Judges Advise Law Profs: Don't Worry About Whether We Read or Cite to Your Scholarship

The New York Lawyer reviewed a panel discussion on the utility and relevance of law review articles. The panel consisted of local Federal judges and Cardozo law profs. Everyone agreed that contemporary law review articles are more theoretical now than they were several decades ago but there was no consensus on whether this was a good or bad development.

Highly theoretical law review articles are largely ignored and seldom cited by judges but maybe that's how it should be. One suggestion made stressed that maybe legislators, not judges, should be reading them. Judge Parker offered some encouragement to the audience, students and faculty of Cardozo Law:

Spend precious little time worrying about whether we're reading you. This is a wonderful time to be a legal academic. This is where the action is. Get over the idea that the academy isn't the real world. It is the real world.

Read more about it at Federal Judges Discuss Usefulness of Law Reviews. (Registration required)

Hat tip to Tax Law Prof.

See also: Trends in Federal Judicial Citations and Law Review Articles; Roundtable Discussion, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. [JH & RJ]