In honor of the 125th anniversary of the Association of American Law Schools, the Journal of Legal Education (JLE) website archive is being expanded to include the full catalog of past volumes. Established in 1948, the JLE is a quarterly publication that addresses central issues facing legal education and the profession, including teaching methods and scholarship; directions, movements, and reform in legal education; and the connections among legal education, licensure, and legal practice.
Volumes 1-31 of the JLE, originally published between 1948 and 1982, are now available online. Previously, these past issues were only available online via JSTOR and HeinOnline. The archive picks up again with volumes 59-73, which have been shared at their time of publishing since 2009. The remainder of the historical issues are scheduled to be added to the JLE website by the end of the year.
With the inclusion of previous volumes, readers can observe the progression of scholarship in legal education and examine the work of notable figures in the profession. The Journal features contributions from former US Supreme Court Justices, notable legal professors, and influential 20th century legal scholars.
Readers will have access to work from:
Hugo Lafayette Black (former US Supreme Court Justice):
Kenneth Culp Davis (former professor at the University of Chicago Law School, revered as the “father of administrative law”):
- “Behavioral Science and Administrative Law”
- “Discretionary Justice”
- “The Text-Problem Form of the Case Method as a Means of Mind Training for Advanced Law Students”
William O. Douglas (former US Supreme Court Justice):
Herma Hill Kay (past AALS President and former dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law):
- “Book Review of Conflicts of Laws: Cases – Comments – Questions”
- “Book Review of the Law of Multistate Problems: Cases and Materials on the Conflict of Laws”
Karl N. Llewellyn (past AALS President and former professor at Columbia Law School):
William L. Prosser (past AALS President and former dean and professor at University of California, Berkeley School of Law):
- “Advice to the Lovelorn”
- “A Questionnaire for Questioners”
- “English as She Is Wrote”
- “Needlemann on Mortgages”
- “Lighthouse No Good”
- “On Political Questions”
- “The Decline and Fall of Institut”
- “The Ten Year Curriculum”
To commemorate more than 75 years of the JLE, New York Law School will host a symposium on Wednesday, October 8, 2025. Top scholars of today will present their views on some of the most influential works that have appeared in the publication over the decades. The panel will be accessible in-person and online, and the discussants’ papers will be published in a forthcoming JLE issue. The Journal is currently co-hosted by the University of California, Irvine School of Law and New York Law School.
About the JLE
Established in 1948, the JLE is the journal of record for the American legal academy, published by AALS in its role as the learned society for the study of law and legal education. The publication’s primary purpose is to provide AALS member schools and faculty with articles of timely relevance to a wide array of interests and areas of expertise. The JLE serves as a meaningful resource for faculty and others to keep abreast of the most recent thinking, trends, and changes in legal education.