Student Handbook

The Cornell Law Students Association (CLSA) promotes community building, fosters school pride, coordinates the efforts of student groups by serving as an umbrella organization, and serves as a liaison with the administration and outside groups.

Among CLSA’s responsibilities are distribution of funds, assignment of office space and bulletin board space, planning and execution of large-scale events such as Fall Ball and Barrister’s Ball, and law school students’ representation on internal faculty committees and external committees like the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly.

There are many other active student organizations within the law school community. First-year students seeking information about any of our student organizations are encouraged to attend the student activities fair held during Orientation early in the fall semester. In addition, a full list of all Cornell Law School student organizations, including officer names and contact information, is available on the Student Organizations website.

Faculty Committees

Each year the Dean of the Law School appoints faculty and senior administrators to committees involved in policy decisions at the Law School. Most of the faculty committees have a student representative as a voting member. The CLSA Board selects the student representatives. Committee assignments will be announced in Scoops or on the student listserv. Students are encouraged to communicate their concerns about committee topics directly with the student representative or the Committee Chair.

There are presently four student-run journals at the law school. The writing competition referred to in the following descriptions of the Cornell International Law Journal (ILJ), Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, and Cornell Law Review is generally held in late May/early June after first-year exams are completed. The LII Supreme Court Bulletin holds its writing competition during the Spring semester for first-year and second-year students. LL.M. students are only eligible for membership in ILJ and are invited to apply early in the fall term.

Cornell International Law Journal

The Cornell International Law Journal publishes pieces by academics, activists, politicians, sophisticated practitioners, and students on contemporary issues in international, transnational, and comparative law. Edited by students, the journal publishes four issues each year on a continually expanding variety of international legal topics. The journal also hosts an annual symposium on a contemporary issue in international law. Admission to the journal is through the writing competition at the end of the first year.

Transfer students admitted after the writing competition deadline, as well as General LL.M and J.S.D. students, may also join the journal by completing a supplementary membership application prior to the beginning of their first fall semester. Write-on and work-on opportunities for membership are also available.

Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy

The Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy is a student journal dedicated to exploring the intersections of law and public and social policy. The journal strives to be interdisciplinary and publishes articles by experts in government, the judiciary, public policy, and the social sciences, and by legal scholars and student authors. The journal publishes four issues annually, with one issue dedicated to a journal-sponsored symposium. The journal also publishes student, academic, and practitioner pieces on its online platform The Issue Spotter. The journal selects members on the basis of a writing competition. Students can join the writing competition conducted jointly with the Cornell Law Review and the Cornell International Law Journal, or they can write in the journal’s supplemental competition. All other students are welcome to join the journal after having fulfilled a full semester of quality work, demonstrating strong skills and commitment to the journal.

Cornell Law Review

The Cornell Law Review is a leading national law review. Issued seven times a year, it is edited by second and third-year students. The Law Review determines membership after the completion of the first-year writing competition held at the close of each academic year. Membership eligibility is based on academic standing, writing ability, or a composite score of the two that also provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate how they will bring diverse viewpoints to the organization. The Cornell Law Review publishes articles submitted by both leading scholars and up-and-coming junior faculty members. In the past, the Cornell Law Review has also published articles submitted by practitioners, judges, and public officials. The Law Review also aims to encourage student scholarship. In this role, the Law Review publishes ten to twelve student notes each year.

LII Supreme Court Bulletin

The LII Supreme Court Bulletin publishes student-written Previews of upcoming United States Supreme Court cases. The Bulletin publishes the Previews on the LII website, emails them as a free service to thousands of subscribers including law students and practicing attorneys across the nation, excerpts them in The Federal Lawyer magazine (the Federal Bar Association’s official publication), and links them to the SCOTUS blog. The Bulletin consists of 12 pairs of 24 writing associates and an editorial board of 9 managing editors, an executive editor, and an editor-in-chief. The Bulletin’s associates are selected each spring through a Writing Competition and all student staff and editors are paid for their contributions to the Bulletin.