JURIST: Books-on-Law is edited by Ronald K.L. Collins and David Skover of the Seattle University School of Law

Editorial Consultants:

Welcome to Books-on-Law, JURIST's latest service to the legal community.

Our Mission: The focus of Books-on-Law is on new and forthcoming scholarly and trade books related to law (excluding casebooks, hornbooks, treatises, and the like). More generally, our mission is to enrich discourse about law, new and old, at home and abroad. In our monthly issues, we will be both traditional and experimental, but never too predictable. For example, sometimes we will invite a known scholar to review a book, while at other times we will invite a knowledgeable "unknown." Quite often the reviews will be in the standard review style format, while at other times the format will change to an interview-like style (by one or more interviewers) or to something far different yet.

Our plan is to provide a monthly forum for a variety of informed views, not just those of the "usual suspects." We will also review books that would be unlikely candidates for review in the popular press and/or that might be noticed in scholarly journals, but only after a considerable passage of time. So expect new and different approaches and perspectives. We might even begin to rethink the very concept of a book review. More on that in forthcoming issues.

Board of Editorial Consultants: Our Board of Consultants has been most helpful in assisting us to identify new and forthcoming books and possible reviewers. Without the assistance of these colleagues, the quality of Books-on-Law would be diminished substantially. Of course, since the final editorial decisions rest with the editors alone, our Board cannot be held accountable for any oversights, errors, or misjudgments.

Books-On-Law Notices: For the reader interested in new and forthcoming law books, we offer a list of many newly published (1997-1998) works. This list will be updated in each new issue.

Book Reviews: Each issue will contain five to ten reviews (800-2,500 words) of newly published books. All reviews are written especially for Books-on-Law. Consistent with our policy, and whenever warranted, there will be a disclosure notice accompanying a review wherein the author of the review notes his or her relationship with the author(s) or editor(s) of the work being reviewed.

Identifying the "right" reviewer is a thankless job, regardless of whether or not it is possible. For that reason, from time to time we will invite a formal reply to any review we believe warrants one. The reply may be by the author or editor of the book reviewed, or may even be by a knowledgeable third party. We also invite our readers to Talkback to our reviewers.

Jurists on JURIST: We are honored to have several respected federal and state jurists contribute to the first issue of Books-on-Law. Given the title of the main Web site, we thought it fitting to invite judges to do the inaugural reviews. We plan to have yet more jurists in future issues, including judges from abroad.

Variety of Reviewers: Beyond judges, we have already scheduled reviews to be written by

• law professors (from all over the globe)
• professors from other law-related disciples
• practicing civil & criminal lawyers (typically specialists in a given field)
• lawyers in the Office of the United States Attorney
• district attorneys
• lawyers working in the Federal Judicial Center
• lawyers working for federal and state administrative agencies
• journalists
• law librarians
• federal and state lawmakers

Past-Perfect: We are pleased to launch the "past-perfect" concept in Books-on-Law. Despite our focus on new books, we have decided to include one old book review in each issue. The idea is to identify a noteworthy but long forgotten review that warrants fresh commentary in a new era. Hence we start, in this issue, with an 1871 book review by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. To help develop a better informed perspective, we invite various scholars to comment on the review published. Thus, the Holmes review is accompanied by commentary from Professor Thomas C. Grey of Stanford Law School.

List of Publishers: In order to assist any of our readers interested in finding a publisher for a forthcoming book on law (other than a casebook, treatise, etc.), we have very carefully compiled a list of academic and trade publishers. To the best of our knowledge, the list, replete with Web site addresses when available, is current as of the date of publication. More publishers will be added as we identify new ones or ones we may have overlooked.

Words of Thanks: The Books-on-Law venture would not have been possible without the tireless and informed assistance of Professor Bernard Hibbitts, the man who invented JURIST and keeps it alive and well. We gladly acknowledge our indebtedness to him for his considerable labor and many insights. Bernard is a man who carefully studies history while boldly exploring the future. He is, in short, the present-perfect person for us.

Forthcoming: True to the JURIST mindset, those of us involved with Books-on-Law plan a number of innovations, such as RealAudio interviews and theme issues. We will continue to solicit contributions by thoughtful people in all walks of law life, at home and abroad.

Soon, we will feature an audio interview with Niko Pfund, the Editor-in-Chief of New York University Press. The interview, conducted this past January, contains everything a would-be-author ever wanted to know about the book publishing process, along with a candid discussion of some of the most controversial topics in publishing today.

By way of a half-century look back, we will also publish a "Past-Perfect" review of Alexander Meiklejohn’s classic, Free Speech and Its Relation to Self-Government. The late Max Lerner is the author of the review (circa 1948). John P. Frank (a former Yale Law professor, noted constitutional lawyer, and friend of Meiklejohn) will provide a commentary on the Meiklejohn book and the Lerner review.

Look for reviews by respected scholars commenting on new books concerning tax, property, free speech, employment law, jurisprudence, cyberlaw, and judicial biography, among many other topics.

Also, forthcoming issues will have reviews of books such as In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (1998), edited by Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin and Beyond All Reason: The Radical Assault on Truth in American Law (1997) by Daniel A. Farber and Suzanna Sherry (this book will be the focus of a Q&A exchange between the authors and several scholars).

Finally, look for something quite special when Books-on-Law covers the controversial new book by former Supreme Court law clerk Edward Lazarus. The book is entitled Closed Chambers: The First Eyewitness Account of the Epic Struggles Inside the Supreme Court (Random House, 1998).

Plus more!

So stay with us and explore the new world of Books-on-Law.

Ronald K.L. Collins & David M. Skover, Editors, Books-on-Law

—————————————————————————————
JURIST: Books-on-Law™ is edited by Ronald K.L. Collins and David M. Skover of the Seattle University School of Law.

Board of Editorial Consultants: Miriam Galston, George Washington University Law School; Kermit Hall, Ohio State University College of Law; Yale Kamisar, University of Michigan Law School; Lisa G. Lerman, Catholic University of America School of Law; David M. O'Brien, University of Virginia Department of Government and Foreign Affairs; Judith Resnik, Yale Law School; Edwin L. Rubin, University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall); Steven H. Shriffrin, Cornell Law School; Nadine Strossen, New York Law School; David B. Wilkins, Harvard Law School.

Administrative Assistant for Books-on-Law: Ms. Nancy Ammons

© Ronald K.L. Collins and David Skover, 1998. —————————————————————————————
JURIST: The Law Professors' Network™ is directed by Professor Bernard J. Hibbitts, Associate Dean for Communications & Information Technology, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, in consultation with an international Advisory Board. E-mail JURIST at JURIST@law.pitt.edu.

© Bernard J. Hibbitts, 1998. All rights reserved. These pages may not be copied, reposted, or republished, in whole or in part, electronically or in print, without express written permission.

NOTICE
JURIST regrets that it cannot provide legal advice. For assistance with specific legal problems, please consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.
—————————————————————————————