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Article Submission

General

The Journal encourages article submissions on topics of interest to members of the Association. Send all article materials and communications via email, with attachments as needed, to the Journal’s Managing Editor, Daniel McMahon, dmcmahon@nysba.org, and the Editor in Chief, David Wilkes dwilkes@huffwilkes.com, with copies to Nick Connolly, nconnolly@huffwilkes.com, and Joan Fucillo, jfucillo@nysba.org. Due to the volume of submissions it is not possible for the editors to respond to telephone inquiries in most cases.

MCLE credit may be earned for legal-based writing directed to an attorney audience upon application to the CLE Board. NYSBA Guidelines for Obtaining MCLE Credit for Writing as well as a Publication Credit Application are available. Please note that authors are uncompensated unless otherwise specified.

Article Review

Articles are considered on an exclusive basis unless otherwise specified. Once an article is submitted for consideration it becomes the property of the Journal, and we reserve the right of first refusal. Sometimes it can take several months for the Editor in Chief to review the article and, if accepted, schedule its publication. If your piece is time-sensitive or you have inquiries from other publications, please note that in your submission. For questions about the status of your article’s review, please email Dan McMahon and David Wilkes, with copies to Nick and Joan.

Once an article is submitted, NYSBA reserves the right to publish without further approval from the author.

General

Please submit your article in electronic format. We prefer that you send it as an email attachment.

Articles must be well written, readable and interesting to broad categories of membership. Avoid writing articles about highly specialized, technical legal topics or procedures that most member attorneys would not find useful. We look especially for articles on topics of broad interest that are newsworthy and describe important developments in areas of the law.

Feature articles should run from 3,500 to 5,500 words, including endnotes; articles may be longer only if approved by the Editor, required by the subject matter, and if the text is well-written and to the point. Overall length of the columns that regularly appear in the Journal (e.g., Metes & Bounds, Planning Ahead, Computers & the Law, Legal Research, Tax Alert, etc.) should run from 1,500 to 3,000 words, including endnotes. The Journal rarely publishes book reviews. Book reviews, when considered for publication, are evaluated for objectivity, impartiality, and originality.

The Journal reserves the right to make final determinations without author approval as it deems appropriate in the editing, format, and publication of all submissions.
In general, avoid introductory paragraphs that include phrases like, “in a recent case decided by the Court of Appeals….”, and laborious descriptions of the development of an area of law that consist of repetitious accounts of the facts and holdings in a series of cases. Write in an active voice, not passive. Avoid writing in the first person. Avoid long sentences. With the exception of certain regular columns, avoid too much informality, or attempting a chatty style; many otherwise useful topics are rejected or returned for significant re-writing when written in a style that is inappropriate for the Journal.

Format

Microsoft Word is the preferred word-processing software.

Keep format structure simple. For example, use enter and tab keys for hard returns to start a new paragraph, and the double indent key function for quoted material.
If uncertain about the capitalization of certain words or phrases, please keep them lowercase for review by the Editor-in-Chief. All text should be in Times New Roman, 12 point, double spaced, except for quotations that are longer than three sentences, which should appear in block, single-spaced form. Do not underline any text (such as when stating case names; adding emphasis; etc.): use italics instead.

Do not place citations in body of the text. Notation style is endnote format, not footnote. Place periods and commas before endnote numbers and quotation marks.

Citation

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and format presentation of related cites. In general, follow the Bluebook. Official cites are required, and authors are responsible for accuracy of all quoted material. Notes should be of reasonable length, i.e., not overly long, but with enough information to back up sufficiently points made in the article. Avoid the extensive use of notes that might be more appropriate for a law review format. Do not place case citations in the body of the text.

Images

Authors who wish to submit an image (or images) to accompany an article should use non-copyrighted material. Images in the public domain or ones taken by the author are acceptable. Images may be submitted electronically via email or burned onto a CD. Electronic images may be submitted in tif, jpeg or eps file format and must be at least 300 dpi. Authors may submit a hard copy. The Design Services department at the Association will scan the image and return it to the author by mail.