Law Reviews and Full Disclosure

Rather I propose an editorial policy that puts in footnote number one the relevant affiliations of the author. If the article is paid for, I would not necessarily require the disclosure of the amount of the fee; the fact that there was a fee would be sufficient. If there were no fee but a client's interest was reflected in the article, I would want disclosure of that client's identity. If the author was a freelancer in a particular field, I would want a general statement that his professional interest lay in the direction of certain types of litigation.

That kind of editorial policy would put the law reviews on a high, respected plane, and would give them new prestige and vigor and restore them to what Chief Justice Hughes once called the "'fourth estate" of the law.