Resources
2011 New York Law Journal
Special Section Submissions Guidelines
General Rules
All articles are submitted on speculation. We do not guarantee publication. We also reserve the right to publish an accepted article in an Issue other than the one for which it was submitted.
All articles must be original. We will not publish articles that have appeared elsewhere. Stick to the topic assigned. If you need to change the topic, please discuss this with the editor.
Articles appear under the author's byline. When submitting your article, please provide a brief biographical sketch (not exceeding 20 words), including the name and location of your firm, and your position there (e.g., partner, associate, of counsel, etc.). Do not include this biographical information as a footnote to the article.
Articles should not deal primarily with a matter that the author or his or her firm has handled. Any involvement of the author or the author's firm in a case or other matter to be mentioned must be disclosed in advance to the editor and be approved at the same time the article topic is approved; no discussion may be included of such cases that are still ongoing (appeals pending, time to appeal remaining, etc.). Any involvement of the author or the author's firm must also be indicated specifically in the author's biography.
Articles must be written or co-written by law firm partners unless approved by the editor.
Deadlines
Deadlines are firm. Articles submitted after the deadline may not be published.
Length and Footnotes
Articles should be no longer than 2,500 words (about 10 double-spaced pages), including footnotes, unless arranged in advance with the editor.
Articles exceeding the page limit will be cut if necessary or returned to the author for cutting. Pages must be 8 1/2 x 11 inches, with one-inch margins.
Be sparing with footnotes, which should primarily be used to provide citations to decisions and other authority discussed and/or quoted. Legal citations should follow a Uniform System of Citation. Either official or regional reporter citations are acceptable; do not use parallel citations.
Form of Submission
Articles must be submitted in Word or WordPerfect format and sent by email with a faxed hard copy.
Faxed or hard-copy submissions alone are unacceptable.
Style
All articles must be written in the third person. Do not address the reader. Do not use the imperative tense, "you," "I" or "our," and do not use contractions.
You are writing an article, not a list, although a listing or two may be included. Do not number your points. Use "bullets" instead. Write in full sentences and do not rely on headings to make a point or create transitions. Typographical requirements often mandate deletion of such headings.
Do not italicize Latin or other foreign words and phrases.
Approach
Most articles should be keyed to a recent development, mentioned in the first paragraph, such as an important case, a new statute or regulation or a new trend in the law. Articles may evaluate a series of such developments and offer an analysis of the direction of the law in the particular area. Other articles may provide practical lawyering advice.
Articles should be even-handed treatments of the subject, not argument, opinion or editorial pieces. They need not, however, be dry. In discussing a court case, for example, the author might speculate why the court ruled as it did, contrast the case to previous authority, discuss any open questions and state whom the decision might affect and why. But the author should not argue that the case was correctly or wrongly decided or that a particular law is fair or unfair.
Remember that you are writing a newspaper piece, not a court opinion or law review article.
Editing
The editor will make no substantive change in an article without consulting the author. However, copy editing and other stylistic alterations will be made without notice and articles that exceed the maximum length will be cut. Time constraints prevent our providing proofs for the author's review.
Headlines
The editor will write headlines and subheadings. Suggestions by the author are helpful but not binding.
2011 New York Law Journal
Outside Counsel Guidelines
Outside Counsel columns offer practitioners an opportunity to discuss recent decisions, a new law or an area of legal expertise.
General Rules
All articles are submitted on speculation. Publication is not guaranteed. We also reserve the right to publish accepted articles in other sections of the New York Law Journal, as needed.
All articles must be original. Articles that have appeared elsewhere, including as client alerts and on law firm websites, will not be published.
Authors must be law firm partners or of counsel, or judges, public attorneys, in-house counsel, solo practitioners, or law professors. Experienced law firm associates may appear on the byline with partners. Associates in their early years of practice and other contributors may be included in the bio credit that accompanies the article.
Authors cannot write about cases in which they or their firms are involved during ongoing litigation. Authors may mention (but not primarily write about) cases or matters in which they or their firms have been involved, provided the appeals process has been exhausted. In no event should inclusion of such a matter constitute more than 10 percent of an article. Any such involvement must be disclosed in the author's biography line.
Authors must be New York-based, admitted to practice in New York, and must sign a rights agreement, which will be faxed or emailed once submission is accepted and the editing process begins.
There are no deadlines; articles are scheduled after they are submitted. Articles are generally published six to eight weeks after submission. Scheduled dates are tentative.
Length and Footnotes
Articles must be under 2,000 words, including a very limited number of footnotes/endnotes.
Use footnotes/endnotes sparingly; indeed, do not feel compelled to use any. Avoid using Id footnotes; they will not appear in the paper.
Style
Articles must be written in the third person. Do not address the reader. Do not use the imperative tense, "you," "I" or "our." Do not use contractions.
Do not rely on headings to make a point or create a transition.
Approach
Articles should be even-handed treatment of a subject, but need not be dry. In discussing a court case, for example, analyze the decision, provide background and context as needed, explain the significance and potential impact of the decision and discuss any open questions.
Keep lists or block quotes from decisions to a minimum.
Editing
The editor will make no substantive changes without consulting the author. However, copy editing and other stylistic alterations will be made without notice. Edited proofs are not made available for author review.
The editor will write headlines and subheadings; suggestions are helpful but not binding.
Byline
Write the byline at the beginning of the article, e.g., By John Smith or By John Smith and Joe Jones.
Bio Box
Include a one or two sentence biography for publication. Please put the information in the same document as the article, at the beginning under the byline or the end skipping several spaces between the final line of the article and the bio text. Bio information should include employer and title, and may include an additional fact, such as a book written or leadership on a committee. [John Smith, a partner at Smith & Jones, is the author of "The Practical Practitioner" (HarperCollins, 2007).
Submit
Submit via email to Legal Editor Elaine Song at ESong@alm.com
Submissions must include author's mailing address, phone and fax numbers, and an attached file of the article in either Word or WordPerfect.
A digital headshot of the author must be submitted at the same time. When submitting photos, include the full name of the author and the full name of the firm or company in the same e-mail in which the photo is attached. Do not send headshots that appear on Web sites. They are not suitable for print publication. High-resolution images must be either tif or jpg, with at least 300 resolution (dpi).
