Guidelines for guest contributors


When I launched Legal Evolution in the spring of 2017, the vision was to create a publication where content on the legal market and legal innovation would be method-driven (theory, data, case studies, cross-industry comparisons, history, story telling) but with a style and format accessible and engaging to those building solutions in the field — a place that combines thinking with a track record of action.

I also decided to go it alone as a solo writer/editor, at least for the first year or so.  The reason was simple:  I didn’t want to spend a minute selling the idea to anyone. Instead, I wanted to generate the type of hybrid content I envisioned and see if anyone wanted to read it. If the answer was yes, I would start looking for other contributors.

The people I’ve asked to write for Legal Evolution are thinkers and doers I admire.  But I don’t know everyone. And though I have a large network, I don’t know all my connections well enough to know or evaluate their best ideas. In light of all this untapped talent, this post is an open call for guest contributors.

Contributor guidelines (1.0)

Interested in writing for Legal Evolution?  Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when making your pitch:

  • Bring something rigorous to the table.  All day long, members of so-called learned professions try to solve problems without taking on the burden of learning something new. That’s not our audience.  Legal innovators and early adopters are willing to wade through data, theory, history, cross-industry comparisons, cases studies, and storytelling, partially out of ambition and partially out of innate curiosity.  Look at your Swiss Army knife of experiences and abilities and pick your best tool.
  • Stake out a position, but be yourself.  Readers come to Legal Evolution wanting to learn something.  Thus, stake out what you believe to be true and do it in your own voice drawing upon your own experiences. This style and format makes complex subject matter easier to read and easier to relate to. Further, you are given enough word count to say what you know; use some of it to say what you don’t know or why you’re holding your powder.
  • Elevate the industry.  At Legal Evolution, we’re interested in solutions. Assume that your readers are people of good will trying to slog out a living in the legal industry; yet also assume they’re very interested in leaving the industry, the profession, their organizations in a better condition than when they started. Good systems make good people, bad systems make bad people.  Let’s fix the system.
  • Storytelling.  I’ve spent years explaining data to lawyers. No doubt about it, charts and graphs are useful. We post them all the time at Legal Evolution.  Yet, it took me years to learn that story and metaphor can dramatically improve the user experience and dramatically improve comprehension. You have the word count; if possible, make your point in story form. Legal Evolution is especially interested in Founder Stories.
  • Book reviews on legal topics. We all find them valuable.  Unfortunately, they are all-too-rare in our field.  If you read a wonderful book on a law-related topic, we’d be interested in your write-up.
  • No selling. Educate and share.  If you do that well, good things happen.

Additional details

Over the summer, Legal Evolution follows a weekly Sunday publication schedule.  Between Labor and Memorial Day, we publish bi-weekly with occasional double posts over long holiday weekends.  See Post 065.  Legal Evolution specializes in longform content (~1,500 to 5,000 words per post). Authors retain copyright to all their original work.

If you are interested in writing for Legal Evolution, please contact me via email at editor@legalevolution.org, ideally sending along a one-paragraph abstract of a proposed article.

Many thanks for your readership.