My blogging about the new edition of Academic Legal Writing reminded me about this message I got from a student three months ago; I got the student’s permission to reprint it, though the student asked that his name not be used:
Professor Volokh,
I write to thank you for your book Academic Legal Writing. Last fall I was unsuccessful in my attempt to earn a spot on my school’s law review. Fortunately, my school allows a second opportunity to compete for membership in the spring. Unsure of how to approach writing a second case note after failing my first attempt, I ordered your book for guidance. I am confident this move was what ensured my success. Although I did not get the book with enough time prior to the competition to read and digest the entire thing, I followed the instructions laid out at the beginning of the book for those in my position. The result was a publication-quality case note that earned a spot on law review.
There is no shortage of advice doled out from all fronts for writing a case note. I greatly appreciated the concise, concrete guidance provided by your book. In particular, your advice to read the dreaded Bluebook cover-to-cover was immensely helpful. Through that process I gained a familiarity with the sections of the Bluebook that aided me greatly in editing my case note as well as completing the editing exercise portion of the competition.
Being able to add my law review membership to my resume gave me tremendous pride. A professor of mine described law review membership as “a line on your resume that will never disappear.” I want to thank you for helping me add that line to my resume. I am confident that there are countless other law students who have found your book equally helpful, but I wanted to confirm the impact that it has on those of us who make use of it.
Sincerely,
[name omitted]
UPDATE: Reader VaLawGuy adds, in the comments:
Eugene,
I second the opinion of the student who wrote you the letter. I was unsuccessful in getting on my school’s law review through the spring journal tryout. But later in law school I wrote a paper to fulfill my school’s writing requirement. When I decided to try to get the paper published, I turned to your book and found the advice it contained helpful. Ultimately, I was fortunate to have my paper selected for publication and thereby “noted on” to my school’s law review. The potential benefit of your book far exceeds the minor investment cost in purchasing it. I highly recommend it to current law students who want to improve their writing and their chances of getting published or joining their school’s law review.