Traditions run deep, and Small said that her greatest task is meeting the standards that have been set before her by generations of Harvard law students.

"The Law Review has for a long time been a leader in legal scholarship--our main goal has been and will be to continue this tradition," Small said.

But the maintaining a sense of community among the 80-plus editors who work to put out volumes during the school year is also an important part of the review, according to Small.

In a relatively large law school, Small said, the Harvard Law Review provides a close working environment in which students edit, review, and write pieces for the legal journal with the largest circulation in the world.

And while Small said she will work hard to maintain the high standard of the review during her tenure as president, there are also some traditions of the review that Small is helping to break.

Small, who received the prestigious Joshua Sears Prize for academic achievement during her first year of law school, is the review's fifth woman president. "It's an honor to be one of the five women presidents," Small said.

The first woman president, Susan R. Estrich, was elected in 1976. Estrich, who was also a Crimson editor, went on to become a Harvard Law School professor and managed Michael Dukakis' presidential campaign.