AELJ selects approximately 35-40 staff members each year on the basis of grades, a writing competition, and a statement of interest. Only first year students and transfer students are eligible for selection. The writing competition is typically conducted very shortly after the end of spring semester finals and consists of two parts. In the first part of the competition, students write a brief case comment, utilizing a variety of provided sources (i.e., cases, statutes, and journal articles). The second part of the competition is a Bluebook editing exercise, in which students edit a section of a note or article pursuant to The Bluebook (citation system for legal materials) rules. AELJ also welcomes an optional statement of interest, for which students briefly describe, in 500 words or less, why they are interested in being a staffer on AELJ. Those staffers who are selected for the Journal must be available for Work Week, which involves a series of training sessions and editing assignments. Work Week usually takes place the week before the fall semester begins.