Editorial Policy

1. The author will receive story assignments (including due date and length) from the editor of TLJ, Jennifer A. Pulice. Likewise, the author will submit her/his stories to TLJ’s editor on or before the assigned due date. Late articles will not be considered for publication. Authors may reach the editor at 412- 402-6623 (phone); 412-261-3622 (fax); or jpulice@acba.org.


2. Authors will submit stories either : 1) saved to a 3.5 inch high-density diskette, preferably in MSWord or WordPerfect format for PC, along with a typed, double-spaced, hard copy; or 2) via e-mail. It is the author’s responsibility to assure her/his story arrives by the deadline.


3. Authors may submit unsolicited work; however, TLJ reserves the right to select, reject, edit, and excerpt articles at our sole discretion. It is best to contact the editor to discuss a story idea before actually writing the piece.


4. The author assures the story submitted is her/his own original work and is not under any legal restriction for publication (i.e. previous copyright ownership).


5. The author allows TLJ to edit the work for content, clarity, and mechanics. The editor of TLJ reserves the right to return any work to the author for revision.


6. Author assumes full responsibility for checking all names, titles, dates, and facts for accuracy before submitting the story.


7. Copyright: TLJ holds all rights for publication (including publication on the World Wide Web) and all reprint rights.

Style Guidelines:

1. Mechanics and Style: Associated Press stylebook. Authors must recognize the interests of the readership and use terms and references relevant to TLJ’s audience. No bold is to be used when writing stories. Case names and publication titles should be italicized.


2. Approximate Story Length: Target length for substantive law articles is approximately 1,500 words; length of news and feature stories will vary but should run no longer than 1,500 words; length of regular columns is approximately 700 words. Any sidebars are figured into the total word count.


3. Titles: Working titles and subtitles should appear on the first lines, not exceeding 25 characters, with a subtitle not to exceed 50 characters, followed with the byline.


4. Language fairness: Authors must not use biased language based upon race, ethnicity, gender, and/or other stereotypes.


5. Plagiarism: Whether deliberate or accidental, plagiarism is a serious and legally punishable offense. Authors will not use the words and/or thoughts of others as their own without proper permission and documentation.

The audience of TLJ:

1. Members of the Allegheny County Bar Association (approximately 7,000), including attorneys, district justices, judges, legal administrators, and paralegals


2. Legal professionals in western Pennsylvania who specialize in all areas of the law


3. Members of the business community who share a need for the latest local legal news

Contribution Policy:

We welcome contributions from all sources, but reserve the right to select, reject, edit, and excerpt articles at our sole discretion. We will publish no article which, in the opinion of the editorial staff, can be reasonably interpreted as insulting or offensive to any individual or group. We will not return unsolicited manuscripts. The opinions expressed in articles contained in TLJ are the opinions of individual authors and not necessarily those of the ACBA or the firms or entities with which the writers are affiliated. Articles are provided for the general interest of the legal community, but the information contained therein does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. Neither the ACBA nor the individual authors assume any responsibility for the accuracy of information reported. TLJ assumes no responsibility for failure to report any matter inadvertently omitted or withheld from it.

Letters to the Editor: TLJ welcomes letters to the Editor. Letters should be addressed to Jennifer A. Pulice, Editor, The Lawyers Journal, at 400 Koppers Building, 436 Seventh Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219. All letters must include signature, address, and phone number. All letters are subject to editing. We regret that we can neither print nor acknowlwdge every letter. We will not be able to return all letters.