MEETING OF THE MINDS
Connecting Future IP Law Leaders with ABA-IPL
Program Overview
One of the recurring departments in each issue of Landslide will be authored by a young lawyer in
conjunction with a particular committee. This program is intended to get young lawyers substantively
involved in the committees while offering them the opportunity to be published. The end product will not
only be the result of a collaboration between a committee member and a young lawyer, but it will also
serve to raise awareness of the roles committees play and the opportunities they present to young
lawyers.
This program was created with the intention of avoiding potential overlap between the Young Lawyers
department and the Annual Review. The Annual Review is focused on objective summaries of case law
and legal developments. By contrast, the Meeting of the Minds column in Landside will be more focused
on analyzing the effects and ramifications of a legal development.
Program Guidelines
1) The article should be an outgrowth of work that is actively being done with the ABA Section of
Intellectual Property Law. For example, the topic could relate to a particular case, legislative
development, or area of interest a particular committee would like to explore.
2) The article should be between 3500 words or less, including endnotes.
3) So as to avoid overlap with the Annual Review, the article should not be written as an objective
summary of case law or legal developments, but should instead analyze the effects and
ramifications of a legal development.
4) Although one of the goals of this program is to create an article for publication in Landslide,
participation in this program is no guarantee that a participant will be published. All decisions on
which articles do get published rest with the editorial board of Landslide.
5) As part of this program, the article will need to undergo peer review by a more experienced
attorney who is a member of one of the substantive committees of the ABA-IPL. The role of the
peer reviewer will be that of a mentor who advises, revises and contributes. Ideally, the finished
product will be a true collaboration that is reflected in the joint attribution that will appear in
Landslide.
6) The person in the committee who volunteers will get joint attribution for their contributions to the
published work, and the committee will get a promotional blurb at the beginning of the article. For
example, the promotional blurb might read "This article was the result of collaboration between
members of the ABA’s Young Lawyer Division and 'X Committee' of the ABA-IPL patents
Division. If you are interested in this area of the law, consider becoming an active member of 'X
Committee.' Find out more about this and other Section committees at
http://www.abanet.org/intelprop/committees.html."
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Typical Workflow
When an article or topic is submitted
(1) A Young Lawyer / Law Student submits an article or article proposal.
(2) The editor reviews articles that are currently slated or previously published in Landslide for
overlap.
(3) The topic is vetted with the board.
(4) The topic is green lighted or sent back to the author for reworking.
(5) Identify an appropriate Committee in order to pair the author with a mentor.
(6) Once a mentor is identified, and the mentor is aware of all of the guidelines and agrees to
participate, article is scheduled in for publication. At this stage the Issue Editors take over.
When there is no article or topic
(1) The Young Lawyer/Law Student asks to participate in the program.
(2) They identify a committee in the ABA-IPL that interests them.
(3) They join the committee.
(4) They send an e-mail to the committee chair introducing themselves and asking when the next call
will be.
(5) They learn about the topics of interest to the committee and propose to write an article with the
committee for publication in Landslide.
(6) They send the proposed topic to the Meeting of the Minds editor by e-mail.
(7) The editor reviews articles that are currently slated or previously published in Landslide for
overlap.
(8) The topic is vetted with the board.
(9) The topic is green lighted or sent back to the author for reworking.
(10)
Once a mentor is identified, and the mentor is aware of all of the guidelines and agrees to
participate, article is scheduled in for publication. At this stage the Issue Editors take over.
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Examples of Communications Relating To Meeting of the Minds
Division Chair Program Introduction (to Division Chairs)
Dear DIVISION CHAIRS,
My name is [EDITOR NAME], and I am currently serving as Meeting of the Minds Editor on the
Editorial Board of Landslide. I am contacting you to let you know about a program designed to raise
awareness of Section activities and get young lawyers and law students more actively involved in the
Section.
As you may be aware, Meeting of the Minds column is one of the recurring departments in each
issue of Landslide. Each column is authored by a young lawyer in conjunction with a particular
committee. The program is designed to get young lawyers substantively involved in the committees while
offering them the opportunity to be published. The end product will not only be the result of a
collaboration between a committee member and a young lawyer, but it will also serve to raise awareness
of the roles committees play and the opportunities they present to young lawyers. I believe the name of
the column says it all "Meeting of the Minds: Connecting Future IP Law Leaders with ABA-IPL."
There are a number of young lawyers and law students who have expressed interest in the
program so far. These individuals represent a diversity of professional backgrounds, interests, and levels
of current involvement with the Section. In order to make this program a success, I would like to
coordinate my efforts with you, the Division Chairs, rather than contact the committees directly. As such, I
will be contacting each Division Chair individually regarding a young lawyer or law student who has
expressed an interest in becoming involved in area of law relating to their Division. In particular, I will be
seeking your guidance as to which of your committees you believe would be a good match based on the
information I will provide about the interested young lawyer or law student.
Sincerely,
Meeting of the Mind Editor
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Give potential Author further information regarding program
Dear POTENTIAL AUTHOR,
Thank you for your interest in the program. This program is designed to get young lawyers
substantively involved in the committees of the ABA-IPL while offering them the opportunity to be
published. The end product will not only be the result of a collaboration between a committee member
and a young lawyer, but it will also serve to raise awareness of the roles committees play and the
opportunities they present to young lawyers.
Your time commitment will depend on how much time it takes for you to collaborate with
committee members to create an article. The total word count for the article should be 3500 words or less
(including footnotes).
Here is how to get started:
1) Identify a committee in the ABA-IPL that interests you. The committees can be found here:
http://www.abanet.org/intelprop/committees.html
2) Join the committee.
3) Send an e-mail to the committee chair introducing yourself and asking when the next call will be.
4) Learn about the topics of interest to the committee and propose to write an article with the committee
for publication in Landslide.
5) Send the proposed topic to me by e-mail.
As you consider your topic, please keep in mind that the article will need to undergo peer review
by a more experienced attorney who is a member of the substantive committees you choose. The role of
the peer reviewer will be that of a mentor who advises, revises and contributes. Ideally, the finished
product will be a true collaboration that is reflected in the joint attribution that will appear in Landslide.
The person in the committee who volunteers will get joint attribution for their contributions to the
published work, and the committee will get a promotional blurb at the beginning of the article. For
example, the promotional blurb might read "This article was the result of collaboration between members
of the ABA’s Young Lawyer Division and 'X Committee' of the ABA-IPL patents Division. If you are
interested in this area of the law, consider becoming an active member of the 'X Committee.' Find out
more about this and other Section committees at http://www.abanet.org/intelprop/committees.html." As
an example, see the attached article written by members of Committee 701 that was published in the
most recent issue of Landslide.
Once you submit a brief (a few sentences) topical outline of the topic, it will be used to identify the
appropriate issue of Landslide and avoid any potential for repeat material. At this stage, the editorial
board of Landslide may provide comments and/or ask for a new topic.
Please keep in mind that although one of the goals of this program is to create an article for
publication in Landslide, participation in this program is no guarantee that an article will be published. All
decisions on which articles will be published rest with the editorial board of Landslide.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Meeting of the Mind Editor
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Contact Author after article/topic routed from intake editor
Dear AUTHOR,
INTAKE EDITOR forwarded me your article proposal. Your submission looks like an excellent
candidate for the Meeting of the Minds column of Landslide. The Meeting of the Minds column is one of
the recurring departments in each issue of Landslide. Each column is authored by a young lawyer in
conjunction with a particular committee. The program is designed to get young lawyers substantively
involved in the committees while offering them the opportunity to be published. The end product is not
only be the result of a collaboration between a committee member and a young lawyer, but it also serves
to raise awareness of the roles committees play and the opportunities they present to young lawyers. I
believe the name of the column says it all "Meeting of the Minds: Connecting Future IP Law Leaders with
ABA-IPL."
Since you have already chosen a topic, the next step for you will be to identify a Committee so
that we can pair you with a mentor. The role of the mentor will be to advise, revise and contribute. The
person who volunteers will get joint attribution for their contributions to the published work. Ideally, the
finished product will be a true collaboration that is reflected in the joint attribution that will appear in
Landslide. As an example, see the attached article written by members of Committee 701 that was
published in Landslide. You can find the Committees here:
http://www.abanet.org/intelprop/committees.html.
There is a 3500 word limit for the Meeting of the Minds column, including endnotes. Please keep
in mind that although one of the goals of this program is to generate an article for publication in Landslide,
participation in this program is no guarantee that an article will be published. All decisions on which
articles will be published rest with the editorial board of Landslide. While we do not guarantee
publication, we look forward to receiving your article, and we anticipate that there is a high probability of
publication. Moreover, requests for edits are rather standard, and will typically come from the Issue Editor.
Please let me know if you are interested participating in this program.
Sincerely,
Meeting of the Mind Editor
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Contact Division Chair to identify mentor/committee
Dear [DIVISION CHAIR],
I am writing you regarding a project for Landslide that would come from one of the committees in
Division [XXX].
As you may be aware, one of the recurring departments in each issue of Landslide is authored by
a young lawyer in conjunction with a particular committee. This program is designed to get young
lawyers substantively involved in the committees while offering them the opportunity to be published. The
end product will not only be the result of a collaboration between a committee member and a young
lawyer, but it will also serve to raise awareness of the roles committees play and the opportunities they
present to young lawyers. I believe the name of the column says it all "Meeting of the Minds: Connecting
Future IP Law Leaders with ABA-IPL."
We recently received a submission from a young lawyer that relates to [TOPIC]. I believe this
young lawyer is a great candidate for the program, and I am looking for a committee in Division [XXX] that
is willing to work with the law student to get the article ready for publication. The committee member
would get joint attribution for the article when it is published, and the committee would get a promotional
blurb at the end of the article. For example, the promotional blurb might read "This article was a
collaborative effort of members of Committee X. If you are interested in this area of the law, consider
becoming an active member in Committee X. Find out more about Committee X at
http://www.abanet.org/intelprop/committees.html."
Can you recommend a committee in Division [XXX] that would be a good match for this article? Please
let me know if you have any questions about the program.
Sincerely,
Meeting of the Mind Editor
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Notify Author their article is matched with an issue
Dear [AUTHOR],
Thank you for submitting you proposal for an article, "TITLE" for publication in Landslide
magazine. I am pleased to let you know that we have tentatively slated your proposed article for
publication in issue [X:X] of Landslide. Issue [X:X] is the MONTH/MONTH YEAR issue of Landslide.
ISSUE EDITOR A and ISSUE EDITOR B are the Issue Editors of that issue, and are copied on this email.
I am glad to hear that ATTORNEY has agreed to act as your mentor for this article, and that you
are both members of Committee XXX. Now that you have a mentor you are ready to draft your article.
The role of the mentor is to advise, revise and contribute. Ideally, the finished product will be a true
collaboration that is reflected in the joint attribution that will appear in Landslide. How you divide up the
tasks in preparing the article is up to you and your mentor.
No article is actually slated for publication, however, until the final draft has been received and
approved by our Review Editors. Please finalize your article and forward it to me as soon as possible so
that our Review Editors may begin that process. In order for us to meet our review and publication
deadlines for issue [X:X], we will need to receive the article no later than DATE. However, I would like to
reassure you that you will have the opportunity to update the article closer to publication if you believe
that an update is warranted. There is a 3500 word limit for the Meeting of the Minds column, including
endnotes. I have attached our Author Guidelines which may provide additional information.
I would like to point out that Landslide does not publish articles that have been published
previously, so please let us know if the article has been (or will be) published in whole or part in any
medium, including electronic.
We thank you for your interest in Landslide and look forward to working with you going forward.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.
Sincerely,
Meeting of the Mind Editor
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