The Princeton Legal Journal is Princeton’s only undergraduate law review. We are entirely student-run, and we hope to provide a meaningful, impactful, and lasting space for legal discourse on campus.
A Message from our President:
As a staff writer during my freshman year, I was excited to learn the tools necessary for legal writing and research. By the spring, however, I was left with an unpublished article, a collection of ignored emails, and still no idea what legal writing was. The COVID-19 pandemic placed many student organizations in limbo, and the journal was nearly abandoned.
I knew that the immense potential of the journal should not go neglected, so during the summer I established a new executive board and led several conversations about how to organize the new journal. During the spring of 2021, Srishti Ghosh and I, with the help of the rest of the Board, led a training program in which weekly guest speakers have shared their insights into legal writing, research, and salient topics. Our new associate editors have worked with our writers to develop longer (Review) articles and shorter (Forum) pieces, and it has been a thrilling process so far.
The shortfalls of many groups, whether they are small student-run organizations or Fortune 500 companies, often lead back to something about the “culture.” But as time moves steadily on, cultures only become more rigid and difficult to re-establish. Even if the Princeton Legal Journal shapes the college experiences or legal perspectives of only a small number of students, we recognize that we must use our influence responsibly.
Our mission is to build a positive culture from the start. We commit ourselves to being open-minded, curious, and inclusive. We recognize the immense potential of the PLJ as a space for legal discourse on campus, both in-person and virtually. We commit ourselves to the avenues of legal exploration which excite us, and we recognize both the value and limitations of our individual perspectives.
Even without a law school, Princeton does have the resources to help us create an impactful space for legal discourse, and we hope to do so with our initiative and our writing. I envision a day when the PLJ sparks meaningful conversations among students and staff, and when pre-law students can look to PLJ as an important resource. I look forward to that day, and I’m thrilled that you, our readers, will be a part of our road in getting there. I hope that you will find value in the research, discourse, and events facilitated by the Princeton Legal Journal, and I hope that together, our community will create lasting, positive change in the Princeton community and beyond.
Susan Baek ’23
April 3, 2021