Open Bench is the student-run short form legal publication of the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law. We provide a platform for students to engage with the legal issues shaping our world, while developing their skills as legal writers, researchers, and thinkers.
Our publication focuses on current events and emerging legal issues, exploring the intersection of law with business, technology, culture, politics, entertainment, and society. Through timely, thoughtful analysis, we aim to make complex legal topics accessible to both members of the legal community and readers outside of it.
All Open Bench articles are peer reviewed by members of our student editorial team, ensuring that published work meets a high standard of legal research, analysis, and writing.
Open Bench is completely non-partisan and independent. Our goal is not to advocate for a particular political perspective, but to encourage thoughtful discussion and critical analysis of the law and its impact on the world around us.
As a student publication, Open Bench is built by and for the UNH Franklin Pierce community. We welcome students from all backgrounds, interests, and areas of legal study to contribute their perspectives and explore the issues they care about.
Open Bench is where law school meets the real world.
Our Mission
Open Bench exists to bridge the gap between law school and the world beyond the classroom.
We believe students should have the opportunity to engage with the legal questions shaping current events, culture, business, technology, and society. Our mission is to foster accessible, timely, and thoughtful legal discussion while giving students the tools and platform to develop their voices as emerging members of the legal profession.
Through collaboration, curiosity, and rigorous analysis, Open Bench seeks to create a space where students can explore the issues they care about, challenge ideas, and bring the law into the conversations happening right now.
Open Bench 