New Student-Led Undergraduate Law Journal Debuts

Posted September 29, 2025

A new student organization is taking the lead on providing aspiring lawyers at Georgia Tech with a potentially crucial leg up when it comes to applying to law school.

A new student-run undergraduate law review debuted Sept. 30 with two articles written by Georgia Tech students. The new annual publication will give students the opportunity to begin developing the kinds of skills that generations of law students have learned working on law reviews, said Andy McNeil, director of the Law, Science, and Technology Program in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy.

“While obviously this won’t be at the level or pace students will encounter in law school, this is a great next step for the students to focus not only legal research, but also the writing, editing, and verification of other sources that are so important in law school and beyond,” McNeil said.

Students will be responsible for selecting, writing, editing, and preparing articles for the publication. So far, about 20 students are working on the review, which will be published exclusively online.

The first two articles are "Monopoly in the Machines: How Antitrust Can Spur AI Innovation," by Aarush Maheswaran, and "From Guidelines to Battlegrounds: The Future of Checks and Balances," authored by Dean Evan

Very few universities without an affiliated law school publish undergraduate law reviews, according to McNeil, and none at other top STEM-focused schools without a law school.

“This law review will represent the kind of innovative edge, critical thinking, and unique approach to law, that Georgia Tech is known for,” said Sarah Weitz, a second-year Economics major from Alpharetta and the review’s editor-in-chief. “It demonstrates a commitment to expanding legal opportunities and its emerging leadership in the legal field.”

The review is the brainchild of fourth-year student Dean Evans, a mechanical engineering student from Augusta.

An Advantage for Prospective Law Students

“My hope is that this will become a platform for students to launch their academic writings and gain great experience for law school,” Evans said.

The effort wasn’t without challenges, he said.

“It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to coordinate,” he said. “Building it from scratch was difficult, but I think those lessons will be beneficial in the long run.”

Being on a law review staff while in law school has long been seen as a feather in the cap for students, said McNeil, who was lead articles editor while a law school student.

Years ago, it was common for the top 10% of students at top law schools to receive an automatic invitation to join the school’s law review. Now, many schools have moved to an even more competitive model where only the top 1% or 2% of students receive an automatic bid.  Other students who want to participate must submit an article to prove their writing prowess, McNeil said.

“For students who maybe don’t go to one of the top ten law schools, being on the law review is something that helps differentiate candidates and makes them stand out to potential employers,” McNeil said. “My hope is that this journal will help Georgia Tech students who want to go on to legal careers learn the skills they need to make a law review staff and go on to make an impact in the law and beyond.”

That’s how Weitz sees it.

“I’ve already learned so much, and I know this opportunity is going to be a big benefit in developing the necessary analytical writing, critical legal thinking, and collaboration skills for myself and my peers who hope to pursue law school,” she said. 

For more information about the undergraduate law review, visit the review’s website.

Although McNeil is advising the students, the review is not an official Georgia Tech publication and doesn’t reflect the viewpoints of Georgia Tech or the Carter School.