Law Technology News Guidelines for Bylined Articles
From: Monica Bay
Editor-in-Chief
Thank your for your interest in submitting a bylined article for publication in Law Technology News. The following guidelines should help you prepare the article; however, do not hesitate to contact us if you need further information.
Editorial Calendar: We are happy to e-mail you a copy of our editorial calendar, which lists the general topics we expect to cover each month. To request a copy of this calendar, please e-mail lawtech@amlaw.com.
Queries: Send query letters to lawtech@amlaw.com, indicating:
- The topic (no more than a few sentences, please);
- The byline (name and title); and
- if you are a vendor, a brief description of your company.
Please do not leave "pitches" on my voicemail or my personal e-mail. Please do not submit detailed outlines.
Please note: We do not write articles about specific products (or "case studies") except in our IT@ column. Also, we do not evaluate products, although discussion of products does occur in our Second Opinions, Compare & Contrast, and the IT@ columns.
Length: Generally, articles should be between 800-1000 words. (MIS@ and Small Office/Home Office: 1200-1500 words). If you expect your article will vary from these guidelines, be sure to discuss it in advance with me.
Byline: If an article is being submitted by a vendor, the byline should be from someone high in the company, ideally, the president or CEO; or in the case of large companies, the head of the appropriate division. Joint bylines are acceptable. As a general rule, the byline may not be someone from the company's marketing department. Some departments have specific rules: i.e., the IT@ column MUST be bylined by the firm/company's technology director; 2nd Opinions can only be written by attorneys or consultants.
Photograph: Each author should submit a color "mug" shot (head and shoulders). It is highly recommended that the photograph be studio-quality. If you are sending the actual photo, please be sure to label the photo with the name of the person, his/her title and the correct full spelling of the company name and address. Please indicate if you want the photo returned, otherwise we will keep it for our files. If you are sending the photo electronically, please be sure it is 300 dpi. You may send .tiff, .gif, pdf or .jpg or any format that can be opened by Adobe PhotoShop 5.0. Be sure to label it with the name of the person. If you simply label the art "photo.gif" it stands an excellent chance of getting lost. Please send photos to: lawtechart@amlaw.com.
Contract: All submissions must be original (i.e., they cannot have been published elsewhere). If your article is accepted for publication, we require that you sign a brief agreement regarding copyrights, reprint rights, etc. If you have special needs, our legal department will be happy to work with you to individualize your contract.
Writing Guidelines:
LTN's audience ranges from the most technologically-sophisticated MIS directors to relative "newbies" - so we seek a variety of articles to address that diversity. However, there are two types of articles that best serve our audience:
- "Explanatory" articles that educate our readers about developments and trends in the industry.
- "Checklist" articles that suggest what "questions to ask" before our readers purchase services or products.
Columns and Departments
- IT@: This column is always a case study, where IT directors are encouraged to talk specifically about the products they are using and their experiences with those products. This column usually focuses on a particular event or issue. Length: 1,200+ words.
- Small Office/Home Office: Submissions should be at least 1,200 words.
- Second Opinions: Two authors answer the same question, independently. (They may not discuss their articles with each other, and usually do not know the ID of the other author). 800-1000 words.
- Litigation Support: This column is designed to tackle general litigation support topics, not discussion of specific products. 800-1000 words.
The Editing Process
Once we have given you a "green light" for submitting an article, we'll agree on a deadline. Please notify us as soon as possible if you discover you will be unable to meet that deadline. We operate on a very tight production schedule, and last-minute "drop-outs" create havoc!
Once your article has been submitted, we will edit it and send you a copy of the edited version for you to review. We will go "back and forth" until we are both satisfied.
Please bear in mind, however, that last minute changes do occur during the production phase of publication (i.e., sometimes articles must be "cut to fit" a particular space. Sometimes, a scheduled article may get "bumped" because of last minute ad or edit changes or space limitations). We recognize that you are contributing your valuable time and effort to submit articles, and we will make every effort to publish an accepted article in a subsequent issue should your article be bumped.
Editor's Quirks & Pet Peeves
Please avoid "consultant-speak," especially the use of the word "solution," which drives Monica absolutely nuts. Other cliches to stay away from: "deploy, mission-critical, robust, initiative, enterprise," etc.
Except as indicated, please do not mention specific products (unless very generic and/or neutral lists).
We use a variation of AP style. If you are familiar with AP style, please use it. If not, don't worry about it. But please avoid excessive capitalizations (for example, there is no need to capitalize Court, Attorney, Firm, etc. unless part of a full proper name or the first word of a sentence. Also avoid excessive use of capital letters, quote marks, etc. We tend to use only italics, (and only when absolutely necessary), for emphasis. We also do not use trademarks or service marks in LTN.
IMPORTANT: PLEASE put your name, e-mail address, phone and other contact info on the article itself. Cover letters OFTEN get separated from the articles. Also, it's really helpful if you slug the story something other than "LTN.date" - your name is helpful. (i.e., SMITH-LTN) which can help prevent the files from getting lost.
Letters to the Editor
Please forward copies of any (non-personal) letters you receive in response to your contribution, so that we may contact the writers and seek permission to publish the letters. As a general rule, if letters express an opinion different than yours, you will not be asked to respond. However, if a letter asks a question, requests further information, or challenges any fact or information in your article, you will be invited to respond. We will forward to you copies of any letters we receive that directly address your article.
Corrections Policy
American Lawyer Media Inc. takes our corrections policy very seriously. We run corrections regarding any mistake or error, and we prominently feature our corrections policy in each issue of LTN. Should any reader bring an error to your attention, or if you discover an error, we expect you to notify us immediately so that we can run a correction in the next issue.
Contacts:
General:
Snail Mail: Law Technology News, 105 Madison Ave. 7th floor, NYC NY 10016
Email: lawtech@amlaw.com
Tel: 212.313.9081; 800.537.2128 x9081
Web site: www.lawtechnews.com
Monica Bay, Editor-in-Chief: lawtech@amlaw.com.
Telephone: 212.313.9081; 800.537.2128 x9081
Shane DeLeers, Managing Editor: lawtech@amlaw.com.
Telephone: 212.313.9081; 800.537.2128 x9081.
Richard Peck, Assistant Editor: lawtech@amlaw.com.
Telephone: 212.313.9082; 800.537.2128 x9082.
Last revision: 3/01
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