Q&A with MK Healy, Editor-in-Chief of the Chicago Journal of International Law

What’s it like being on a journal? Better yet, serving as editor-in-chief? In this series, we sit down with the editors-in-chief of the four student-edited journals of the Law School to find out. Here we talk to MK Healy, '24, who leads the Chicago Journal of International Law. Launched in 2000 and publishing twice a year in print, CJIL promotes an interdisciplinary approach and balanced discourse on international law. In this Q&A, Healy talks about CJIL, her experience leading it, and why being involved in a journal is an invaluable experience for law students.

How did you first get involved in the Chicago Journal of International Law?

When I did the writing competition during my 1L year, I knew that I wanted to join the Chicago Journal of International Law. I came to law school with a strong interest in international law, so I knew that joining CJIL would be a great way for me to engage with both international and comparative law through legal scholarship. It really has not disappointed. During my staffer year, I wrote my comment [a student scholarship article on a particular topic] on comparative constitutional law which I really enjoyed. I have also gotten to learn so much about international and comparative law from the comments that other staffers have written and from the scholarship that we publish in the journal.

What's it like being editor-in-chief of your journal? 

Being editor-in-chief of CJIL is genuinely so much fun. I have gotten to work with an amazing team of people on my board, and it has been so rewarding getting to know the people on the board better through this shared effort of successfully running a journal. The job of editor-in-chief at first seemed really daunting and I was honestly nervous to take it on, but having a board that I trust completely has made the job so much fun, even during the more mundane and time-consuming tasks. It has also been really wonderful getting to work with the staffers on CJIL, hearing about their interest in international and comparative law, and getting to see how their comments evolve over the year. This role has shown me how important it is to work with people you enjoy being around.

What do you wish more people knew about your journal? 

I think one thing that people often don't realize is that the scope of our publication is both international and comparative law. The comparative law element provides a really interesting element to our publication that can cover a really broad range of legal issues. It's a great way for people who aren't necessarily interested in purely international law to get involved with the journal. 

Why is it important for law students to get involved in a journal?

From my experience on CJIL, being on a journal has been a great way to refine my writing skills and to engage with legal scholarship in a way that's hard to otherwise recreate in law school. Through the process of writing my comment, I got to look at legal issues in a whole new way and get a ton of feedback on my writing over the whole course of the year. The comment writing process also gave me the opportunity to become an expert on a particular legal issue that I otherwise would not have gotten to explore in law school. Being on the board of a journal provides a whole other set of opportunities to engage with scholarship, to improve your editing abilities, and to manage all the elements that go into a journal.

How do you like to spend your time when you're not busy being a law student?

Outside of being a law student, I enjoy playing tennis, weightlifting, and cooking. I've also been reading for fun again this year after a hiatus during 1L and 2L.  I recently read “All the Light We Cannot See” and really loved it. I’m now reading “Cloud Cuckoo Land” by the same author. I'm just in the first few chapters but am really enjoying it so far!