Department Article Guidelines

Orientation

Department articles in The Colorado Lawyer (TCL) generally are informational and may relate to programs or departments sponsored by the Colorado Bar Association (CBA) or CBA committees or sections. These articles are short (six manuscript pages). Among Department article topics are Access to Justice; Family Violence/Workplace Violence; Technology in the Law Practice and Ask the Experts; Review of Legal Resources; Legal Malpractice and LPM Tips; Law Practice Management; Point/Counterpoint; and Young Lawyers Division. Department articles must meet the same requirements and standards as substantive legal articles.

Articles must be written in narrative style and may not promote a company or product. Authors are permitted to put their company names in the author’s information that prints with the article, but may use company or product names in the text only with justification (such as to get across an important point). Authors are encouraged to discuss industries, rather than specific products.

Format and Length

Department articles should be no more than six pages, double-spaced, including citations (approximately 1,800 words). Authors should submit the draft manuscript to the Department coordinating editor(s) for initial review. Please include the title of the article; Department for which it is submitted; author’s name and firm or affiliation; and contact information: telephone, fax, and e-mail address. The coordinating editor is responsible for scheduling the article.

• Introduction and Conclusion: Every article should have: (1) an introduction, which includes a short paragraph providing an overview of what the article covers (e.g., "This article discusses . . ."); and (2) a conclusion, which summarizes the article and brings together major points but does not introduce new material.
• Citations: Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all citations. It is important to cite-check through a computer database. Excessive citations are discouraged, but should be adequate to annotate the material so the article serves as a practical tool for attorneys. All citations should appear in numerical order at the end of the manuscript as endnotes, not in the text of the article or formatted as footnotes. Parallel cites generally are not used except for very old cases (1920s or earlier). Cites to electronic databases (such as Lexis® or West) are avoided; however, if no other source is available, the author should provide: (1) the court, docket number, month, and date of the decision; and (2) if available, parallel cites to both Lexis® and West. Database hyperlinks should be removed. Titles of books, periodicals, and cases are italicized in upper and lower case, and titles of articles are in quotes. Book citations include the publisher’s city, state, name, and year of publication. TCL generally follows The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation; however, authors are encouraged to review endnotes in published TCL articles to better follow TCL citation format.
• Quotations: Lengthy quotations should be used only if the language itself is essential; paraphrasing is preferred. Long quotations (30+ words) or excerpts should be indented, without quotation marks.
• Titles and Subheads: Article titles should not exceed eleven words. Quotations or questions in titles are discouraged. TCL encourages the use of subheads, comprising a maximum of six words. Subheads indicating a shift in topic or emphasis should be plainly marked. Subheads ordinarily should be no more than two-level headings (that is, MS Word style formats Heading 2 and Heading 3).

Deadline

A final draft manuscript that has been reviewed by the Department coordinating editor is due to the managing editor the first of the month, two months prior to publication. For example, a manuscript scheduled for the March issue should be submitted to the editorial offices by January 1.

Editing 

After the Department coordinating editor has reviewed the article for substance and suitability and scheduled it for publication, the managing editor or another TCL legal editor will perform an edit to conform to the journal’s editorial style and standards. Authors will have the opportunity to review the edited manuscript before publication.

Editorial Style

The following stylistic forms should be avoided: use of passive voice; use of first or second person (I, you, we); one-sentence paragraphs or paragraphs that are more than ten lines; use of clichés, jargon, and legalese. Every article should have an introduction and a conclusion.

Author Photograph 

A digital headshot (author’s head and shoulders at a minimum) may be submitted: 300 dpi TIF files are preferred. JPG files directly from digital camera also are acceptable; cameras should be set at highest quality setting. Send to leonamartinez@cobar.org. A black and white or color print can be submitted for scanning by the editorial department.

License Agreement 

A License Agreement must be executed by every author and returned to the managing editor before an article will be published. The executed License Agreement permits TCL to publish and distribute the author’s work, a routine procedure in the publishing industry. Signing the License Agreement does not assign copyright to TCL or preclude the author from using the material elsewhere. Educational and professional uses of the author’s work are encouraged.