Student Lawyer  (American Bar Association publication).  From the Student Lawyer site:

Award-winning Student Lawyer magazine is published each month from September through May by the American Bar Association’s Law Student Division. It circulates to approximately 40,000 readers, most of whom are law student members of the ABA.

Student Lawyer is a legal-affairs features magazine, not a legal journal, that competes for a share of law students’ limited spare time. The articles we publish, therefore, must be informative, lively, well-researched good reads. We do not accept poetry, fiction, or footnoted academic articles or briefs. These guidelines are for freelance writer submissions only. For letters to the editor, reviews, opinion essays, and student/school news, please refer to our guidelines for those types of submissions.

To write for Student Lawyer, review the Writers’ Guidelines here.

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The American Lawyer. From the American Lawyer site:

AmericanLawyer.com is a leading daily news source covering legal business that is essential to lawyers and administrators at the largest law firms.

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The American Lawyer is a monthly feature magazine covering the business of large (AmLaw 200) law firms and the nation’s leading lawyers. While everything we write is related to the law, our focus is primarily on firms and people within this segment of the profession, rather than on the law itself or legal issues. Our audience is primarily composed of lawyers in these large firms, elite plaintiffs’ lawyers and government attorneys who deal with large firms, and in-house lawyers at major corporations who retain large firms. Personalities in the industry are a major focus of our reporting, as are “inside stories” about people and events that are shaping this segment of the legal industry.

Though American Lawyer journalists do most of the writing, the publication does occasionally use articles from freelancers. For editorial guidelines, click here.

To some, landing a byline in a popular national magazine is sign that a freelancer has officially made it in the writing world.  If you’re among the luckiest (or arguably among the most talented or best connected) of writers, you might achieve this milestone at the very start of your freelance career (maybe even with your first query!), though you may need to first make time your friend, building up your writing portfolio and honing your craft to get noticed.

Writing for local publications and community newspapers can be a great way to break into freelance writing.  Plus, if you have your own law practice and/or are looking to expand your client base, local papers are also a great way to distinguish yourself as an expert and get noticed by those who might come to need your services.  Though you may not make a ton of money, and in some cases you might not make anything, local publications often need writers.

Ultimately, getting published in a hometown newspaper or local publication may be the perfect win-win.  You supply quality content, maybe making a few bucks to pay a small bill or cover query mailing costs (though you can send many queries electronically) or landing a client or ten along the way, and build your writing portfolio (clips) and name as a writer, which can eventually help you get into a chic, glossy magazine!

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