JILP Membership

Membership with JILP is a two-year commitment, and offers the chance to publish your own work, engage with international LLM students, and take on a specialized role as a 3L. JILP hosts a number of social events for members, including our annual Spring Banquet and an Annual Symposium on a developing legal topic. After serving as a Staff Editor, 2Ls are invited to apply to the JILP Board, or work as an editor in a specific publishing process (e.g. Notes, Articles, Online Publications).

Selection Criteria 

Staff Editors are 2Ls selected from participants in NYU’s annual Journal Matching Program. When evaluating Staff Editors, JILP considers each applicant’s personal statement, resume, and completion of the bluebooking exercise. JILP looks for students with a demonstrated interest in international law, which students may show through taking International Law as a 1L elective, ranking the Journal highly, or discussing international work, study, or travel experiences in the personal statement. JILP has a strong and continuing commitment to recruiting Staff Editors who bring with them the widest possible diversity of experiences and backgrounds. JILP membership is also open to a select number of transfer students through a separate competition.

Second Year: Staff Editors

2Ls serve as Staff Editors (SEs) and receive weekly assignments. They help edit Articles and Notes for substance and style and verify citations. SEs can choose to write either a short Book Annotation for publication or an Online Annotation for the online forum. 2Ls also participate in our Annual Symposium in the fall and generally contribute to building a community within the Journal.

LLM: Graduate Editors

LLMs serve as Graduate Editors. They work under the Senior Commentary Editor to create original Commentary and Articles for JILP. Graduate Editors have the opportunity to write and publish one to three short articles on various topics including recently decided or pending cases/arbitrations, new treaties or treaty interpretations, or changes in the international legal landscape.

Third Year: Board Positions & Editorial Positions

In the spring of 2L, Staff Editors may apply for Board Positions. The Senior Board is selected by the previous Board, and is responsible for the management of the Journal. This year, the board consists of the following positions:

• Editor-in-Chief (1)
• Managing Editors (2): Responsible for general operations.
• Senior Book Annotation Editor (1): Oversees the editing and selection of short book reviews.
• Senior Developments Editor (1): Responsible for the logistical operations of the journal and planning the writing competition.
• Executive Editors (3): Oversee 2L staff editors, focusing on citation and source checking.
• Senior Articles Editors (3): Responsible for article selection.
• Senior Notes Editor (1): Runs the notes program.
• Senior Online Editor (1): Oversees the publication of pieces in JILP Online, which includes the Online Forum and the new JILP blog, run the Online Annotation program, and manage the JILP website.
• Senior Symposium Editors (2): Plan and execute the annual JILP symposium.

Third-year students who are not on the Board serve in Editorial Positions. They work in specialized positions with each Board Member.