Legal Affairs is a bimonthly magazine for a general audience that explores issues of law in the broader context of culture, politics, and society. Many of our readers are lawyers and legal scholars, but many have never set foot in a law school or a courtroom.
Although the magazine assigns most of its pieces to experienced writers, we welcome unsolicited queries. Before we make an assignment, we prefer reading a short description of what you want to write, not a long essay that you've already drafted. Your query should be two or three paragraphs long (200 to 400 words), and should demonstrate a familiarity with the magazine. The query should clearly state your idea and how you intend to approach it—addressing matters of tone, style, and reporting—and should explain why you are qualified to write the piece.
Some things we favor:
Reporting: We like writers to observe what they plan to write about and to talk with people who are experts about the subject or who are involved in the event.
Originality: We like stories that are fresh. If you tell your friends about your story idea and they say, "Oh, I knew that," it's unlikely to appeal to us. It's to your disadvantage if the story you propose has recently been covered by another national magazine or by The New York Times.
Insight: Your story should tell us something we hadn't considered before and it should have shelf life. We publish only six issues a year, so your story will need to be interesting for at least a few months after you send us the idea.
Documentation: Make sure you can back up everything you assert in your piece.
Some things we don't favor:
Law Review Articles: We like to publish scholars, but only if they want to write for general readers in a style that is very different from that of a law review. Everything that runs in Legal Affairs needs to be readable and understandable. We don't publish pieces with footnotes, so please don't include them.
Legal Help Requests: If you're in jail and you want to get out, or if you need help deciding whether to sue your landlord or figuring out how to evict your tenant, please call a lawyer, not us.
Queries should be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope and should be sent to:
Legal Affairs
Queries Department
254 Elm St.
New Haven, CT 06511
They can also be emailed to letters@legalaffairs.org.
