OFFICIAL NOTICE FROM THE STUDENT WRITING AND RESEARCH EDITORS
2008 WRITING COMPETITION RULES AND INSTRUCTIONS

The 2008 Writing Competition ("the Competition") for candidacy on the University of Miami Law Review, the Inter-American Law Review, the Business Law Review, and the International and Comparative Law Review will run for 7 days beginning Monday, August 4, 2008.  This packet provides a schedule of events, outlines the rules and eligibility requirements, explains what a casenote is, and offers suggestions and advice on participation in the Competition.  Many of you will not know whether you are eligible to participate until late summer when the Registrar computes class ranks.  However, an understanding of the rules now will enable you to prepare ahead of time so that the week of the Competition can be devoted entirely to writing your casenote. It will be difficult for the Reviews to address your questions and problems once school is out for the summer, so please take the time to look over this notice carefully and bring any questions or concerns you may have to the Reviews’ attention.

The results of the Competition will be posted on Saturday, August 16, 2008.  All successful member-candidates must be prepared to devote Sunday, August 17, 2008, to a mandatory orientation for your review.

I.  ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

A. Current UM Law Students:

The Reviews invite a certain percentage of the class, based on grades, to join the Review.  These students may "walk-on" to the Review without participating in the Competition.  Each Review establishes different standards for eligibility to enter the Competition.  The criteria for eligibility for each Review are as follows:

The University of Miami Law Review offers walk-on candidacy to first-year students in the top 7% of their class or the top 7% of their sections.  First-year students in the top 33-1/3% of their class or the top 33-1/3% of their sections and second-year students in the top 33-1/3% of their class are eligible to submit their casenotes to this Review for consideration.  The University of Miami Law Review presents the honor of “Best Casenote” to the author of the best submission it receives.  

The Inter-American Law Review offers walk-on candidacy to first-year students in the top 15% of their class or the top 15% of their sections.  The Competition for candidacy on this Review is open to all first-year students in the top 33-1/3% of their section or class and all second-year students in the top 33-1/3% of their class.

The Business Law Review offers walk-on candidacy to first-year students in the top 12% of their class or the top 12% of their sections.  First-year students in the top 50% of their class or the top 50% of their sections and second-year students in the top 50% of their class are eligible to enter the Competition and be considered by this Review.

The International and Comparative Law Review offers walk-on candidacy to first-year students in the top 15% of their class or the top 15% of their section.  The ICLR also offers walk-on candidacy to second-year students in the top 20% of their class.  The Competition is open to all first-year students in the top 50% of their section or class and to all second-year students in the top 50% of their class.  Please note that all selected candidates for membership for this Review will be required to take one course or seminar in International Law prior to the beginning of their third year.

B. Transfer Students:

Each Review establishes different standards for eligibility to enter the Competition.  The criteria for eligibility as a transfer student for each Review are as follows:

            The University of Miami Law Review does not offer walk-on candidacy to transfer students.  However, transfer students who were ranked in the top 10% of their previous school’s class are eligible to participate in the competition and submit their casenotes to this Review for consideration. The University of Miami Law Review presents the honor of “Best Casenote” to the author of the best submission it receives.

            The Inter-American Law Review does not offer walk-on candidacy to transfer students.  However, transfer students who were ranked in the top 33-1/3% of their previous school’s class are eligible to participate in the competition and submit their casenotes to this Review for consideration. Provided that they are in the top 33-1/3% of their class in the school from which they transferred, transfer students unable to enter the writing competition may complete the Abridged Writing Competition, as administered by the Student Writing Editor and with the approval of 2/3 of the executive board.

The Business Law Review offers walk-on candidacy to transfer students who were ranked in the top 15% of their previous law school’s class, so long as that school has been accredited by the American Association of Law Schools.  Additionally, transfer students who were ranked in the top 50% of their previous school’s class are eligible to participate in the competition and submit their casenotes to this Review for consideration.

The International and Comparative Law Review does not offer walk-on candidacy to transfer students.  However, transfer students who were ranked in the top 50% of their previous school’s class are eligible to participate in the competition and submit their casenotes to this Review for consideration. Please note that all selected candidates for membership for this Review will be required to take one course or seminar in International Law prior to the beginning of their third year.

II.  SCHEDULE

We intend to follow the schedule below, which is planned to allow sufficient time for late spring 2008 grades to be submitted to and computed by the Registrar.

Monday, July 14, 2008:  We will notify walk-ons of their candidacy and prospective write-ons of their eligibility to participate in the Competition.  Notification of eligibility will be e-mailed to your University of Miami School of Law email account.  It is your responsibility to check your email by Monday, July 14, 2008 for notification.  If you do not hear from a Review in which you are interested by this date, and you think you may be eligible, please telephone that Review to check your eligibility status.  See telephone numbers at end of this packet.

Friday, July 25, 2008, 3:00 PM: Deadline for registering for the Competition as well the deadline for paying the $25 for materials should you wish to have a hard copy of the packet of materials.  As all the materials for the 2008 Competition will be available online, you only need to pay the $25 fee if you want a hard copy printed for you by the law school.  For participants who choose to print the materials themselves or who simply choose to use the online sources, registration is free.  The registration form will be available on the website, and all payments will be made through PayPal.  Participants are encouraged to set up a PayPal account prior to July 25, as it may take a few days for PayPal to verify banking information and establish an account.  Complete registration and payment instructions will be available on the website no later than Monday, July 14, 2008 (the day that walk-on/write on eligibility notifications are sent out).  See website information in section IV.

Please Note: Because the packet of materials will be available online this year, we will not offer to ship hard copies of the packet to out-of-town competitors this year.  If you request a hard copy, you must be in town to pick it up on the first day of the competition.

Monday, July 28, 2008: Participants will receive an e-mail confirming registration and containing their Blind Grading Number for the competition.  If you do not receive this confirmation e-mail by Monday, July 28, 2008, please contact Farah Barquero at (305) 284-2464.

Monday, August 4, 2008, noon: Packet of competition materials becomes available to participants on the website.  You will need your law school user name and password to access this information.  (For example: User name- AB4567, Password- C01234567)  Participants who requested a hard copy of the materials can pick up their packets on the 3rd floor of the Law Library in Room B349 at this time.

Monday, August 11, 2008, noon:  Casenotes must be submitted for grading via e-mail.  All submissions must be sent to LRComp2008@gmail.com and you must put your blind grading number on EACH page of the casenote.  Please do not put any other identifying mark on the casenote.  Additionally, the casenote must be sent in PDF format.  Instructions for converting word documents to PDF format will be available on the competition website prior to the competition.  We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the process before the competition begins to avoid any last minute panic.  Please title the file and subject of the e-mail “Casenote” followed by your blind grading number.  For example: “Casenote12345678”.  

Tuesday, August 12, 2008, noon: Each participant will receive a confirmation e-mail regarding the receipt of his or her casenote.  If you do not receive a confirmation e-mail by 12:00 PM (noon) on Tuesday, August 12, 2008, please contact Farah Barquero at (305) 284-2464.

Saturday, August 16, 2008, 5:00 PM: Results of the Competition will be posted on the Reviews' doors and in the glass message cases outside Room 209.

Sunday, August 17, 2008: Orientation period begins for all candidates for each Review.  You must be prepared in advance to devote the required time to the respective Reviews should you be chosen for candidacy.

III.  THE COMPETITION

All participants in the Competition will utilize a packet of materials, approximately 300-500 pages long, to write a research paper in the form of a law review casenote.  Participants may use only the materials available online through the website (or reproduced in the printed packet of materials should you order one).  Any use of legal source material beyond what is provided in the packet is grounds for disqualification of your submission. (You may, however, consult dictionaries, style manuals, and citation manuals.)

Participants may submit their casenotes to any or all of the Reviews for which they are eligible.  Each participant will be assigned a blind grading number by a neutral third party before the competition begins.  As stated above, each participant will receive his or her blind grading number on Monday, July 28, 2008.  It is of vital importance that participants put their blind grading number on each page of their casenote PRIOR to converting the word document into PDF format.  After the casenotes are submitted, each participant’s casenote will be distributed to the Reviews to which that candidate has chosen to apply.  Each participant will have previously selected the reviews to which he or she wishes to apply during the online registration. All evaluations by the Reviews will be kept strictly confidential.  Within each Review, a committee of Review members will grade the casenotes from the Competition.  Several members of the committee will read every casenote, evaluating the quality of the writing, organization, legal analysis, adherence to rules and length limitations, and bluebooking.  Each Review maintains its own grading policy.  Deadlines will be strictly enforced.

Any students with disabilities must submit in writing their concerns to Iris Morera in the Dean of Student’s Office (Room A-211) at (305) 284-4551 by Monday, June 2, 2008, if they wish to request special accommodations.

IV.  LOGISTICAL DETAILS

All information for the Competition can be found on the Competition website:

http://currentstudents.law.miami.edu/stuorgs/writingcomp/

Potential participants should take some time this summer to familiarize themselves with this website, as it will contain registration information and helpful materials that can be used to prepare for the Competition.  During the actual competition, links to the packet of materials and other important information will be available on this website.

Fees and applications: All students interested in entering the Competition should complete the online registration form by Friday, July 25, 2008 at 3:00 PM.  Additionally, participants who wish to receive a hard copy of the case materials must submit the $25 payment through PayPal by Friday, July 25, 2008 at 3:00 PM as well.

All submissions must be received at or before 12:00 PM (noon) on Monday, August 11, 2008.  All submissions must be sent via e-mail to LRComp2008@gmail.com.  All submissions must have the participant’s blind grading number on each page of the casenote and all submissions must be converted into PDF format.  Please title the file and subject of the e-mail “Casenote” followed by your blind grading number.  For example: “Casenote12345678”.    Each participant will receive a confirmation e-mail regarding the receipt of his or her casenote.  If you do not receive a confirmation e-mail by 12:00 PM (noon) on Tuesday, August 12, 2008, please contact Farah Barquero at (305) 284-2464.

V.  MECHANICS

-Word process your manuscript on letter-size paper (8-1/2" x 11").

-Use standard black 12 point font in Times New Roman.

-Manuscripts must not exceed 15 pages of text and 15 pages of footnotes (for purposes of this assignment, the “footnotes” will actually be endnotes: that is, they should not be inserted at the bottom of each page, but rather typed in chronological order on separate pages). We will accept casenotes shorter than 15 pages in text and 15 pages in endnotes. However, it is unlikely that you can do an adequate job in less than 12 pages of text and 12 pages of endnotes. As a general guide, text and endnotes should be approximately the same in length. Points will be deducted from papers that exceed the page limits.

-Type text and endnotes on one side of the page only, triple spaced. Remember to use endnotes, not footnotes: that is, they should not be inserted at the bottom of each page, but rather typed in chronological order on separate pages starting at the end of your casenote.

-Observe standard margins (1" on the left, 1" on the right, 1" at the top and 1" on the bottom).

-Title your casenote and its various sections.

-Make sure you put your blind grading number on each page of your casenote.  The easiest way to do this it to insert your BGN as a “header” on each page.

-Follow the eighteenth edition of The Bluebook for textual and footnote citations. Pay special attention to The Bluebook rules on law review writing (i.e., typeface of citations in law review text and footnotes, introductory signals, order of signals and authorities, abbreviations in footnotes, etc.). If your word processor does not have a section symbol, use the letter "s" instead. When appropriate, use all capital letters to represent large and small capitals (when using Microsoft Word, to type in small caps, click on ‘format’ and then ‘font’, and click on the appropriate box). Note: While you will be expected to demonstrate skill in the area of legal citation, entrants will not be heavily penalized for minor errors or honest attempts to interpret ambiguous portions of The Bluebook.

-Avoid using long quotations. Where necessary, follow The Bluebook provisions regarding quotations of 50 words or more.

-You shall email your completed casenote to LRComp2008@gmail.com by noon on August 11, 2008.  Please remember to convert your word application into PDF format (See link entitled “Converting from Word to PDF”).

VI.  HONOR CODE

Each participant must complete the casenote alone, without help from others.  Because the Competition is an academic exercise of the Law School, we will immediately report to the Honor Council any person found to have given or received assistance in the preparation of a casenote.

VII.  FINAL WORD

The week of the Competition will undoubtedly be a week you will not soon forget.  The assignment is difficult, especially given the time constraints and the length requirements.  The territory you are charting is unknown, since most of you have never written a casenote, and the stakes can seem very high.  While the week may be a sleepless and frustrating one, participating in the Competition will greatly enhance your legal research and writing skills.  Membership on all of the Reviews is an invaluable experience, and well worth the demands of the Competition. Keep a clear head, use common sense, and good luck.

Kim Freedman
Writing & Research Editor
University of Miami Law Review
(305) 332-4493
kjf1121@gmail.com

Liz Somerstein
Student Writing Editor
Inter-American Law Review
(954) 594-6698
lizzy9424@gmail.com

Joy Crutchter Harrison
Research and Writing Editor
Business Law Review
(786) 299-1268
harrison.joy@gmail.com

Mac VerStandig
Editor-in-Chief
International and Comparative Law Review
(204) 351-6442
mac.verstandig@gmail.com