Author Guidelines and 
Letters to the Editor

The following guidelines are intended to assist authors in preparing articles for publication in The Hennepin Lawyer.

Editorial Calendar and Submission Deadlines
Available in PDF format here.

Submission of Material
The Hennepin Lawyer Committee encourages material for publication from Hennepin County practitioners. While the committee seeks out particular authors for some of the magazine’s articles, unsolicited manuscripts are always welcome for consideration.

The committee strives to publish articles of interest to the practicing bar, with a slant or focus pertaining specifically to the law or lawyers of Hennepin County. Of particular interest are articles that detail recent changes or proposed changes in the law or that stress practice aids. 

A copy of the Author's Agreement  is required with any article submitted for consideration.  View and print form in PDF format.

Please also include any  photos, graphs, and/or graphics to be included with your article. 

Query Letters
Authors are encouraged to explore possible editorial interest in a subject before expending significant time and effort preparing a complete article. Potential authors should contact  the managing editor, or contact an HCBA committee/section chair, or upcoming issue editor.

Length of Articles: Format
Articles that address substantive areas of the law should be 2,000 to 4,000 words in length (8-15 double-spaced pages). Feature or human interest articles should be 1,000-2000 words (4-7 double-spaced pages). Authors should use section headings, underscoring, and highlighted text where appropriate. Authors’ suggestions for pictures, illustrations, and other sidebar materials are greatly appreciated.

Articles should be submitted as Word documents to thl@hcba.org. 
All submissions should be typed double-spaced on 8½- x 11-inch paper with one-inch margins. The author’s name, address, phone number, and date of the manuscript should appear at the top right-hand corner of the first page.

Footnotes
Footnotes, if any, should be placed at the end of the article, not on the same page as the text. Preferably, citations should be incorporated in the body of the text.

Pictures and Biographies
Prospective authors should submit a recent photograph (executive-style head shot) and a short biographical sketch (20-30 words) to accompany the article. The sketch should give the author’s collegiate and professional education, place of current employment, and an indication of any affiliation or bias that may pertain to the content of the article.

Deadlines
The Hennepin Lawyer deadlines are sacrosanct. Production schedules are inflexible and late manuscripts create particular havoc for our publication schedule.  Articles that are not received on time for publication in a particular issue will normally be forwarded to future issue editors for consideration.

Editorial Review
Articles should be submitted to the managing editor. Copies will be forwarded to the upcoming issue editors for consideration. The editorial review also covers grammar, punctuation, readability, and consistency of style. The issue editor has broad discretion in the editorial process. Significant editorial changes will normally be cleared with the author in advance. "Accepted" articles are not guaranteed publication in any particular issue. Space and other limitations occasionally require holding an article until a later issue.

Letters to the Editor
The committee is pleased to receive letters, particularly in response to articles in The Hennepin Lawyer or to other bar activities. If a letter is written in response to a published article, the author of the article may be invited to respond in the same or a subsequent issue. Letters should not exceed 500 words. Publication is subject to editorial review and letters may be edited.

Articles should be submitted as text documents to thl@hcba.org or mailed to:

The Hennepin Lawyer
600 Nicollet Mall, #390
Minneapolis, MN 55402.

Call (612) 752-6600 for more information.