A History of the Buffalo Law Review
The Buffalo Law Review's inaugural issue was published in 1951 by a group of students under the guidance of Professor Charles W. Webster, who had served as the executive editor of the Wisconsin Law Review. The first issue of the Buffalo Law Review was 350 pages and had an initial run of 100 copies without having any subscribers. The lead article in Volume 1 was written by Charles S. Desmond who was then an Associate Judge on the New York Court of Appeals and would later become the Chief Judge of New York's highest court.
In the fifty-plus years since its humble beginnings, the Buffalo Law Review has seen its subscription base grow from zero to well over 600. Today the Buffalo Law Review publishes five issues per year with each issue containing articles from scholars, practitioners, and judges. The Buffalo Law Review also publishes member-written pieces on contemporary legal issues.
Noteworthy
The International Arbitration Club of New York awarded Professor Charles H. Brower II the Smit-Lowenfeld Prize for best scholarly article in the field of international arbitration for his article "Arbitration and Antitrust: Navigating the Contours of Mandatory Law," which appeared in the December 2011 issue of the Buffalo Law Review.
Todd E. Pettys's article Judicial Retention Elections, the Rule of Law, and the Rhetorical Weaknesses of Consequentialism, 60 Buff. L. Rev. 69 (2012), has generated a lot of discussion:
- The Press-Citizen Editorial Board agrees with Pettys, saying "Iowa’s current judicial nominating system ... all but ties the hands of judges from defending themselves."
- Jordan M. Singer reflected on the uncertain future of judicial retention elections in BLR's The Docket.
- Pettys's article was featured in an editorial, "Judges Need to Learn to Defend Themselves," in the Iowa City Press-Citizen.
Should NCAA players unionize in an effort to get paid? A Union of Amateurs: A Legal Blueprint to Reshape Big-Time College Athletics by Nick Fram and Thomas Frampton presents surprising research regarding state-level paths to player unionization and pay. A recent article in Salon, "Madness of March: NCAA Gets Paid, Players Don’t," relies heavily on their cutting edge research to suggest an avenue to empower student-athletes: "Rather than corrupting 'amateurism,' Fram and Frampton argue, unionization offers a path to preserve its best aspects: protecting the league from legal crisis while providing players a forum to defend their academic pursuits and their physical and emotional health."