The ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review'' is a

law review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also p ...

published by an organization of second and third year J.D. students at the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and oldes ...

. It is the oldest law journal in the United States, having been published continuously since 1852. Currently, seven issues are published each year with the last issue traditionally featuring papers from symposia held by the review each year. It is one of the four law reviews responsible for publication of the ''

Bluebook ''The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation'' is a style guide that prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the United States. It is taught and used at a majority of U.S. law schools and is also used in a majority of federal ...

''. It is one of seven official scholarly journals at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and was the third most cited law journal in the world in 2006. In addition to the print edition, the ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review'' also publishes the ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review Online'', formerly named ''PENNumbra'', an online supplement, which publishes debates, essays, case notes, and responses to articles that appeared in the print edition.

History

The journal was founded as the ''American Law Register'', and was originally written, edited, and published by practitioners, but soon expanded its pool of editors and contributors to also include judges and law professors. In 1892, under the leadership of

William Draper Lewis William Draper Lewis (1867–1949) was the first full-time dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School (1896–1914), and the founding director (1923–1947) of the American Law Institute. Personal life and education William Draper ...

and

George Wharton Pepper George Wharton Pepper (March 16, 1867May 24, 1961) was an American lawyer, law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Christian activist, and Republican politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania in ...

, it changed its name to the ''American Law Register and Review''. In 1895, Lewis became the first full-time dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and had the Law School take over the journal. The 1896 volume was the first volume to be edited by law students. The journal changed its name in 1908 to the ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review and American Law Register'', and adopted its current name in 1945. In addition to publishing numerous influential works of scholarship, the law review has famously published a series of humorous "asides." The most well known is '' The Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rule'', 123 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1474 (1975).

Membership selection

Positions on the ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review'' are filled based in part on students' grades during first year of law school and in part on students' performance during a writing competition conducted at the end of each school year. The writing competition has two major parts: an editing portion and a writing portion. During the 16-hour editing portion, contestants are required to correct a sample portion of a fake law review article prepared by the current board. Contestants have at their disposal a copy of the ''Bluebook'' and a packet of source materials provided by the review. During the writing portion, contestants are required to create a cohesive, thesis-driven essay using only the set of sources provided. The sources cover a variety of topics, and the essay does not need to be law-related. Additionally, contestants are asked to submit a short personal statement. Each year the review takes approximately 55 new members from the rising second-year class, including transfer students. The ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review'' is managed by a board of 20 members chosen from the rising 3L class in February of each year.

Notable alumni

Prominent alumni of the ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review'' include *

Philip Werner Amram Philip Werner Amram (1900 – 1990) was an American lawyer and legal scholar. Education Amram received a Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1920, and a Bachelor of Science in agriculture from Pennsylv ...

Sadie Alexander Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (January 2, 1898 – November 1, 1989), was a pioneering Black professional and civil rights activist of the early-to-mid-20th century. In 1921, Mossell Alexander was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. in ...

* Thomas K. Finletter * Natalie Wexler *

Loftus Becker Loftus E. Becker Jr. is a Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he teaches criminal law, constitutional law, and a seminar on the Supreme Court. His self-defined greatest accomplishment was teaching Rob o ...

* Owen Roberts *

Curtis Reitz Curtis Randall Reitz (born November 20, 1929) is the Algernon Sydney Biddle Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Biography Reitz was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. His father was a jeweler, and his mother was a teacher ...

Earl G. Harrison Earl Grant Harrison (April 27, 1899 – July 28, 1955) was an American attorney, academician, and public servant. He worked on behalf of displaced persons in the aftermath of the Second World War, when he brought attention to the plight of Jewish ...

* Peter J. Liacouras * Edward J. Normand * Jerome B. Simandle *

Dolores Sloviter Dolores Korman Sloviter (September 5, 1932 – October 12, 2022) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Beginning in April 2016, she stopped hearing cases or matters before the court.https:/ ...

* Marci Hamilton * Arthur Raymond Randolph * Mark G. Yudof * Daniel Garodnick * Kit Kinports * Charles A. Heimbold Jr. * Tom Ellis *

Rudolph Contreras Rudolph Contreras (born December 6, 1962) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He also serves as Presiding Judge on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. In D ...

* Leo E. Strine, Jr.

Selected articles

* James T. Ringgold, ''Sunday Laws in the United States'', 40 Am. L. Reg. 723 (1892) * William J. Marbury, ''The Proposed Woman Suffrage Amendment and the Amending Power'', 65 U. Pa. L. Rev. 403 (1917) * Francis H. Bohlen, ''The Duty of a Landowner Toward Those Entering His Premises of Their Own Right'', 69 U. Pa. L. Rev. 237 (1921) * Margaret Center Klinglesmith, ''Amending the Constitution of the United States'', 73 U. Pa. L. Rev. 48 (1925) * Robert von Moschzisker, ''Equity Jurisdiction in the Federal Courts'', 75 U. Pa. L. Rev. 287 (1927) * Ernest G. Black, ''Torture Under English Law'', 75 U. Pa. L. Rev. 344 (1927) * Alpheus Thomas Mason, ''Politics and the Supreme Court: President Roosevelt's Proposal'', 85 Pa. L. Rev. 659 (1937) * Charles Cheney Hyde, ''International Co-operation for Neutrality'', 85 Pa. L. Rev. 344 (1937) *

Anthony G. Amsterdam Anthony Guy Amsterdam (born September 12, 1935) is an American lawyer and University Professor Emeritus at New York University School of Law. In 1981, Alan Dershowitz called Amsterdam “the most distinguished law professor in the United States.� ...

, Note, ''The Void-For-Vagueness Doctrine in the Supreme Court,'' 109 U. Pa. L. Rev. 67 (1960) *

Arthur Allen Leff Arthur Allen Leff (1935–1981) was a professor of law at Yale Law School who is best known for a series of articles examining whether there is such a thing as a normative law or morality. Leff answers this question in the negative and follows t ...

, ''Unconscionability and the Code-The Emperor's New Clause'', 115 U. Pa. L. Rev. 485 (1967) * Herbert M. Silverberg, ''Law School Legal Aid Clinics: A Sample Plan; Their Legal Status'', 117 U. Pa. L. Rev. 970 (1969) * Harold Leventhal, ''Environmental Decisionmaking and the Role of the Courts'', 122 U. Pa. L. Rev. 509 (1974) * Marvin E. Frankel, ''The Search for Truth: An Umpireal View'', 123 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1031 (1975) * Henry Friendly, ''"Some Kind of Hearing"'', 123 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1267 (1975) * Aside, ''The Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rule'', 123 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1474 (1975) (Will Stevens authored the piece anonymously) * Michael J. Perry, ''The Disproportionate Impact Theory of Racial Discrimination'', 125 U. Pa. L. Rev. 540 (1970) *

David D. Cole David D. Cole is the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Before joining the ACLU in July 2016, Cole was the Hon. George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at the Georgetown University Law Center fro ...

, ''Playing by Pornography's Rules: The Regulation of Sexual Expression'', 143 U. Pa. L. Rev. 111 (1994) * David Nimmer, ''A Riff on Fair Use in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act'', 148 U. Pa. L. Rev. 673 (2000) * Elizabeth S. Anderson &

Richard Pildes Richard H. Pildes is the Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law at the New York University School of Law and a leading expert on constitutional law, the Supreme Court, the system of government in the United States, and legal issues concern ...

, ''Expressive Theories of Law: A General Restatement'', 148 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1503 (2000) *

Cass Sunstein Cass Robert Sunstein (born September 21, 1954) is an American legal scholar known for his studies of constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, law and behavioral economics. He is also ''The New York Times'' best-selling author ...

, ''Beyond the Precautionary Principle'' 151 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1003 (2003)

References

External links

* pennlawreview.com {{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Pennsylvania Law Review American law journals English-language journals Publications established in 1852

Law Review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also p ...