Law Letter Guidelines


Write for the Law Letter!

Author Guidelines

The Law Letter is the magazine of the Tasmanian legal profession.

Published by the Law Society of Tasmania, it is a significant way for the Society to reach its members and for the Society to reach the broader legal community, including barristers, the judiciary, politicians and government practitioners.

The Law Letter educates, informs and entertains its readers.

The Law Letter welcomes contributions – both serious and light-hearted – on topics of interest to the Tasmanian legal profession from legal practitioners and allied professionals. Social events within the profession including photographs are also welcome along with articles on travel, health and lifestyle.

The Society greatly appreciates the time and effort involved in drafting articles for publication in the Law Letter. Any contributions and inquiries to Shelley Harwood at shelley.harwood@lst.org.au


Deadline for Articles in the Law Letter

The Law Letter is traditionally published and distributed quarterly to the legal profession in Tasmania. In general, material should be received by the Society as follows, with specific dates each year available by contacting shelley.harwood@lst.org.au:

  • Autumn edition by early February
  • Winter edition by early June
  • Spring edition by early September
  • Summer edition by early November

Author Guidelines – Law Letter
Submission Requirements

Titles
Article titles should be suggested.

Abstract
It is recommended authors provide a 50 word abstract for possible use at the start of the article.

Biographical Information
To ensure that we fully and appropriately acknowledge you as the author of your article, please provide the following information at the end of your article: full name, firm or organisation where you are working, position/title at that firm/organisation and email address.

Author Photographs
If available a professional quality head and shoulders photograph of the author(s) should be supplied. Images should be 300 dpi, no less than 57mm wide and provided as a *.tif or *.jpeg


Submitting an Article

Completed articles and photographs are to be submitted electronically to Shelley Harwood at shelley.harwood@lst.org.au


Formats and Style

Format
Articles are to be emailed in Microsoft Word ready for insertion into Adobe InDesign.

Length
Two-three page featured article.………………….2500-3000 words including endnotes and abstract

One page article……………………………………800-900 words including endnotes and abstract

Book reviews……………………………………….350-400 words

Style
Aim to be clear and concise. Use short sentences and paragraphs.
Text should be interspersed with appropriate and concise sub-headings (preferably no longer than three words).

Reference
Article submissions must be your own original work – any direct quotations or material based on other works must be fully credited.

When citing legislation:

  • italicise the title, but not the year, for example, Legal Profession Act 2007 (Tas); and
  • abbreviate the jurisdiction in brackets to distinguish.

When the same Act or Bill is referred to frequently throughout an article:

  • quote the first reference in full and abbreviate subsequent references; and
  • incorporate references to specific section/clauses in the text, rather than as endnotes.

Hyperlinks
Please do not place automatic hyperlinks in articles or endnotes, instead they should be typed in bold.

Endnotes
Endnotes rather than footnotes are preferred to provide sources for information, quotations, cases etc. They should:

  • Be kept to a minimum consistent with adequate acknowledgement of sources etc.
  • Checked to ensure reference numbers within the text correspond with reference in the endnotes.
  • Author biographical details should be kept separate from any endnotes.


Author Guidelines
Any contributions and inquiries about contributing to the Law Letter to Shelley Harwood at shelley.harwood@lst.org.au