Law Review - Topic Selection & Preemption Checks  

This guide has been prepared to provide you with information and resources that will assist you in selecting a topic for your law review note and in carrying out a preemption check to ensure that your topic is an original one.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, don't hesitate to contact any of the Pacific McGeorge librarians.

Finding a topic for your law review note can be a challenging task.  You want a topic that is timely, not too broad nor too narrow, of interest, and original to you.

When you have decided on a potential topic, you need to be sure that an article on that topic has not already been researched and published.  Conducting a preemption check involves searching for, locating and reviewing any articles that deal with your proposed topic.

If there is an existing article on your general topic, it may still be possible to sufficiently distinguish your topic.

In order to conduct a preemption check, you need to search for existing law review articles and, to the extent possible, works in progress.