Membership

Membership Requirements

The Houston Business and Tax Law Journal is a student-managed law journal that publishes one volume annually comprising of two to three issues. Each issue contains articles written by student members of the Journal and practitioners, including law professors, judges, and practicing attorneys. The incoming 2L members (“provisional members”) engage in a variety of activities that help HBTLJ meet its organizational goals. Furthermore, provisional members are able to develop the skills necessary to excel in a legal work environment.

 

Membership with HBTLJ consists of completion of the following requirements:

  • Article Editing: Provisional members in HBTLJ have the opportunity to improve their editing and research skills by editing and cite checking articles that will subsequently be published by HBTLJ under the supervision of current HBTLJ editors. This process not only supplies a provisional member with the skills to be more detail-oriented, but also allows the experience of working as a team in a legal setting, which can be applied to future employment.
  • Notes & Comments: All provisional members are required to write one 40-page comment during the course of their time as a provisional member. Given that business law encompasses a wide range of topics, provisional members enjoy the freedom of writing about any particular area of law that interests them and is related to business in anyway. In the spring semester, several provisional member articles are selected for publication in HBTLJ.
  • Member on Duty (“MOD”) Hours: As a student-run organization, teamwork is important to the success of the Journal. Provisional members are required to spend 20 MOD hours per semester. At HBTLJ, MOD hour requirements may include attending social mixers, participating in intramural sports, cite checking case notes or comments, attending HBTLJ events, and individual MOD projects that will be offered by the executive board.
  • Becoming an editor: Upon completion of all membership requirements during the second year of law school, a provisional member is eligible to work as an editor during his or her third year of law school. Specific positions are determined by the outgoing Executive Board through an application and interview process. Moreover, each editor is entitled to claim between 4-7 credit hours for their work on the journal, which is based on the editorial position held by the member. 

Joining HBTLJ

There are three ways to become a member of the Journal as a rising 2L:

1. Grade on: All rising 2Ls who finish in the top 20% of their 1L class are automatically invited to join the Journal as a provisional member. An HBTLJ representative will contact qualifying students when grades are finalized and class rankings are released.

2. Apply on: All rising 2Ls who (a) finish their first year within the top 20%–35% in their section or (b) made at least an A- in Legal Skills and Strategies class are eligible to participate in the Apply-on process. An HBTLJ representative will contact qualifying students when grades are finalized and released. Applicants must submit an application and will be evaluated based upon a combination of the following:

  1. A completed application form.
  2. A cover letter detailing why the candidate is qualified to join the journal and why he or she would be a valuable addition to the journal.
  3. A minimum seven page writing sample.
  4. A resume.
  5. An unofficial law school transcript.

If necessary, a personal interview may be conducted by the Recruitment Committee.

The results of the apply-on competition will be announced on a rolling basis as applications are received.  Please note that each journal has its own Apply-on process.

3. Write-on: All full-time students who are in the top 50% of their section are eligible to participate in the Write-on competition. All part-time students that have successfully completed their entire first year and no more than 12 hours of their second year course-work are eligible to participate in the write-on competition. Please visit Houston Law Review’s Write-On Process Page for updated details about the Student Write-On Competition.

 

Transfer Students: Transfer students in the top 35% of their class, who made at least an A- in a legal writing course may participate in the apply-on process, and those who are within the top 50% of their 1L class can write-on.  The transfer student apply-on process requirements are the same as the apply-on process requirements set forth above. The results of the apply-on process will be announced on a rolling basis as applications are received. 

IMPORTANT DATES

DATE TBD. This will be the first day HBTLJ accepts Apply-on submissions.  HBTLJ will accept applications on a rolling basis, and the Journal will issue a decision within 7 days of submission. The application may be downloaded here.

DATE TBD. All Apply-on submissions are due by 11:59 P.M.

DATE TBD. All Write-on submissions are due in the Office of Student Services by 5:00 P.M.

DATE TBD. Write-on candidates will receive invitations from the journals to which they have been selected.

DATE TBD. Selected students must respond via email to the journal they have selected to join.

QUESTIONS?

For any questions regarding membership, please email our Managing Editor, Luke G. Bohmfalk at lgbohmfa@central.uh.edu. We will try to be as accommodating as possible, provided our decisions ensure competitive fairness to all participants.