Students produce law journal
‘Binghamton Law Quarterly’ has published three issues in last year.
From covering the O.J. Simpson case to issues of free speech, the Binghamton Law Quarterly brings light to the sometimes complex legal issues going on in the world.
As the first student-run law journal on the Binghamton University campus, the paper is coming up on its first anniversary. Its goal is to discuss current events and make them more digestible for the campus.
“We’re writing stories about things you’ll see in the news,” said Dylan Weber, public relations chair. “[For example], someone in the fall wrote about Colin Kaepernick and the kneeling situation in the NFL and how that has legal consequences surrounding that.”
The founder, Eleazar Weissman, chartered the Binghamton Law Quarterly in Spring 2017. Since then, three issues have been published.
The staff of the quarterly meets every Thursday night to pitch ideas, track progress and finalize stories for the issues that are published twice per semester which is mostly online with selected articles in print.
Weber, a senior majoring in political science, said the organization is beneficial for students interested in law school and going into legal professions. However, it is open for students of all backgrounds to join.
“It’s great that our members are getting a taste of writing about legal issues before they possibly go onto to law school,” Weber said. “This is the only one on campus that focuses on legal issues solely, whereas if you join another paper there’s not that specific focus.”
The experience also gives students the chance to hone their skills and grow as writers in the process. The students work together to peer edit work and by the time a piece is published, it has been reviewed by three or four different people.
“We make sure what we publish is really crafted well and edited well,” Weber said. “We don’t try to edit the way people are writing, rather than just picking out stuff that’s working, not working and talk about what more can be put in.”
He also noted that writing about legal issues brings complications with simplifying the legal jargon and trying to remain unbiased.
“We try to stay nonpartisan on all of our issues,” Weber said. “When you read the articles the authors are not taking a stance, rather [they are] just talking about the issue at hand and talking about the consequences and repercussions about whatever is going on.”
For the next issue, the staff will focus on corporate law, although miscellaneous articles are accepted, as well.
“Sometimes legal issues can be kind of bland and boring,” Weber said. “People don’t want to learn about it, or read about it at least—so what we try to do is write about relevant stuff that kind of touches people on an everyday basis.”
To learn more: visit binglawquarterly.org, or email binghamtonquarterly@gmail.com.
Click here to download and read the latest edition of the Binghamton Law Quarterly.