How are co-authored articles viewed by faculty appointments committees? What about non-legal scholarly writing?
Unless you are identified as the primary author, the problem with co-authored articles is that it is impossible for a faculty hiring committee to attribute specific ideas, analysis, or writing to you. Without more, co-authored articles make it difficult to determine your scholarly potential. Thus, the core of your “scholarly portfolio” should be your work. There is, however, a growing acceptance of co-authored works for those working in interdisciplinary areas, such as law and the social sciences. Non-legal scholarly writing is useful if it relates to your legal scholarly work, although it will not carry as much weight as legal scholarship. If the non-legal writing is unrelated (for example, your scholarly agenda focuses on federal jurisdiction, and in your past life as a botanist you wrote three articles about peonies), it is unlikely to make a difference.
