Meet the editors-in-chief of ND Law’s student-run journals

Notre Dame Law School students have the opportunity to serve on one of the Law School’s five student-edited journals. Students who are interested in being considered for membership on a journal participate in a write-on competition that is held every spring. Each journal uses the results of the competition, and other selection criteria, to extend journal offers to new members.

Each journal has approximately 50 members. Students first serve as staff editors, usually as second-year students, and then during their third year they can run for a leadership position. The staff of each journal elects the editor-in-chief for the coming year.

Meet the 2021-22 editors-in-chief of Notre Dame Law School’s student-run journals.

Aiste Zalepuga

Editor-in-Chief, Notre Dame Law Review

Aiste Zalepuga serves as editor-in-chief of the Notre Dame Law Review, which was founded in 1925 and is regarded as one of the leading academic law journals in the nation. Each year, the Law Review publishes five print issues and an online supplement, with submissions from distinguished judges, professors, and practitioners across the country. Two of the print issues are organized as symposia, with one dedicated to the federal court system.

“I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as editor-in-chief of the Notre Dame Law Review for Volume 97. Our volume aims to continue the legacy left by previous Law Review editors and to leave our scholarship and internal community stronger,” said Zalepuga.

Zalepuga earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a master’s degree from the University of Oxford. Before law school, Zalepuga worked in the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania and co-founded the country’s GovTech Lab. Zalepuga spent the summer after her first year at law school as a research assistant for Notre Dame Law Professor Roger Alford and her second-year summer as a summer associate at Goodwin in Boston. After graduation, she will clerk for Judge Thomas L. Kirsch II of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

“I am grateful to the Notre Dame students, alumni, and professors who have helped shape me in my legal career and as a person,” she said.

Ijeoma Oti

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of International & Comparative Law

As editor-in-chief of the Journal of International & Comparative Law, Ijeoma Oti plans to develop a five-year digital strategic plan to further the journal’s mission: to promote a greater understanding of international and comparative law by publishing scholarship that analyzes the law from global perspectives.

Oti says the best thing about serving as the editor-in-chief, is the responsibility of institutionalizing knowledge and the opportunity to expand the capacity of the journal for future volumes.

Oti received her undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California. Before coming to Notre Dame, she worked in ministry. During the 2020-21 academic year, she served as the national director of advocacy and external initiatives for the National Black Law Students Association executive board. She is currently an assistant rector in Walsh Hall.

During her first-year summer, she worked in-house at a multinational consumer products company. During her second-year summer, she was a Google Legal Institute Scholar and interned at White & Case in New York City. She will return to White & Case after graduation to begin building a sustainable finance practice.

Oti is a first-generation Nigerian American and first-generation professional. “The best thing about Notre Dame Law School is the community and the comradery,” she said.

Caroline Capili

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy

As editor-in-chief, Caroline Capili says the Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy will address topics such as continuing legal education, evaluating legal needs in specific geographic areas, and implications of new cases from the U.S. Supreme Court.

“My goal is to be a journal of impact through the content that we produce. We have an obligation as law journals to address significant legal topics that may impact future generations. As editor-in-chief, I hope to act as a catalyst for those who feel a similar obligation,” said Capili.

Capili earned her undergraduate degree from Baylor University. During her first-year summer she worked for Judge Marcia A. Crone, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and was a summer associate at Jackson Walker LLP in Houston. She also worked at Jackson Walker during her second-year summer, and will work there as a real estate associate after graduation.

At Notre Dame Law School, she has been involved in the Student Bar Association in several capacities. She is a student manager for the Law School alumni office, legal extern for the Notre Dame Office of Gift Planning, and an assistant rector in McGlinn Hall. She was a previous extern for the Notre Dame Office of Institutional Equality and also served as a teaching assistant for Notre Dame’s Building an Anti-Racist Vocabulary under the guidance of Dory Mitros Durham, associate director of the Klau Center for Civil & Human Rights.

“I chose ND Law because I wanted to be a part of a community of lawyers where I would be able to challenge myself academically in a Christian environment. Many of my mentors from my undergraduate career had Notre Dame degrees, so I knew it would most likely be a great culture-fit for me. The best thing about ND Law has been my classmates from all over the nation, and even all over the world,” she said.

Marquan Robertson

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Legislation

Marquan Robertson says his goal for the Journal of Legislation, the oldest law-specific journal at Notre Dame, is to continue publishing timely articles on legislative issues on a variety of topics close to the heart of the country. Additionally, he hopes to give the incoming editors the opportunity to hone their editing skills.

“I do everything I can to foster a collaborative environment,” Robertson said. “The team I have is truly an amazing group.”

Robertson received his undergraduate degree from Temple University and spent five years at Temple working as a financial aid counselor before coming to law school. He serves as an admissions ambassador at Notre Dame Law School and is a mentor for the Black Law Students Association.

He spent the summers after his first and second years of law school working as a summer associate at Reed Smith LLP. He will clerk for Judge Carl Stewart of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit after graduation, and hopes to enter private practice in appellate law after his clerkship.

“I chose ND Law because it was the only law school that looked beyond any academic qualities I could bring. I could tell that my being a father and husband mattered to the Law School and that they had the proper support structure in place to allow me to flourish. I think the best thing about ND Law is the community. I’ve been lucky to meet people from all walks of life and have enjoyed every second of it,” he said.

Jake Landreth

Editor-in-Chief, Journal on Emerging Technologies

Jake Landreth is editor-in-chief for Law School’s newest journal, Journal on Emerging Technologies. He plans to help continue the upward trajectory of the journal by publishing innovative and timely pieces that meet at the intersection of the law and emerging technologies, and by expanding exposure and accessibility of the journal through the addition of a journal repository and hosting the journal’s inaugural symposium.

“I am very fortunate to have a dedicated and enthusiastic editorial board that supports me and the direction I plan to take the journal this coming year. I look forward to seeing all of our hard work pay off and to leave the journal in the best place it’s ever been for the editorial boards in the years to come,” he said.

Landreth is a graduate of Creighton University. He worked for a startup company in Washington, D.C., before coming to law school. He is an oralist on the Notre Dame Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Team and an assistant rector in Fisher Hall.

During his first-year summer, he was a research assistant for Felicia Caponigri, director of the Law School’s International & Graduate Programs and a term teaching professor who teaches and researches in the areas of fashion law as well as art and cultural heritage law. During his second-year summer, Landreth was a summer associate at JPMorgan Chase & Co. on their global anti-corruption team. After graduation, he plans to practice in the area of corporate law and transactions. He is a first-generation college graduate and will be the first lawyer in his family.

“I chose Notre Dame because of the great alumni network, small class sizes, and the ability to incorporate my faith and values into my legal studies. As I begin my third year, I am confident I made the right decision to attend Notre Dame Law School,” he said.