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Specifications for submitting opinion pieces

Thank you for your interest in submitting an opinion piece to The National Law Journal. We seek a diversity of opinions from practicing lawyers, law professors, judges, and others in the legal community. Nonlawyers are welcome to submit pieces as well, so long as they pertain to a legal issue.

The target length is 750-850 words. Submissions can be in the form of proposals or completed pieces. Completed articles may be submitted as either Word or WordPerfect documents. Please send proposals and submissions to Assistant Managing Editor Ruth Singleton at rsingleton@alm.com.

Articles must be original to us. That means they cannot have been published in print or on any Web site (including the Jurist site). We strongly prefer that you submit a piece to us exclusively for at least two weeks. If you haven?t heard back in that time, you are free to send it to other publications, but please notify us immediately if it is placed elsewhere. If it is your preference not to submit a piece exclusively to us, please make that clear at the outset.

Authors may write about cases or other matters in which they represent a party, are submitting an amicus brief or otherwise have a stake, but we require full disclosure of such a connection.

Opinion pieces should clearly state an opinion on a particular issue and should not provide merely a neutral analysis.

We will consult the author about substantive changes to the copy. We reserve the right to copy edit and to make alterations based on The National Law Journal style or space constraints without notice to the author.

Before publication, we usually send galley proofs to the author for review. When responding, please be prompt, and address substantive changes only; this is not the time to raise style questions or add new material.