The Second Voyage: Explore the World’s First Legal Design Journal

In just a few weeks, the Legal Design Journal (the LD Journal)[1] will launch its second edition. Published online and free via open source, the journal is gaining in popularity and success since its maiden voyage in June of 2025.

Unlike some open-access academic journals, the LD Journal does not charge its authors publication fees or its readers a viewing/downloading fee – it is known as “diamond open-access”.

The LD Journal is the first of its kind. An academic journal that connects academics and practitioners of legal design by combining three separate elements: articles, a studio showcase, and legal design news. Articles include scholarly works submitted to the journal, which undergo a double-blind peer review and can include submissions in multiple languages to reflect the global nature of the practice.

Why Create this Journal?

Interestingly, in my last blog published with SLAW, “The Legal Design Summit 2025 & BrainFactory – a ‘Re-Up’”,[2] I received a reader’s comment that suggested, in essence, that I should take the time to explain the concept of legal design to the reader – fair point.[3] However, this comment directly highlights the importance and need for the LD Journal.

For years, academics and practitioners of legal design would publish their works in a variety of legal, design, and economic journals throughout the globe. Professor Michael Doherty, the LD Journal’s Editor-in-Chief and Professor of Law at Lancaster University, explains how this affects authors:

“When legal design work is published in more generalist journals it affects the structure, tone and depth of that work. Authors must spend significant time and space explaining that legal design is ‘a thing’, what (in very basic terms) it is, and how it has something valid to add to the understanding or practice of law. This reduces the space for in-depth review of the ideas or projects that the author is presenting.”[4]

Aside from writing about the legal design basics, I particularly appreciate Professor Doherty’s point that legal design authors have to argue, “that legal design is ‘a thing.’” Much of the legal design writing I have reviewed in other journals seeks to convince its audience that there is inherent value in the methodology, which is something that the legal design community already understands.

The Journal is a Home

In order for legal design to mature and grow as a concept, it needed a home for writing and publication. The LD Journal is that home.

Like many specialized academic journals, the LD Journal allows professionals to focus their writing on evolving legal design concepts, methodologies, and illustrating innovative viewpoints or studies that advance these ideas. It is a place where the basics are already understood and readers are looking for more.

However, the LD Journal is not meant to be an “exclusive club” for those who practice in legal design. Quite the opposite. The foundational element of this home is inclusivity – it is dedicated to being a free and open-source publication with the goal of access and giving the megaphone to a range of global voices. To be truly inclusive, the organizers of the LD Journal were intentional that cost would never be a barrier to sharing ideas.

The First of its Kind

Neil Armstrong, Tenzing Norgay/Edmund Hillary, Charles Lindbergh are all credited with being the “first” at something. While Professor Michael Doherty, the LD Journal’s adventurer and Editor-in-Chief, will likely disagree with the comparison, he is the driving force behind the world’s first academic legal journal focused on legal design topics and should be credited with that accomplishment.

Every innovative exploration led by an adventurer with a “crazy” idea has a strong team behind them who believe in the mission and are willing to be the pioneers. Professor Doherty was able to use his collaborative and inclusive nature to rally together what he refers to as “an amazing team of 28 legal designers from around the world” (the “Fabulous 28”) to develop and operate the first LD Journal.[5] And, they did it using the legal design methodology (of course).

In legal design, the methodology requires that we determine the ‘user’ of whatever process or project we have undertaken and gather user-data. Professor Doherty and the Fabulous 28 did just that. They identified the readers and ‘users’ of the journal and relied on a process that we refer to as ‘empathy’. This is when the ‘creator’ puts themselves into the shoes of the user by considering what the user wants.

Instead of following the traditional routes to develop an academic journal, it was important to Professor Doherty and the Fabulous 28 that they use the legal design methodology to create something that people actually wanted. To that end, a survey was provided with over 144 responses from 33 countries. The ‘users’ told Professor Doherty and the Fabulous 28 exactly what they wanted from the LD Journal and they listened.

The Second Attempt – Coming Soon!

As with all “firsts”, there are lessons learned for the next time. While Professor Doherty admits that, “creating the first issue of the Journal has been a learning curve for us all.”[6] The publication and its submissions are only getting better.

Very soon, everyone will be able to get their hands on the second edition of the LD Journal. It has already undergone article selection and peer-review and is currently in the editing and publication stages. Get ready for the second voyage coming soon.

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[1] Legal Design Journal, website: https://legaldesign-journal.com/.

[2] Kerri A. Salata, “The Legal Design Summit 2025 & BrainFactory – a ‘Re-Up’”. SLAW Online: https://www.slaw.ca/2025/11/03/the-legal-design-summit-2025-brainfactory-a-re-up/

[3] An established definition of “legal design” can be found here:

Professor Margaret Hagan. Law By Design. Online: https://lawbydesign.co/legal-design/ at Chapter 1

Or, Kerri A. Salata. “Hello World! Let’s start with the Basics…What is Legal Design?” Online: https://kerriasalata.com/what-is-legal-design/.

[4] Michael Doherty. “Introducing the Legal Design Journal: A Home Where New Ideas Can Grow” (The Legal Design Journal (2024), Volume 1, Issue 1, ISSN 3049-5644), Online: https://ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/ldj/article/view/132/122, at p. 3.

[5] Ibid at p. 4.

[6] Ibid at p. 5.