PROSPECTIVE STAFF EDITORS

Staff Editors have two main responsibilities, as well as participating in a committee:

1.  Editing articles for publication in the Journal’s quarterly Issues. This process is known as Production and includes:

Line-by-Line Red – Staff Editors are paired with a partner and read the manuscript line-by-line to check for style, convention, and grammatical errors using the Redbook and flag for assertions that may need a citation.

Cite Check – Staff Editors locate a copy of each source cited by the author, highlight assertions, and correct any citation errors using Bluebook format. Should an assertion need support, staff editors may also perform research to find a source that supports the author’s assertion.

Line-by-Line Blue – Staff Editors individually read the manuscript line-by-line, double checking any Redbook conventions, assertions, and Bluebook citations.

Proof – Staff Editors read the manuscript one last time to check for any facial errors.

2.  Writing a student Note of publishable quality after conducting original research.

Student Notes must be 25-pages minimum, cite to at least 30 different sources, and have at least 100 footnotes. The Note must be of publishable quality discussing a novel legal topic relating to the environment. Some Notes demonstrate how courts or legislatures should resolve legal issues or explain predicted effects of proposed or new legislation or recent court decisions. Other Notes focus on historical or theoretical underpinnings of law or an existing body of jurisprudence. Regardless of the Note’s legal argument, all VJEL Notes are environmentally focused, which broadly includes topics like property law, conservation, food and agriculture, energy law, water law, traditional ecological knowledge, space law, animal law, oil and gas, land use, or climate migration.

Staff Editors will work with a VJEL senior staff member on the Notes Team to complete their Note during their 2L year. The Notes Team provides routine feedback and guidance over a series of assignments that ultimately culminate in your final Note. Once completed, all student Notes are considered for publication in VJEL during the Spring Notes Competition. If your Note is not selected for publication, you may submit it to other journals, and Notes make an excellent conversation starter at networking events or interviews.

Committees:

Staff Editors are also asked to pick a committee, which allows them to become more involved with a specific aspect of the Journal. Past committee work has included: writing for the Vermont Law School’s Top Ten Environmental Watch List published in December, planning our yearly symposium, reviewing articles submitted for publication, writing student editorials, and finding new ways to use technology to expand the Journal’s audience.

Yes, your Note can satisfy your AWR requirement. Please consult the Student Handbook for requirements if you wish for your Note to satisfy this requirement. The Note will not retroactively fulfill this requirement should you decide that you want it to at some later time, so decide whether you want your Note to satisfy your AWR before you begin writing it. You will also need to find a faculty sponsor, which may have additional requirements or due dates beyond Journal or Student Handbook requirements throughout the semester.

There are two ways law students are offered membership on the Journal:

1. Write-On Competition

1Ls, 2Ls, AJDs, and EJDs may take part in the write-on competition, which takes place at the end of the Spring semester. All students interested in membership are strongly encouraged to write on as you will not know your final class rank prior to the write-on competition. Current journal members will anonymously grade the write-on competition. Students who satisfactorily complete the write-on will be offered membership first. Membership spots are limited to a set number each year, usually around 25.

2.  Grade-On

Invitations offering membership are also sent out based on class rank. Please note that these invitations are determined after all those who satisfactorily completed the write-on are invited. There is no set number of spots set aside for write-on invitations, so there always exists the possibility that all our spots could fill up during the write-on round. In this case, the grade-on round would not occur. The grade-on process only applies to traditional rising 2Ls. Rising 3Ls, AJDs, EJDs, and Transfer students must participate in the write-on competition if they wish to join a journal.

Write-On packets are distributed by email at the end of the Spring semester and are due approximately two weeks thereafter. The minimum time commitment to complete the write-on is an estimated 40 hours. The write-on packet consists of three parts:

1.  Bluebooking

You will be asked to construct footnotes in the correct Bluebook format from the information provided and provide the Bluebook rule(s) you followed to construct it.

2.  Editing a Manuscript

You will be asked to edit a section of an article manuscript by correcting errors in grammar and legal writing mechanics using Redbook rules.

3.  A Case Comment

You will be asked to research and write a maximum of 9 pages analyzing one of two cases provided. Grading will be based on the quality and creativity of the comment, the research conducted, correct use of grammar, and proper use of Bluebook citation format. Students may cite up to 20 sources.

The competition is subject to the Vermont Law and Graduate School Honor Code and Code of Conduct.

To complete the Write-On Packet you will need a copy of the Bluebook and Redbook. These may be found in the library during library hours if you do not own copies or you can buy them at Barrister’s Bookstore or online. You will also need the Write-On Packet.  A link to the packet, which can be downloaded, will be distributed by email.  No hard copies will be distributed.

Please read the instructions that accompany the Write-On Packet as a failure to adhere to the instructions may result in at a minimum, fewer awarded points, or disqualification from the competition.

Generally, your submission must be emailed as a PDF attachment to the specified email address listed in the packet instructions. The submission instructions will be distributed with the Write-On Packet.  Please follow the submission instructions carefully.

There is only one joint write-on competition for both the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law and the Vermont Law Review.  You may submit your packet to either journal or both journals.  

You may only accept one offer. Membership on both journals is not allowed.

Invitations are sent by email during the summer. Please check your email daily as you will only be given two days to respond. If you do not respond by the date indicated on your invitation, your offer will be rescinded.

Once a student accepts the invitation to serve as a Staff Editor on VJEL, their membership begins the at the start of their 2L year through graduation (a/k/a invitation to graduation).

Participating on the Journal will require more time in the beginning of the fall semester. Staff Editors will be learning technical skills such as bluebooking, redbooking, and crafting a novel legal argument for their Note assignment. Over the course of the semester and year, students will gain skills that will allow them to complete their assignments at a quicker pace. Note that every student’s learning style is different. However, students should allocate roughly 5-10 hours for each Production assignment. For Note assignments, that is dependent on how quickly the student can craft their legal argument after corroborating that their argument is in fact, novel. Students can expect to devote roughly 10-20 hours per Notes assignment (giving a time buffer for research, drafting, and editing their Note assignments).

2Ls will partake in elections for Senior Staff positions at the beginning of the Spring semester. After elections, Senior Staff will assist Staff Editors in the respective role they were elected to (i.e., the Editor-in-Chief will coordinate with the incoming Editor-in-Chief about tasks specific to their roles to ensure a smooth transition for the next Volume). The transition period typically begins around the end of February and will last through the end of the year. 

Note: There are Senior Staff positions that are not open to 2L Students who are AJDs/EJDs due to residency requirements. This residency requirement also includes off-campus semesters in practice, leaves from VLGS, or other circumstances which a Senior Staff Editor may not be on campus. This residency requirement may not necessarily include the on-campus clinics. Students that are AJDs or EJDs, or planning a a semester-in-practice should refer to the Bylaws on residency requirements for Senior Staff to ensure they run for a position that aligns with their graduation date and curriculum schedule.