Law Review

The NEBRASKA LAW REVIEW is a scholarly journal published four times a year by the students of the College of Law. The Review provides critical comment on legal developments of local, regional, national and international significance. The Review publishes articles by leading authorities as well as by the student members. It is subscribed to by law libraries, attorneys and judges throughout the country. Students are invited to join the Review on the basis of either their class rank or their performance in a semiannual writing competition. The Review is directed by an Executive Board of Editors selected from the student members of the Review. The student editors bear primary responsibility for publication of the Review and receive invaluable training in writing, editing and researching. 

The NEBRASKA LAW REVIEW welcomes unsolicited manuscripts for publication consideration. 

Submission Guidelines: 

• The NEBRASKA LAW REVIEW accepts submissions by three different methods.
• Hard Copy submissions should be sent to the address under Contact Information.
• Electronic submissions via Express O.
• Electronic submissions via email should be sent to lawrev@unl.edu. 

Submissions must be completed works in publishable form. 

Submissions must be accompanied by a cover letter that includes the author's name, professional title, mailing address, email address, and phone number, along with pertinent information about the article being submitted. Submissions must be accompanied by the author's CV. 

The NEBRASKA LAW REVIEW prefers Microsoft Word, but also uses Corel WordPerfect. However, documents should not be converted from one program to another to accommodate the preference for Microsoft Word. Electronic submissions and/or copies of the article on diskette should be submitted in the original format used to create the document. 

Citations should conform to THE BLUEBOOK: A UNIFORM SYSTEM OF CITATION (Columbia Law Review Ass'n et al. eds., 18th ed. 2005). 

Manuscripts should be double-spaced, using footnotes rather than endnotes. 

The Review has a longstanding policy not to publish submissions from students outside the College of Law. 

Requests for expedited reviews should be sent directly to the Articles Editor at lawrev-staff2@unl.edu. 

Nebraska Moot Court Board

The Nebraska Moot Court Board is composed of students selected either on the basis of first or second year grades or notable aptitude and ability demonstrated in a write-on program. The members of the Board play a vital role in the academic life of the Law College. Members assist in the administration of the First Year Moot Court Program, which is part of the course in Legal Research and Writing, and supervise upperclass Moot Court Competitions in the fall and spring. Students who accept invitations to become candidate members of the Board write problems suitable for use in the First Year Moot Court Program and the fall upperclass competition. Members also serve as judges for some of the oral arguments. Senior members of the Board supervise the work of the candidate members and assist in the administration of moot court activities at the College of Law. Senior members of the Board are also selected to compete at an intercollegiate competition.

As the word "moot" suggests, the cases argued in a Moot Court Competition are hypothetical, involving unsettled issues. Students work on these issues in two person teams. The problems used in the First Year Program and the fall upperclass competition may involve either state or federal law. With the permission of the Young Lawyers Committee of the New York City Bar Association, the Board uses the prior year's National Moot Court Competition problem as the problem for the Spring Allen Moot Court Competition. That problem involves complex issues of federal law, either constitutional or statutory or both.

The Board established the Fall Grether Moot Court Competition as a tribute to former College of Law Dean Henry M. Grether, Jr. (1966-77). The Fall Grether Moot Court Competition is open to all second and third year students. The final argument of this competition is argued in front of the Nebraska Court of Appeals. Special recognition is provided to the best forensic performance in the preliminary round and best oral advocate in the final round of the competition.

The University Board of Regents and the Law College Faculty established the Spring Allen Moot Court Competition as a memorial to the first graduate of the College of Law, Thomas Stinson Allen. Its prime purpose is to give students working experience in the preparation of appellate briefs and in the argument of appellate cases. Students work in two person teams, presenting oral arguments to panels of judges sitting as the Supreme Court of the United States. Each team argues at least twice in a preliminary round. Eight teams then proceed to a single elimination quarter-final round, from which four teams go on to a semi-final round. The two winning teams from the semi-final round present the final argument before three judges of the Nebraska Supreme Court. The best oral advocate in the final round of the competition is awarded the Roscoe Pound Award and provided a cash prize from the Nebraska Trial Attorneys Association. The team with the best brief in the competition receives the Kenneth L. Noha Best Brief Award.

Lectures

Distinguished Lectureships
Through the Distinguished Lectureship Program, the College of Law offers students an exceptional opportunity to meet, listen to and converse with the nation's foremost lawyers, judges and legal thinkers, who frequently are invited to lecture or spend time at the College. 

The Roscoe Pound Lectureship was established under the leadership of the Nebraska State Bar Association to honor Roscoe Pound, a Nebraskan and former Dean of both the College of Law and the Harvard Law School. Dean Pound gave the first lecture in l950. 

Other past lecturers have included: 

• Eugene V. Rostow, Undersecretary of State
• James Willard Hurst, University of Wisconsin
• Erwin N. Griswold, Harvard and Solicitor General of the United States
• Ronald Dworkin, Oxford University
• Archibald Cox, Harvard University
• Sir Zelman Cowen, Oxford University
• Richard A. Posner, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
• Jesse Choper, University of California-Berkeley
• Harold Hongju Koh, Yale University
• Cass R. Sunstein, University of Chicago
• Geoffrey Hazard, University of Pennsylvania

The Cline-Williams Lectureship is sponsored by the Lincoln law firm of Cline, Williams, Wright, Johnson & Oldfather in honor of two of its original members, Earl Cline and Frank Williams

The most recent Cline Williams lecture was presented by the Honorable William A. Fletcher, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Prior lectures have been presented by Deanell Reece Tacha, Chief Judge of the 10th Circuit, Dorothy Nelson of the 9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski of the 9th Circuit, Richard Arnold of the 8th Circuit, James Oakes of the 2d Circuit, and Shirley Abrahamson of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The Winthrop and Frances Lane Lectureship was established by Frances Lane in honor of Winthrop B. Lane, a distinguished Nebraska attorney.

The most recent Lane Lecture was presented by Professor Michael Heise of the Cornell Law School on federalism issues relating to No Child Left Behind.

Other past lecturers have included:

• Michael Heise, Cornell Law School
• Deborah Rhode, Stanford University
• William Gould, Stanford University
• Samuel Issacharoff, Columbia University
• Angela Harris, University of California at Berkeley

National Moot Court Team

The National Moot Court Team actually consists of two teams of three students each and represents the College in the Annual National Moot Court Competition sponsored by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Each year, approximately 190 teams representing approximately 130 law schools enter the competition. For purposes of the competition, the country is divided into 14 regions. Only 28 teams -- the first and second place teams from each region -- advance to the National Rounds in New York City. The Regional Rounds are held in November, and the National Rounds are held in January.

To date, the College has compiled an impressive record in the competition. The College first advanced to the National Rounds in 1953 (the first year in which the College participated in the competition) and has advanced 26 times since then. In fact, the College has advanced to the National Rounds in 7 of the last 10 years -- most recently, in 2006 (Sean Conway, Allyson Mendoza and Mackenzie Sorich).

The College won the National Rounds in 1953 (William Grant, Ronald Hunter, and Eleanor Knoll), and finished second twice, in 1956 (Patrick Healey, James Knapp, and Jerrold Strasheim) and in 1961 (Richard Peterson, Richard Shugrue, and Robert Weigel). The College last won a national brief award in 2002 (Matt Graff, Tom Kelley, and Monica Smith -- Second Best Brief in the United States) and last won a regional brief award in 2002 (Matt Graff, Tom Kelley, and Monica Smith--Best Brief, Region 9).

The major reasons for the College's success over the years are the ability and hard work of its students. The faculty advisors to the National Moot Court Team, Professors Lenich and Lyons, select the members of the team from the second year students who participate in the Allen Moot Court Competition held at the College each spring. The members then represent the College during their third year. Although being a member of the National Moot Court Team involves a considerable amount of work, it also offers students a unique opportunity to sharpen their oral and written advocacy skills.

Client Counseling Competition

The Client Counseling Competition provides students with the opportunity to cultivate communication skills, especially skills of interviewing, counseling, analysis, and problem-solving. The purpose of the competition is not only to promote skills essential to students' future careers, but also to select a team to represent the Law College in the National Client Counseling Competition.
In 2009, the Law College team of Amy Bartels and Adam Bates won not only the National Client Counseling Competition, but the Louis M. Brown International Competition as well, besting teams from 18 countries from around the world. The Law College team was the first team representing the United States to win the International Competition since 1996.
A team from the Law College has competed in the regional competition each year since 1975, winning the regional competition 11 times, including 8 in the last 14 years, and the national competition 3 times. College of Law teams have also finished second twice and third twice in the national competition.
Each competitive session replicates an initial client interview. Students are given a brief memo about a client who is consulting them with a particular problem. After some background preparation, the students, acting together in teams of two, interview the client. The client is an actor who is given a role to play, provided with detailed background information, and able realistically to portray a client. Each team is evaluated on the basis of its ability to establish a rapport with the client, to elicit pertinent information, to make sound practical and legal judgments, and to recommend appropriate courses of action.
While the regular competition is open to second and third year students only, a special first-year competition is held in the spring. No prior experience in client counseling is required. Competitors will find the competition to be an invaluable opportunity to develop important, and often neglected, skills. They will also find an unusual opportunity to work closely with the student and faculty advisors to the competition.

Faculty Advisors:
Professor Alan Frank
Professor Craig Lawson

National Trial Competition

The College of Law has participated in the National Trial Competition since 1977. The Competition is sponsored by the Texas Young Lawyers Association in order to emphasize and promote trial skills. The College is represented by two teams of students who present full jury trials, in competition with students from other law schools, at regional and national contests. A Nebraska team has qualified for the national competition several times, most recently in 2007. The team coaches are Professor Richard Moberly, Professor Steven Schmidt and Associate Dean Glenda Pierce.