In 1948, Warren Christopher began the inaugural issue of the Stanford Law Review with a note establishing the purpose of the journal. 1 See generally Warren M. Christopher, President’s Page, 1 Stan. L. Rev. vii (Nov. 1948), available at https://www.stanfordlawreview.org/print/article/presidents-page. He set out the twin goals that have guided us ever since: the Law Review would seek to provide a valuable publication platform to lawyers and scholars, and an incomparable educational experience to law students.
In addition to outlining these goals, Christopher spelled out the following principles: “care, precision, and impartiality are vital; the economic, political, and social forces which mold the law deserve special emphasis; investigation of developing legal problems in advance of their widespread litigation is to be encouraged; readability is a necessity.”
Today, in announcing the launch of the Stanford Law Review Online, we still aspire to those high standards. This new site will offer a flexible outlet for the publication of short, original pieces of scholarship and commentary on timely legal topics. The aim is to produce pieces of law-review quality, with an Internet-quick turnaround between submission and publication. And while we have made tentative decisions about the nature of the publication, perhaps the most important feature of the Stanford Law Review Online will be its ability to evolve over time. We hope readers and authors will embrace this new form, and let us know how we can improve it moving forward.