. Because of the nature of environmental regulation, GIELR also publishes on a broad array of both domestic and international administrative law.

Because of the extraordinary breadth and impact of environmental law, GIELR members work on some of the most topical and widely publicized issues of our day. Members build a knowledge base that is applicable to both public and private sector jobs.

All GIELR members write a student note. Our Writing Editors will work with you to plan your note, which is due at the end of your second year. The Directed Note program features two first-year staff members who write a note under the guidance of Writing Editors. Participation in the Directed Note program guarantees publication in the journal. Student notes are a great opportunity to further hone legal research and writing skills, and make for excellent writing samples for potential future employers.

First-year staff members bluebook, conduct source collection, and do preemption checks, which serve a critical role in the selection of articles for publication. Second-year editors provide regular feedback to first-year staff members allowing them to improve editing and research skills, which will be crucial for those students who intern for an agency or a judge or work as a research assistant. As second-year members, you will select and edit articles, learn about the process of scholarly publication, and manage the GIELR staff. These editing and leadership responsibilities provide benefits in any legal field.

GIELR has a flexible office hours policy, whereby members sign up for time to do work rather than spending time in the office. Members may complete office hours by drafting short articles for the GIELR blog, or by aiding second-year editors with other tasks. The blog offers another way for members to receive exposure for their writing.

In selecting members, GIELR considers first-year grades and the Write On score; which count for 45% and 55% of the selection criteria respectively. If you have any questions about the journal, please do not hesitate to send me an email. I wish you the best of luck on Write On and with the rest of your first year.

Best wishes,

Jack Miller 

Editor-in-Chief, Vol. XXIV

Georgetown International Environmental Law Review

Email: jhm59@law.georgetown.edu