News Release

New online law journal created by University of Miami law professor

Will pick out the best new legal articles published in a wide variety of fields

Business Announcement

University of Miami

CORAL GABLES, FL (November 2, 2009) – University of Miami School of Law Professor A. Michael Froomkin has created an online law journal titled Jotwell (The Journal of Things We Like (Lots)) to help lawyers and legal academics figure out what to read, not only in their own area of specialization, but also outside it.

Jotwell will "identify, celebrate and discuss" the best new legal scholarship in a variety of fields, as selected by a distinguished board of legal editors. It is a rare attempt by legal scholars to praise—rather than criticize—others' work. "We will not be afraid to be laudatory," declares the Jotwell Mission Statement. Prof. Froomkin notes that legal academics are more accustomed to dismembering others' theories than to praising them, and that few review essays get published, making it hard for readers to find what they need to read.

Jotwell aims to fill this gap. Currently there are about 350 law reviews in North America, not to mention relevant journals in related disciplines, foreign publications, and new online pre-print services. "Never in legal publishing have so many written so much, and never has it been harder to figure out what to read," Prof. Froomkin said. At the same time, he pointed out, "great articles sometimes appear in relatively obscure places."

As a result, "other than asking the right person, there's no easy and obvious way to find out what's new, important and interesting in most areas of the law," he said. Jotwell will try to accomplish this objective by being organized into sections—each reflecting a subject area of legal specialization, each with its own URL, and each managed by a pair of editors who will have independent editorial control over it. In addition, it will have a blog-like space for conversation and feedback. As Prof. Froomkin pointed out, it is designed for new generation of scholars "who have adapted to the digital world."

The Editors of each section have chosen a team of "Contributing Editors" who are known as leaders in their fields. Each of these editors will write at least one essay of 500-1000 words per year in which they identify and explain the significance of one or more significant recent works.

Current section editors include: " Administrative Law (A. Michael Froomkin, Paul Verkuil) " Constitutional Law (Patrick Gudridge) " Corporate Law (Caroline Bradley, William Wilson Bratton) " Criminal Law (Donna Coker, Jonathan Simon) " Cyberlaw (A. Michael Froomkin, James Grimmelmann) " Intellectual Property (Pam Samuelson, Christopher Sprigman) " Legal Profession (John Flood, Tanina Rostain) " Tax Law (Allison Christians, George Mundstock) ."

As to whether law professors are really ready to praise each other, Prof. Froomkin says optimistically that although some editors admitted it would be a change, most seemed to relish the challenge.

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Here is the full list of editors to date:

* indicates Section Editor

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
Jack M. Beermann Boston University School of Law
Lisa Schultz Bressman Vanderbilt University Law School
Cary Coglianese University of Pennsylvania School of Law
Steven P. Croley University of Michigan Law School
William Funk Lewis & Clark Law School
A. Michael Froomkin* University of Miami School of Law
Michael Eric Herz Yeshiva University, Cardozo School of Law
Anne Joseph O'Connell University of California Berkeley School of Law
Richard J. Pierce, Jr. George Washington University Law School
Peter M. Shane Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
Paul R. Verkuil* Yeshiva University, Cardozo School of Law

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Randy E. Barnett Georgetown University Law Center
Rebecca Brown University of Southern California Law
Heather Gerken Yale Law School
Patrick O. Gudridge* University of Miami School of Law
Paul Horwitz University of Alabama
Vicki C. Jackson Georgetown University Law Center
Sanford V. Levinson University of Texas at Austin School of Law
Louis Michael Seidman Georgetown University Law Center
Mark Tushnet Harvard Law School
Adrian Vermeule Harvard Law School

CORPORATE LAW
Robert B. Ahdieh Emory University School of Law
Caroline M. Bradley* University of Miami School of Law
William Wilson Bratton* Georgetown University Law Center
Steven M. Davidoff University of Connecticut School of Law
Mitu Gulati Duke University School of Law
Joe McCahery University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics
Lawrence E. Mitchell George Washington University Law School
Eric J. Pan Yeshiva University, Cardozo School of Law
David Arthur Skeel University of Pennsylvania Law School

CRIMINAL LAW
Susan A. Bandes DePaul University College of Law
Mario Barnes University of California – Irvine School of Law
Jennifer Chacón University of California, Davis School of Law
Donna K. Coker* University of Miami School of Law
Margareth Etienne University of Illinois College of Law
Mary D. Fan American University Washington College of Law
Kimberly Ferzan Rutgers School of Law – Camden
Aya Gruber University of Iowa, College of Law
Angela P. Harris University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Elizabeth E. Joh University of California , Davis School of Law
Orin S. Kerr George Washington University Law School
Dan Markel Florida State University College of Law
G. Kristian Miccio University of Denver, Sturm College of Law
Erin Murphy University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Myrna S. Raeder Southwestern Law School
Jonathan Simon* University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Christopher Slobogin Vanderbilt University Law School
Scott E. Sundby Washington and Lee University School of Law
Andrew E. Taslitz Howard University School of Law

CYBER LAW
Ann M. Bartow University of South Carolina School of Law
Herbert Burkert Universität St. Gallen - Switzerland
Julie E. Cohen Georgetown University Law Center
Niva Elkin-Koren University of Haifa - Israel
A. Michael Froomkin* University of Miami School of Law
Michael Geist University of Ottawa - Canada
James Grimmelmann* New York Law School
Chris Hoofnagle University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Ian Kerr University of Ottawa - Canada
Michael J. Madison University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Paul Ohm University of Colorado Law School
Frank Pasquale Seton Hall University Law School
Jonathan Zittrain Harvard Law School

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Ann M. Bartow University of South Carolina School of Law
Chris Buccafusco Chicago-Kent College of Law
Michael W. Carroll American University, Washington College of Law
Kevin Emerson Collins Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Stacey L. Dogan Northeastern University School of Law
John F. Duffy George Washington University
Laura A. Heymann William and Mary Law School
Lydia Loren Lewis & Clark Law School
Paul Ohm University of Colorado Law School
Dotan Oliar University of Virginia
Pam Samuelson* University of California Berkeley School of Law
Jason M. Schultz University of California Berkeley of Law
Christopher Sprigman* University of Virginia School of Law
Sara K. Stadler Emory University School of Law

TAX LAW
Craig Boise DePaul University College of Law
Kimberley Ruth Brooks McGill University, Faculty of Law
Neil H. Buchanan George Washington University Law School
Allison Christians* University of Wisconsin School of Law
Charlotte Crane Northwestern University School of Law
Michael A. Livingston Rutgers School of Law - Camden
George Mundstock* University of Miami School of Law
Diane Ring Boston College Law School
Donald B. Tobin Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law

LEGAL PROFESSION
Andrew Boon University of Westminster School of Law
Elizabeth Chambliss New York Law School
Kay-Wah Chan Macquarie University - Australia
John Flood* University of Westminster School of Law
Sida Liu University of Wisconsin – Madison
Richard Parnham University of Westminster School of Law
Tanina Rostain* New York Law School

The University of Miami's mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of our diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. www.miami.edu.

The University of Miami School of Law's mission is to foster the intellectual discipline, creativity, and critical skills that will prepare its graduates for the highest standards of professional competence in the practice of law in a global environment subject to continual ― and not always predictable ― transformation; to cultivate a broad range of legal and interdisciplinary scholarship that, working at the cutting edge of its field, enhances the development of law and legal doctrine, and deepens society's understanding of law and its role in society; and to fulfill the legal profession's historic duty to promote the interests of justice. www.law.miami.edu.


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