Going About It the Write Way

Ecology Law Quarterly (ELQ) was the first student group Grayson Peters joined as a 1L.

Now co-editor in chief alongside fellow 3L Becky Hunter, he says the journal has defined his law school experience.

“It’s unique and special: one part academic journal, one part social club,” Peters says. “There’s space for people who really want to get into the weeds of editorial work on super niche, cutting edge environmental law and energy law issues, and also space for people who just want friends to go hiking with. It ends up being a really fun and robust community.”

Berkeley Law’s 13 student-run journals continue to draw laurels for their wide-ranging excellence: A dozen were rated among the nation’s best in a new set of quadrennial national rankings from the Washington & Lee Law Journal — with eight in the top 10 of their respective fields.

Covering 2018 to 2022, the rankings are based on the number of citations for articles in each journal, reflecting their wide influence in legal academia and the judicial system.

The Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law (BJELL) remained No. 1 in its category, the flagship California Law Review (CLR) rose four spots to No. 5 in the overall category, and ELQ jumped from No. 8 to No. 2 in environmental law. The Berkeley Technology Law Journal (BTLJ) also ranked No. 2, the online Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law No. 5, the Berkeley Business Law Journal and Berkeley Latine Journal of Law & Policy (formerly Berkeley La Raza Journal) No. 7, and the Asian American Law Journal (AALJ) No. 10.

BJELL Co-Editors in Chief Sam Goity and Athena Arana, both 3Ls, enjoy how their publication offers a huge alumni network and collaborative relationships with other workers’ rights–oriented organizations at Berkeley Law and across campus.

“I think we have a strong attraction to students who see the law as a forum to make systemic change, especially for the betterment of marginalized communities, such as low-wage workers,” Arana says.

Many Berkeley Law journals host events that draw speakers and guests from outside the school and tackle varied topics, from police use-of-force cases (CLR) to the coram nobis case overturning Korematsu v. United States (AALJ) to an annual symposium on the intersection of technology and racial justice (BTLJ).

Founded in 1971, ELQ helped define the scholarly field of environmental law and continues to influence it — in part by working closely with the school’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, student-led experiential groups, the Environmental Law Clinic, and many alumni who are deeply engaged and influential in the field.

Offering extensive opportunities for students to publish their work, ELQ also strives to partner with other journals on issues that cut across topics and research areas.

“More and more people in the field are realizing that you can’t tease apart environmental issues from social justice issues,” Hunter says. “I like the way things are headed.” — Gwyneth K. Shaw