A Brief History

The John Marshall Journal of Computer & Information Law is devoted to national and international issues relating to software, computers, information networks, and databases. Four issues of the JCIL are published each year (two issues per academic semester).

During JCIL's rich history we have been cited by the United States Supreme Court and on numerous occasions in the "Worth Reading" column of the National Law Journal. The JCIL is read in over thirty-five countries, and counts among its subscribers major international corporations, universities, courts, and practitioners.

The JCIL was originally established as the Software Law Journal by Michael D. Scott, President of the Center for Computer/Law in Manhattan Beach, California. In 1987, Mr. Scott invited The John Marshall Law School to assume editorial control of the Software Law Journal, due to the school's commitment to education in the area of information technology as evidenced by its curriculum and the programs of the Center for Information Technology and Privacy Law. The John Marshall Law School assumed editorial control of the Software Law Journal beginning with its second volume, and the first John Marshall issue was published in January, 1988.

In 1994, we were invited by Mr. Scott to merge the Software Law Journal with the Computer/Law Journal, and to assume editorial and publishing rights of the new law review. The JCIL is published to run consecutively from the last issue of the Computer/Law Journal. That is, the first issue of The John Marshall Journal of Computer & Information Law is Volume XII, Issue No. 3. The final issue of the Software Law Journal was Volume XI, Issue No. 2, and the final issue of the Computer/Law Journal was Volume XII, Issue No. 2.

The JCIL is a publication of the Center for Information Technology and Privacy Law, under the direction of Professor George B. Trubow. Professor David E. Sorkin is the Center's associate director and JCIL faculty editor. Professor William B.T. Mock, Jr. is director of the Center for International and Comparative Studies and serves as faculty advisor. The student editorial board ("Executive Board") consists of Executive Editors and the Editor-in-Chief. The Executive Board is responsible for managing the JCIL's student staff, soliciting and obtaining lead articles, executing the student candidacy program and performing other responsibilities associated with publishing a legal journal.

The JCIL serves a special need in the legal community as a scholarly legal journal devoted solely to issues concerning computers, software, information networks, and databases. The JCIL participates in the formulation of law and policy to accommodate and bridle the exciting new developments in information and communications technology. With articles on the cutting edge of new legal issues relating to computers and information law, the JCIL in an important complement to John Marshall's Center for Information Technology and Privacy Law.