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2014-2015 JBIPL Editors Discuss Positions

Published onFeb 13, 2015
2014-2015 JBIPL Editors Discuss Positions

Development Editor

Caitlin Hale

1. What are the pertinent qualifications? Familiarity with the blog; ability to edit short articles for grammar and content on a weekly basis; ability to brainstorm topics for blogs; ability to use WordPress (very easy to learn).

2. Why did you apply for this position? I was on the blog as a 2L and really enjoyed having the opportunity to write short articles about topics that were interesting to me. I wanted to be involved with the Journal but not in a position that was extremely time-consuming. 

3. What are the general responsibilities? Suggest blog topics to writers, edit blogs for grammar and content, post blogs to website, create schedule for bloggers.

4. What was the interview process like? The interview process was very simple. During the interview, I was asked how I would improve the blog and what interested me about the blog. The interview was very laid-back.

5. What qualifications or traits will you be looking for in the person to replace you? I will mostly be looking for someone who has an awareness of current events related to business and intellectual property law or has a willingness to maintain an awareness of these topics. It is important to have this knowledge because the bloggers often look to the development editor to suggest relevant blog topics.

6. Favorite and least favorite part about your position? My favorite part is browsing the news and finding topics that I can tie to business or intellectual property law in an interesting way. This year, the blog has covered topics related to employment, sports, movies, music, etc., all of which are loosely connected to business and/or intellectual property law. My least favorite part is probably posting the blogs to the website.

7. What can someone who hopes to have your position do to give them a better chance at it for next year? Browse the blog and come up with suggestions on how to improve it. Currently, we do not have a high readership level for the blog, so I would be very interested in a candidate that has ideas on how to expand the blog’s following by students, professors, and local attorneys.

8. Other advice? Be informed of current topics that would make good blogs.

9. Fun Fact about yourself. Until my third year of law school, my roommate and I took all of the same classes. When we graduate, we will have only taken 3 classes separately.  :)

Senior Notes and Comments Editor

Erica Navalance

1. What are the pertinent qualifications? As an editor, strong revision skills and an ability to constructively critique work without re-writing it is important. As a senior editor, the ability to juggle multiple schedules, deadlines, and responsibilities, along with communication and organization, are all essential.

2. Why did you apply for this position? I wanted to edit because reading such diverse notes and comments would give me an overview into learning more about business and IP. I applied for Senior Editor because I wanted to connect with the new 2L staff members and have an opportunity to see the organizational aspects of the journal.

3. What are the general responsibilities? The position is two-fold. First, as an editor, I’m responsible for reviewing, editing, and approving a third of the notes and comments that are written. I help these writers from the time they pick a topic to passing the final note. Secondly, as the Senior Editor, I coordinate the notes and comments program for the year. This includes training the staff members, fielding questions from writers, and organizing the writing schedule for the year.

4. What was the interview process like? Overall it was relatively easy. The hardest part was finding which position would fit me best, but the application and the interview were not incredibly stressful.

5. What qualifications or traits will you be looking for in the person to replace you? Definitely organization – you have to be keeping track of spading schedules, board schedules, writers’ schedules, and editors’ schedules, so finding deadline and editing dates can be difficult. Along the same lines, good communication is also important – you need to be answering writer questions, keeping your editors informed, and making sure the board has an overview of our side of the journal as well. Being able to be pro-active and responsive in communication is certainly important.

6. Favorite and least favorite part about your position? My favorite part would be getting to read so many different kinds of notes; since no two topics can be the same, we get such a wide range of interests that I get to have an overview on by the time the note is completed. I think my least favorite part would be approving and managing the topics. Preemption checks aren’t fun for anyone, and we need to keep running those up until the final note is submitted, which can get repetitive and is not a very exciting part of the job.

7. What can someone who hopes to have your position do to give them a better chance at it for next year? Obviously writing an interesting/well-written note is a plus – it shows you’re interested in the process and our element of the journal. Making all the spading and writing deadlines is also a must – because those are a big part of creating the notes and comments program for the year, it is important to show you value other peoples’ time.

8. Other advice? Don’t be afraid to ask questions. How the journal works behind the scenes can be really confusing and overwhelming, so don’t sit there and worry about something you could ask someone on the board – just ask!

9. Fun Fact about yourself. When I was ten, I had three career goals; to be a waitress, an actress, or a truck driver. I guess I’ve settled on lawyer at this point.

Notes and Comments Editor

Josh Adams

1. What are the pertinent qualifications? I work as a teaching assistant for LAWR and Contracts, which has helped me learn how to give useful comments and advice to folks on their legal writing.

2. Why did you apply for this position? No spading, and very little work required.

3. What are the general responsibilities? Initially, ensure that notes and comments are not preempted and meet the requirements of JBIPL. After that, it’s to help the writers achieve their writing goals and better their chances of publication.

4. What was the interview process like? We talked about why I was interested in the position, fun facts on my resume, my own comment, and then time commitments I would have during 3L year.

5. What qualifications or traits will you be looking for in the person to replace you? A warm and friendly individual who folks will find easy to work with, and then the legal writing competency to be helpful throughout the process. 

6. Favorite and least favorite part about your position? The best part is the lack of work required throughout the semester. The bad part is that when the work comes down, it’s a lot at once with a short turnaround.

7. What can someone who hopes to have your position do to give them a better chance at it for next year? Do a good job on your note or comment.

8. Other advice? Always be nice and willing to lend a helping hand to Journal members. 

9. Fun Fact about yourself. Hmm. Well, I worked at Starbucks back in college and once served Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin fame) coffee. It was glorious.

Executive Articles Editor

Jim Miller

1. What are the pertinent qualifications? Proficiency with the Bluebook and other style and usage guides, such as The Chicago Manual of Style and Garner’s Modern American Usage.  A willingness and ability to update training materials, coordinate training with other Board members and Journal staff, and lead training sessions for new Journal members. Demonstrated attention to detail and good judgment, ability to meet deadlines, responsiveness to fellow members of the Journal and desire to work as part of a team.

2. Why did you apply for this position? Before law school, I had the opportunity to work in an editorial capacity on two books and saw the EE position as a natural extension of that experience.

3. What are the general responsibilities? The EEs update training materials and conduct training throughout the school year for staff who grade, write, or interview onto the Journal.  During the summer and school year, articles come directly to the EEs after selection by the Manuscripts Editor, and the editorial process starts at that point with a prespade.  During a prespade, the assigned EE reads the article in its entirety and begins making changes to the text and footnotes, and flagging text that needs additional authority.  Afterward, the assigned EE distributes the footnotes for spading.  After the staff and AEs work on the article, the assigned EE will perform a superspade.  During a superspade, the article is reassembled, reviewed, and edited again before it is sent to the Managing Editor.

4. What was the interview process like? Interviews are before the full Board and focus on the candidate’s qualifications for the position(s) sought.

5. What qualifications or traits will you be looking for in the person to replace you? In addition to looking for someone who meets the qualifications discussed above, I will be asking the AEs for input about each candidate, because the AEs work so closely with our staff members and observe their work habits and work product.  Reasonable proposals for improving the Journal next year are also a plus.  Involvement in other activities can reflect positively, but it is important that incoming EEs not be overextended during the summer and school year.

6. Favorite and least favorite part about your position? Favorite: Working with my fellow Journal members in a self-managed organization.  Least Favorite:  Dealing with articles that have irregular citation forms that have to be standardized.

7. What can someone who hopes to have your position do to give them a better chance at it for next year? Meet with the EEs before interviewing.

8. Other advice? Try to avoid applying to too many positions

9. Fun Fact about yourself. I once bartended for Justice Scalia during an event.

Executive Articles Editor

Christine York

1. What are the pertinent qualifications? Strong command of the Bluebook, good leadership skills, time management.

2. Why did you apply for this position? I actually didn’t apply for this position.  

3. What are the general responsibilities? Prespade articles, divide footnotes across the spaders, answer questions during spading, superspade the articles once the AEs send them back.  

4. What was the interview process like? Pretty simple. The board asked me questions about my qualifications and why I applied for the positions I did.

5. What qualifications or traits will you be looking for in the person to replace you? Enough time to devote to the obligations, enthusiasm, record of doing a good job on the spading assignments.

6. Favorite and least favorite part about your position? Seeing the articles come together. Still having to find a source during the superspade.

7. What can someone who hopes to have your position do to give them a better chance at it for next year? Work really hard on all spading assignments and know the Bluebook well.

8. Other advice? When all else fails, Google!

9. Fun Fact about yourself. My favorite food is spanakopita.

Articles Editor

Rex Li

1. What are the pertinent qualifications? – Good at Bluebook and Detail Oriented 

2. Why did you apply for this position? – I am good at bluebook and detail oriented.

3. What are the general responsibilities? – Checking spaders’ spading 

4. What was the interview process like? – You sit there and we ask questions, if any.

5. What qualifications or traits will you be looking for in the person to replace you?  — I will prefer a person who has done a good job in those spading he turned in to me.  I also prefer spaders who ask questions and communicate her thought to me, like she is confused or she thinks certain source should be corrected rather than simply turn in the package, leaving me to fix everything.  This makes me feel like that we are a team to make our work better.  This shows that this spader actually uses her brain and takes her obligation seriously, which means she is reliable.

6. Favorite and least favorite part about your position? – Favorite part is that I don’t need to write the note.  Lease favorite part is that spaders like to make the same mistakes again and again and again and again.

7. What can someone who hopes to have your position do to give them a better chance at it for next year? – Do your spading right, starting today.

8. Other advice? — When you work as a spader, consider what you can do to make AE’s work easier.  For example, consider how you should put up those sticker, how to highlight, what to include in your email subject line, etc.  Don’t just throw in your package and call it done.  Be considerate.

9. Fun Fact about yourself – Wait, why this is relevant?  Objection!

Articles Editor

Scott McEvoy

1. What are the pertinent qualifications? I have worked for Prof. Marsh as a Research Assistant, editing her papers and fixing her citations.

2. Why did you apply for this position? I enjoy putting together a well-written article that actually provides some benefit to a working lawyer.

3. What are the general responsibilities? I typically superspade one assignment (roughly 100 footnotes) every week or two. This means that I go through each spader’s packet within my team to verify that their source supports the author’s contentions, and then I edit for grammar and bluebook citation format. I also help with board reads, which means that I focus more of my energy on the fluidity and congruence of content, as well as grammar and bluebooking format.

4. What was the interview process like? I only remember one question: “What is your favorite bluebook rule?”

5. What qualifications or traits will you be looking for in the person to replace you? Someone who is always on time, clean cut on their work, knowledgeable, and works well in a team.

6. Favorite and least favorite part about your position? For some odd reason I actually enjoy the flow of editing a paper. I dislike having to work in such a time-condensed environment.

7. What can someone who hopes to have your position do to give them a better chance at it for next year?  Keep turning in good work.

8. Other advice? Tell me that you want the job. It shows ambition. 

9. Fun Fact about yourself. I can tapdance.

Articles Editor

Alex Telarik

1. What are the pertinent qualifications? Knowing how to use the Bluebook.  You don’t have to be an expert spader, you just have to be willing to search the Bluebook for the right citation format. 

2. Why did you apply for this position? I applied for an AE position because I felt like I was pretty good with the Bluebook and that this position would be a good fit for me (and it meant I wouldn’t have to write a note/comment)

3. What are the general responsibilities? Basically, you do the same thing you did as a spader but now you have more footnotes and responsibility.

4. What was the interview process like? The interview process was not a huge deal.  Just be prepared to talk about why you want the position.

5. What qualifications or traits will you be looking for in the person to replace you? Someone that is willing to really get to know the Bluebook.

6. Favorite and least favorite part about your position? Favorite part = knowing that I’m directly affecting the quality of the journal / least favorite part = all the footnotes 

7. What can someone who hopes to have your position do to give them a better chance at it for next year? Do a good job spading now.  AEs know who does a good job and who doesn’t. 

8. Other advice?  Always italicize the period in “id.”

9. Fun Fact about yourself. I’m pretty good at Madden.

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