The Stanford Law Review (SLR) launched an online version Thursday intended to “provide an outlet for law-review-quality pieces, with Internet-speed turnaround between submission and publication,” according to a statement on its website.

The site will feature shorter, timelier articles on legal topics in the news. Currently, planned articles include an analysis of California’s criminal sentencing commissions, constitution-making and the Arab Spring, the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and the PROTECT IP Act, among others.

Law student James Freedman, a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, will serve as senior online editor of the journal. He has previously served as senior production editor of the Stanford Law Review and co-president of the Stanford Law and Technology Association.

Law professor Robert Weisberg ’79 authored the first piece posted on the site, titled “California’s De Facto Sentencing Commissions.”

This initiative follows a similar move by Yale Law Journal, which launched an online-only content program in 2009.

–Brendan O’Byrne