Legal Commentary

I've just returned from Marquette's first Works in Progress Workshop of the summer.  I know many other law schools have similar programs, but the format has worked so well for us that I thought I would give it a plug here for faculties that are not yet doing it.  Former Prawfs guest-blogger Chad Oldfather organized our first WiP program a year ago, and we have had three more since then.  In advance of the workshop, participants (usually eight or nine in number) circulate two- to ten-page summaries or fragments of articles that are in an early stage of development.  At the workshop, we discuss each piece for 45 minutes.  The first five minutes are introductory comments by the author, with the balance of the time given to questions and comments from other participants.  It's a lot like the terrific PrawfsFest I attended at Hofstra last summer, but (as is more feasible with a smaller group) a bit less structured.  The law school springs for lunch, but otherwise there are no institutional costs.  In addition to the obvious benefits of good feedback on projects at an early stage, we've found that the WiP programs also facilitate mentoring and have broader community-building benefits -- spending a day batting around interesting ideas with colleagues helps to remind many of us why we became academics in the first place.  In retrospect, the WiP programs seem like a real no-brainer, and it is hard to believe we did not start doing them sooner.