The Hastings Law Journal is primarily a student-run organization. Third-year members oversee the production of each issue and the management of the Journal. Second-year members work on variety of projects, including article and note editing, technical production of the pieces ready for publication, and organization of the symposium. Aside from the scholarly elements, second-year members are also encouraged to participate in the fund-raising and social functions conducted by the Journal. First-year students are not eligible for membership on the Journal.

One of the most challenging and satisfying aspects of Journal membership is the opportunity to research, write, and publish a student note - a piece of legal scholarship similar to law review articles authored by professors. Early in the Fall, each second-year member investigates an area of the law that s/he finds interesting and selects a topic on a developing issue in that area. Over the next few months, the member, assisted by a third-year mentor and the Senior Notes Editors, refines the topic and completes a paper - the Note - on the subject.

There are six ways to become a member of the Hastings Law Journal:

• The top three students from each first-year section are invited to join on the basis of their G.P.A.;


• Fifteen students are invited on the basis of their writing competition scores;


• Twelve to fifteen students are invited on the basis of a composite of their writing competition scores and their G.P.A.;


• Through HLJ's special admissions program, students may also be invited on the basis of their grade-point-averages, writing competition scores, Legal Writing and Research grades, and supplemental personal statements. HLJ considers a variety of factors that demonstrate personal achievement in the face of social, economic, or educational disadvantages;


• Transfer students may submit writing competition entries; transfers receive invitations if their entry demonstrates a degree of excellence equivalent to the best fifteen entries from the spring writing competition;


• Second-year students may also participate in HLJ's self-submittal program by submitting a prospectus for a note to the Manager of Scholarly Publications by the last weekday in January. Please contact the Scholarly Publications office for more information.