Submission Guidelines

Article Review

Articles are considered on an exclusive basis unless otherwise specified. Once an article is submitted for consideration it becomes the property of the Nassau Lawyer, and we reserve the right of first refusal. Sometimes it can take several months for the Publications Committee and Editor(s)-in-Chief to review the article and, if accepted, schedule its publication. If your piece is time-sensitive or you have inquiries from other publications, please note that in your submission. For questions about the status of your article’s review, please email the Editor(s)–in-Chief.

Once an article is submitted, the Nassau Lawyer reserves the right to publish without further approval from the author.

Articles that do not conform to submission guidelines may be summarily rejected.

General

The content of articles submitted by NCBA members to the Nassau Lawyer should be of substantive and procedural legal interest to the members. It is not a forum for individual opinions or political viewpoints, and should not serve as a promotion of products or services. The Nassau Lawyer reserves the right to make final determinations without author approval as it deems appropriate in the editing, format, and publication of all submissions.

In general, avoid introductory paragraphs that include phrases like, “in a recent case decided by the Court of Appeals….”, and laborious descriptions of the development of an area of law that consist of repetitious accounts of the facts and holdings in a series of cases. Write in an active voice, not passive. Avoid writing in the first person. Avoid unnecessarily long sentences and paragraphs. With the exception of certain regular columns, avoid too much informality, or attempting a chatty style; many otherwise useful topics are rejected or returned for significant re-writing when written in a style that is inappropriate for the Nassau Lawyer.

All articles must be submitted in Microsoft Word format and emailed as an attachment to Editor Bridget Ryan (bryan@nassaubar.org) by the deadline date to be included in the next issue.

All articles will be reviewed and edited by the Publications Committee. Publication is not guaranteed.

Please note that non-members can only submit an article if it is co-authored with an NCBA member. In the event that an article is co-written with an NCBA member, only the NCBA member’s headshot will run with the article. The co-author’s name will appear only in the byline and tagline.

The Nassau Lawyer only publishes original content, absent limited circumstances. As such, articles previously appearing on blogs, websites, or in other publications will generally not be published.

Format

Microsoft Word is the preferred word-processing software.

Keep format structure simple. For example, use enter and tab keys for hard returns to start a new paragraph, and the double indent key function for quoted material. There is to be only one space after a period.

All text should be in Times New Roman, 12 point, double spaced, except for quotations that are longer than 50 words, which should appear in block, single-spaced form. Endnotes should be 10-point font. Do not underline any text (such as when stating case names; adding emphasis; etc.): use italics instead.

Do not place citations in body of the text. Notation style is endnote format, not footnote. Place periods and commas before endnote numbers and quotation marks.

Length

Articles should range from 1,000 to 2,000 words. Longer articles may be refused, edited for length, or split into two parts and published in two separate editions. The acceptance of articles outside of this limit is at the sole discretion of the Editor(s)-in-Chief.

Headshot

Articles appear under the author’s byline and with his/her headshot. Headshots should be hi-resolution jpg format and emailed with the article. If you need a headshot, contact Hector Herrera (HHerrera@NassauBar.org) at the NCBA or 516-740-4070.

Tagline

At the end of the article include a brief sentence with the author’s name, firm and any experience particularly germane to the article topic.

Example: Joe Smith is a Trust & Estates Partner at Smith, Smith, and Jones, P.C., Mineola, and former chair of the NCBA Elder Law, Social Services and Health Advocacy Committee.

The Publications Committee reserves the right to edit taglines to meet these guidelines.

Style

All articles must be written in the third person. Do not address the reader. Do not use the imperative tense, “you,” “I,” or “our,” and avoid the use of contractions. For criminal matters, spell out “degree” rather than the symbol, and in all other instances, except for the use of the § symbol, do not use symbols but spell out the name of the symbol, e.g., “percent” not “%.”

Use bullets instead of numbered points.

Write in full sentences, and do not rely on headings to make a point or create transitions. Typographical requirements often mandate deletion of such headings.

Do not italicize Latin or other foreign words and phrases. For example, the phrase “inter alia” should not be italicized. This also includes the phrases: i.e., e.g., etc.

Use endnotes for references to statues, case law and legal authority. Keep references to a minimum and limited to provide citations to decisions and other authority discussed and/or quoted. Legal citations should follow the citation system example below. Official citations are appropriate.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

If an article addresses a matter that the author or his/her firm has handled, a precise description of the involvement must be disclosed in advance to the Editors and must be approved at the same time the article topic is approved. Articles submitted by an author or his/her firm for publication on cases that are ongoing (appeals pending, time to appeal remaining, etc.) will not be published. Any involvement of an author or the author’s firm must be indicated specifically in the author’s tag line.

Deadlines

Deadlines must be observed to allow review time for articles by the Publications Committee and to meet the schedule of the printer. Late submissions may not be published in the upcoming edition.

Articles of general interest or Focus articles are due 2 months in advance of the issue publication month. For example, the deadline for articles for the January issue is November 1.

Focus Issue Articles. To best coordinate the content of Focus issues, authors should contact the Focus editor at least 3 months in advance of the deadline to avoid duplication of topics. All articles must be submitted in Microsoft Word format, emailed as an attachment to Editor Bridget Ryan, and copied to the Focus Editor two months in advance of the issue publication month to be included in the Focus topic issue.

Citations

The Nassau Lawyer uses the most recent edition of Bluebook—A Uniform System of Citation form of citation. We generally follow the Bluebook style, with certain exceptions, which are listed below. If you encounter circumstances not covered herein, the Bluebook rule should be followed. In cases of conflict, our rules would supersede the Bluebook rules. The accuracy of website addresses, in text and citations, is the responsibility of the author.

A problem sometimes encountered in legal writing is the tendency to quote statutory law or case holdings at length absent any real discussion or analysis of the passages as they relate to the accompanying text. If you plan to include such quotations, do so sparingly with the appropriate analysis and consider the best location to reprint it, whether in the text of the article, in an endnote or in an appendix.

When citing to statutes, provide the specific statutory citations. Please provide complete and accurate citations to both statutes and cases, which is particularly important relative to unreported cases or those found only in obscure reporters. Also be sure to include pinpoint citations when quoting from a case.

Make sure the discussion accurately reflects the facts and holdings of the case and that the holding has not been overturned, reversed or otherwise modified by a higher court. Include only those facts necessary to illustrate the holding of the cases and, if need be, discuss both lower court and appellate court holdings.

For the purposes of electronic searches, please name the specific statute being discussed at least once per paragraph (e.g., RPL § 401, not simply § 401).

Numerals

Numbers 1-10 should be spelled out (e.g., one, two, three, etc.)

Numbers higher than 10 should not be spelled out (e.g., 11, 12, 13, etc).

The same holds true for percentages (five percent, 11%, nine percent, 21%).

The exception to this rule is when the number begins a sentence. In that case, the number should be spelled out (e.g., Twenty-two other states have passed this legislation).

For money figures, don’t use zeroes or period (unless at end of sentence) (e.g., $5,500, not $5,500.00; $5).

Court Names

Unless referring to the Supreme Court of the United States or the New York Court of Appeals, the word “court” when not utilized with the full name of the court should be lowercased. For example, the lower court held that summary judgment should be granted.

When referring to New York’s Appellate Divisions, reference only needs to be made to the actual department. For example, the Second Department reversed summary judgment.

Capitalization

Generally, Rule 8 of the Bluebook should be followed with respect to capitalization.

Do not capitalize municipalities (e.g., federal, state, village, county) when using these words as a common noun. But do capitalize municipalities if it is (1) part of a proper name; or (2) referring to a specific governmental body. For example—”The Village of Lindenhurst recently enacted a new code to deal with the recent parking issue. The Village believes that this code will address the issue on an equitable basis. However, other villages around Suffolk County are not taking such a tough stance.”

Punctuation

Periods, commas, and semicolons are to be placed within quotation marks and before endnotes.

Section Symbol

The “§” symbol should be used for the word “section” in both the text and endnotes.

Pinpoint Citations

Generally, the use of pinpoint citations is strongly encouraged.

Case Names

The first time a case is mentioned in a text, a full citation in an endnote should be placed immediately after the case name.

Good Law

It is the author’s responsibility to Shepardize the authorities cited and check that they are still good law.

Secondary Sources

Articles must be original and not rely heavily on secondary sources such as popular articles or blogs for information and analysis. Any authorities used from secondary sources must be checked, cited to, and Shepardized by the author.

Audience

Authors should keep in mind that the readers of Nassau Lawyer are primarily attorneys in all areas of law as well as judges. However, technical terms not common throughout the entire legal profession should be defined for these readers.

Cited Works

When submitting articles for publication, authors should strive to provide the Editors with the cited works for “hard-to-find sources” (e.g., law review articles, legislative history, pleadings, etc.). Preferably, cited works will be sent as an accompanying PDF with the applicable portions in highlight.