Welcome to the Washington Legal Foundation

Sample WLF Publications

Since the founding of the Legal Studies Division, WLF has produced nearly 2,200 publications. WLF produces policy papers in eight basic formats, each tuned to the issue and audience at hand.

These eight formats position WLF as a rapid-response legal policy analyst, consistently ready with short, readable publications, more lengthy analyses, or practical, compliance-oriented papers.

The targeted audiences include: influential legal journalists; major print and broadcast commentators; federal and state judges and their clerks; members of the U.S. Congress and their legal advisers; key Executive Branch officials; state attorneys general; U.S. Attorneys; business leaders and corporate counsels; and law school professors and their students. This broad distribution ensures unmatched impact and effectiveness.

Here are eight samples of each of the basic formats:

Counsel's Advisories - one-page bulletins on urgent legal and judicial developments, which include proposed action items for the free enterprise community. Legal Opinion Letters - succinct two-page legal analyses of recent court decisions and statutory or regulatory issues.

Legal Backgrounders - concise four-page discussions of particular areas of law. Working Papers examine complex issues in more depth (15 to 30 pages).

Contemporary Legal Notes present highly instructional 10-30 page outlines of basic principles and issues of law. Monographs provide even more extensive treatment of important legal topics (usually 30 to 50 pages in length).

Conversations With... provides a forum for leading legal experts to discuss current legal policy issues (usually 8-10 pages in length). On the Merits, WLF’s newest format, presents concise, timely, and substantive analyses of important pending litigation from opposing perspectives.