From Writers Digest:
The ABA Journal is the flagship magazine for members of the American Bar Association. With a circulation around 400,000, it’s considered the magazine for lawyers and the legal profession. As such, it’s a very competitive market with a reputation of paying competitive rates to freelancers.
The editors say, “The ABA is the largest voluntary professional association in the world. With more than 400,000 members, the ABA provides law school accreditation, continuing legal education, information about the law, programs to assist lawyers and judges in their work, and initiatives to improve the legal system for the public.”
What They’re Looking For
ABA Journal does not review unsolicited manuscripts. Rather, the editors want freelancers to query with their resumé and published clips. They expect articles to include multiple sources and opposing points of view.
The editors say, “The ABA Journal considers queries from professional writers or from potential sources who wish to contact us regarding subjects that might be of interest to our readers.”
Estimated length and payment are discussed upon assignment.
Link to the rest at Writers Digest
Many years ago when he practiced a much different type of law than he does now, PG had a regular monthly column in The ABA Journal, so he became very familiar with the topics that would interest the publication.
A few preliminary points for those who are not attorneys:
- The American Bar Association is a voluntary organization. Unlike the state bar associations which attorneys are required to join (and pay dues to) for the privilege of practicing law, nobody is required to be a member of the ABA.
- Thus, the ABA is looking for stories that will interest both its members and non-members who may be wondering if they should join.
- Non-members can see many (maybe all?) parts of The ABAJ online – https://www.abajournal.com/ so you can get an idea of the types of stories that have been publishing recently.
- Like every other bar association, mandatory or voluntary, the ABA charges dues ranging from $75-$450 per year, depending upon how many years an attorney has been in practice. The amount of the dues payment has been a sore point for solo and small firm attorneys since forever. The ABA dues payment is on top of the mandatory payment required from the state bar and the combination can go over $1,000 per year.
- Among solo and small firm attorneys, it is not unusual to find those who believe the ABA is relevant for attorneys in large firms and specialized practices and doesn’t have much to offer those who don’t meet that description.
- One of the reasons PG was offered a regular column in ancient days was because, at that time, he was in solo practice in a small town, so he didn’t fit the stereotype. Additionally, PG had learned a lot about using computers in his own practice which was not understood by the average lawyer in either a large or small firm.
So, if PG were putting together a pitch for a story to the ABAJ today, he would look for a story about an attorney who didn’t work for a large firm in a large city and who was doing something different than typical lawyers were doing.
Bar associations of all types love to tout the work attorneys do without being paid, pro bono publico (Latin: “for the public good”) usually shortened to pro bono.
Some state bar associations require that attorneys perform XX hours of pro bono work each year or give them credit for those hours against state-mandated Continuing Legal Education (which usually costs money) requirements that must be reported to the state bar periodically.
A story about a small-town lawyer who represented an indigent juvenile repeat offender, got the kid get out of juvenile detention and helped her to get into Harvard would be close to ideal.
PG has no idea about how much The ABA Journal pays for articles these days. In ancient times, he was definitely satisfied with the payment he received from them each month.
Another area that seems to be evergreen for ABAJ articles is how lawyers use computer or other technologies in their practices. For as long as PG has known anything about computers in law offices, a significant portion of attorneys have not been very good with technology. Perhaps too many humanities majors realize they’ll never make a living in their chosen field and apply to law school.
The ABA has hosted a successful annual legal geekfest called ABA Techshow for a very long time (in tech years).
Each year, great flocks of geek attorneys circle O’Hare Airport and descend upon an unsuspecting convention hotel in downtown Chicago. They call to each other and the leaders display their latest tech accomplishments for competitors and compatriates to admire.
(During PG’s time, there was no widespread mating that occurred at Techshow, but he can’t speak for today.)
Techshow provides a fertile field for finding stories about attorneys doing unusual things with their computers, tablets, smartphones, etc., in court, in their offices and on the road.