BTLJ welcomes previously unpublished articles and essays. We do not publish book reviews, and we do not publish short essays.

The Notes and Comments Competition for 2023 (publication in Spring 2024) is currently open. Submissions are due at 11:59 p.m. PST on April 2, 2023. For more information, download the PDF here.

BTLJ Commentaries publishes pieces in the range of 3000 words that provide an insightful viewpoint on an emerging topic. BTLJ Commentaries is currently not accepting submissions for the 2022-2023 school year. Please check back next summer for the 2023-2024 school year.

BTLJ Blog posts are written by Berkeley Law students who are part of BTLJ’s Blog team. We do not accept submissions for the blog.

BTLJ only publishes articles or notes by J.D. candidates as part of the Annual Review (Berkeley Law students only) and its Notes and Comments Competition.

Format

  • Documents must be submitted electronically via Scholastica in Word file format.
  • Single-spacing and normal margins preferred.
  • All citations should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed. 2020).
  • If any portion of a manuscript has been previously published, the author must so indicate.
  • Authors must submit CVs or resumes for each author.
  • Accepted articles average 30-60 pages.

Submission Procedure & Evaluation Process

  • Documents must be submitted electronically via Scholastica. Registration is simple and free.
  • Evaluation involves scoring by multiple different editors, and rarely lasts fewer than 3-4 weeks.
  • All requests for Expedited Review must occur via or Scholastica.
  • Decisions will be communicated via or Scholastica.
  • The Editors strongly urge each author to add the confirmation mail’s sender-address to a list of accepted senders. Authors should carefully determine if their spam filters are configured to intercept BTLJ communications.

Author Contract

The following is a sample of our standard author agreement. Because the contract is entered into with the University of California, BTLJ does not have the power to change its terms. View the Standard Author Agreement (PDF 100Kb).

All other inquiries may be sent to the Submissions Editors at: submissions@btlj.org.