Current Issue: Vol. 71, No. 5 (2020) MLR Online Companion

Editor's Note

Each year, the Mercer Law Review publishes four printed editions: the Annual Survey of Georgia Law, the Articles Edition, the Lead Articles Edition, and the Eleventh Circuit Survey.

Unfortunately, this year was not an average year. The Spring 2020 semester was disrupted in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was both an unexpected and unusual change for the Mercer Law Review, and required fully moving to an online-only editing process. Additionally, student members no longer had the benefit of seeing their work in print due to delayed mailing, and were denied the opportunity to celebrate the year at the Law Review Annual Banquet.

As a way to reward students for their valuable contributions to the Law Review, we decided to reconsider some first-year members' work for publication consideration. There is, in my estimation, no greater personal and professional honor higher than being published. Our Student Survey Editor, Dan Nix, selected the five Casenotes you will find in this electronic edition. The strength and quality of the writing of these pieces shows the depth from which we at the Mercer Law Review have the pleasure of selecting for physical publication each year.

I imagine that, in the years to come, many law reviews will become "online-only." While this will very likely be a diversion from normal procedures for many, I believe that it will be invaluable in providing students with opportunities for publication, and law review's with the ability to cultivate a wider audience. I am excited to see what the future holds, electronically or otherwise.

Finally, I would like to thank all of our authors that appear in this book and in others. This could not have been possible without their contributions. I would also like to thank our Managing Editors, Jordan Elliott, Mallory Fleming, and L'Zandra Jones, as well as all of the other members of the Mercer Law Review. I would also like to most sincerely thank my family for the love and support I have received from them in completing this year. I am especially grateful for my five month old daugther, James Katherine, who sat alongisde me while Volume 71 was completed, and my wife, Alexandra, who was the best, always.