Over the past three decades the St. Mary's Law Journal has achieved a high level of distinction. Many alumni of the St. Mary's Law Journal are now judges and senior partners in important law firms.

St. Mary's Law Journal Bylaws

Contact information:
St. Mary's Law Journal
St. Mary's University
One Camino Santa Maria
San Antonio, Texas 78228
External site: www.stmaryslawjournal.org
Phone: 210.436.3525
Fax: 210.436.3756

 

Top Ranking

A rolling seven-year survey of state and federal court decisions recognizes the St. Mary’s Law Journal as one of the most frequently cited law reviews in the United States. The survey is published by Washington and Lee University and ranks the St. Mary’s Law Journal as the 13th most cited law review in 2008. Considering that there are 1,586 law reviews included in the ranking, the St. Mary’s Law Journal’s apex position speaks volumes about the level of dedication and professionalism put forth by its student members. The ranking is also a direct testament to the Journal’s goal of providing the judiciary and the legal community with relevant, well-written legal scholarship.

Widely Influential

Over the last ten years, the St. Mary’s Law Journal has been cited by the supreme courts of twenty-four states, with the most recent citation coming from the Illinois Supreme Court on June 19, 2008. Six of the citations by the state supreme courts have been to comments written by students on the St. Mary’s Law Journal. In addition to the numerous citations by state supreme courts, during that same time period the St. Mary’s Law Journal was also cited by United States Courts of Appeals on fifteen different occasions. A breakdown of the citations by circuit courts shows that the Second Circuit cited the St. Mary’s Law Journal four times over the last ten years, the Third Circuit cited the Journal once, the Fourth Circuit cited the Journal in a dissent, the Fifth Circuit cited the Journal six times (most recently in an unpublished opinion on May 30, 2008), the Seventh Circuit cited the Journal twice, and the Ninth Circuit cited the Journal three times. The frequency of citations by federal appellate courts reinforces the Journal’s longstanding belief that publishing quality legal scholarship will assist in understanding and administering the law. The St. Mary’s Law Journal has also been cited by the United States Supreme Court on three separate occasions. Justice Powell cited the Journal in 1975, Justice Marshall cited the Journal in 1979, and most recently in 2006, the St. Mary’s Law Journal was cited by Justice Thomas.

Award-Winning

The St. Mary’s Law Journal has won the Texas Bar Foundation’s Outstanding Article Award on several occasions, including twice recently. In 1999, the Journal also won the best article award from the state bar Labor and Employment Section.

Respected

In August 2002, the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court relied upon a student-written work in deciding a case involving police use of stun belts. Chief Justice Ronald George wrote, “The St. Mary’s Law Journal comment cited by the Court of Appeal is a lengthy and well- researched article that has been cited in a number of prior judicial decisions.” In April 2003, the Texas Court of Appeals cited Robert J. Kramer’s (class of 2003) authoritative review of the Texas Arbitration Act as the basis for deciding legal malpractice issues before the court. In November 2003, the Texas Court of Appeals cited the work of Daniel M. Martinez (class of 2004) in deciding whether insurance companies can provide representation to insureds by using in-house counsel without violating the prohibition against unauthorized practice of law. In June 2006, Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court cited an address by former Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist that the St. Mary’s Law Journal published in Volume 21. Additionally, in May 2008, a panel in the United State Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit relied on Heather Harrison Volik’s article addressing the classification of the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle as a crime of violence when urging an en banc reversal of circuit precedent.

Prestigious

Among the authors who have published in the St. Mary’s Law Journal are the Honorable William H. Rehnquist, former Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court; the Honorable Carla Hills, then a member of the Cabinet; Father F. Darin, S.J., a former member of the House Watergate Committee; Broadus A. Spivey, President of the State Bar of Texas; and numerous Justices of the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.

Board and Staff

Executive Board
Editor in Chief	CHRISTOPHER M. WEST
Executive Editor	SARA BERKELEY
Symposium Editor	COLLANNE BRAMBLETT-WEST
Solicitation/Articles Editor	MICHAEL P. REPP
Articles Editor	JANE R. DURE
Articles Editor	LINDSEY L. MEDENWALDT
Research/Articles Editor	ASHLEY R. PRESSON
Comment Editor	SHANNON K. DUNN
Comment Editor	LAURA M. CLARK
Comment Editor	CHRISTOPHER L. GORDON
Comment Editor	MARGARET A. MCENTIRE

Sr. Associate Editors
ALEXANDER D. BURCH
BONNIE K. KIRKLAND
JAHANNAH C. LEMAY
LINDSEY S. DRAKE
REBECCA D. OTT
Associate Editors
RACHAEL BERNSTEIN
RYAN V. COX
MARK W. LANEMAN
ADAM T. BRAATEN
JONATHAN D. FISCHER
NATHAN MOREY
SHANNA R. CASTRO
K. MARIE GRANGER
ANDREW NEAL
Staff Writers
REBECCA C. BERGERON	WILLIAM N. HALL III
JOSE LUIS MUNOZ	DUSTIN T. BROOKS
RUSSELL HOERMANN	LEAH J. O'LEARY
WILLIAM L. CALHOUN	TIFFANY HOUSE
ROBERT M. PARK	ALICIA W. CALZADA
CRAIG JACOBS	APRIL Y. QUINONES
CHRISTOPHER CARLIN	MATTHEW JOHNSON
CAROLYN RANGEL	LAURA E. CAULEY
ETHAN A. JONES	JUSTIN C. ROBERTS
NICOLE M. CONGER	HOLLY JONES
CHRIS N. SEKIMOTO	LOUIS E. DURBIN
MICHAEL KELLY	ANDREW R. SIMANK
CARLOS GARCIA	BERNIE R. KRAY
ANDREW C. SMITH	GABRIEL M. GARCIA
BRENNAN M. KUCERA	SAMUEL J. STENNIS
STACI GOLD	SHAWN MECHLER
VALERIE L. STIPP	LANE A. GREER
SARAH R. MINTER	ALEXANDER J. YOAKUM
Faculty Advisory Committee
VINCENT R. JOHNSON, Chair
ALOYSIUS A. LEOPOLD
WILLY E. RICE
ROBERT H. HU
CHENGLIN LIU
JOHN TEETER
COLIN MARKS
Business Manager
Renee Higgins

Board Member, National Conference of Law Reviews

Submissions

The Journal welcomes the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. Submissions must be typed and doubled-spaced with footnotes at the end of the article. All citations must conform to A Uniform System of Citation (18th ed. 2005). Manuscripts should be addressed to Solicitations Editor. We regret that manuscripts cannot be returned except upon receipt of postage and handling fees of $2.00 for third class or $3.00 for first class. Submissions may be emailed to stmljsolicitations@stmarytx.edu

Subscriptions

The St. Mary's Law Journal (USPS 992540) is published quarterly by the students of St. Mary's University School of Law. Subscription price for Volume 39 is $35.00; single issues available at $8.50, symposium issue at $15.00; index to volumes 1-15 at $5.00; index to volumes 16-20 at $5.00; add $2.00 (domestic) or $5.00 (foreign) for postage and handling. Reprints of selected articles, comments and notes are also available from the Journal. Texas residents add 8.125% sales tax. Second class postage paid at San Antonio, Texas, and at additional mailing offices. Subscriptions to the St. Mary's Law Journal are considered to be continuous and, an absent receipt of notice to the contrary, will be automatically renewed each year. Issues prior to Volume 27 are available from William S. Hein & Co., 1285 Main St., Buffalo, N.Y. 14209, (800)828-7571.

Communications

All communications concerning subscription or otherwise should be addressed to St. Mary's University School of Law, St. Mary's Law Journal, One Camino Santa Maria, San Antonio, Texas 78228-8604. Telephone: (210) 436-3525. POSTMASTER: Send Address changes to St. Mary's University School of Law, St. Mary's Law Journal, One Camino Santa Maria, San Antonio, Texas 78228-8604. Questions concerning subscription or otherwise may be emailed to lawjournal@stmarytx.edu.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the St. Mary's Law Journal, its editors and staff, the St. Mary's University School of Law, or St. Mary's University.