Writing a Law Review Note: Start With a Narrow Problem, Not a Huge Topic

# Writing a Law Review Note: Start With a Narrow Problem, Not a Huge Topic

Students often begin a note with a subject they care about—AI, privacy, criminal justice, constitutional law—and then discover that the subject is too large to become a publishable student piece. A workable note begins with a narrower legal problem that has identifiable authorities, a real disagreement, and a claim you can support.

Find the tension

Look for a circuit split, inconsistent state approaches, a new statute interacting with older doctrine, a recurring unresolved procedural problem, or a recent decision that creates consequences the court did not fully address.

Build a source map before committing

Collect the leading cases, statutes, regulations, secondary literature, and recent commentary. If every source says the same thing and the issue is settled, the note may lack a meaningful contribution.

Write the contribution in one paragraph

Before drafting fifty pages, explain what the law currently does, why that approach creates a problem, and what your note proposes. If the contribution cannot be stated specifically, narrow again.

A strong student note is usually narrower than the writer initially wanted. Narrowness gives you room to research deeply, make a defensible claim, and finish the project on time.