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Legal Writing

Legal Writing Prof Blog

By law professors Coleen M. Barger, Sue Liemer and Nancy Soonpaa

Post Frequency: 31.6/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 15:42:31

proud to be a legal writing prof

Posted on December 06, 2010
It's one thing to have your letter to the editor published in the Sunday New York Times Magazine. It's something else to sign your letter with the title "Professor of Legal Writing." That's exactly what Ellen Saideman, at Roger Williams...

and even more promotion news

Posted on December 05, 2010
As the semester ends, the good news of legal writing professors' promotions just keeps coming in. The faculty at the University of Washington School of Law has now voted to promote Kate O'Neill to full professor. Congratulations, Kate! hat tip:...

Photos from a One-Day Workshop (San Diego) - 2

Posted on December 04, 2010
Here's a photo of some of the presenters at the One-Day Workshop in San Diego. Picutred here (from left to right) are Leslie P. Wallace (California Western School of Law), Charles Calleros (Arizona State University Sandra Day O?Connor College of...

Guest Blogger Lori Johnson on "Tips for Grading and Handling Student Conferences"

Posted on December 04, 2010
Here's a guest blog post from Lori Johnson, a legal writing professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV. She attended one of the Legal Writing Institute One-Day Workshops yesterday at California Western School of Law in...

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Photos from a One-Day Workshop (San Diego) - 1

Posted on December 04, 2010
Here are some photos from the day before the one-day workshop. In this first photo, Charles Calleros, Mark Wojcik (hey, that's me), and Leslie Wallace try to spell out L-W-I against a San Diego sunset.

LWI One-Day Workshops

Posted on December 03, 2010
Dozens of legal writing professors met today at the Legal Writing Institute one-day workshops across the country. We've exchanged a great deal of useful information and teaching tips on legal writing textbooks, new legal research tools, effective student conferences, and...

Applied Legal Storytelling Conference

Posted on December 03, 2010
December 7 is the deadline for proposals to present at the Third Applied Legal Storytelling Conference, co-sponsored by the Legal Writing Institute (LWI) and the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA). The conference will be hosted by Sturm College of Law...

Teachers' Manual for Illinois Legal Research

Posted on December 02, 2010
In case you are using Illinois Legal Research (Carolina Academic Press, 2d ed. 2009), please know that an electronic teachers' manual is available. Click here for more information. In addition to Illinois, state-specific research guides are available for a number...

statutory construction at its finest . .

Posted on December 01, 2010
According to the Washington Post, a Virginia man cited for driving by a school bus with its lights flashing and stop sign extended was found not guilty by a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge based on the language of the...

more promotion news

Posted on December 01, 2010
Associate Professor of Law Sonia Bychkov Green teaches legal writing and many other interesting courses at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Her faculty has voted to give her tenure, and it's so well-deserved. Congratulations Sonia! hat tip: Anthony...

Editing Exercises on Wordiness

Posted on November 26, 2010
We'll keep this brief. Scott Fruehwald (Hofstra) has uploaded some editing exercises on wordiness. Click here. Thanks Scott! (mew)

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 25, 2010
We wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. It is a great time to reflect on the people and things that are important in our lives, and how precious we are to each other. The editors

advice from Justices Breyer and Scalia

Posted on November 22, 2010
Here at Texas Tech, we had an excellent third Sandra Day O'connor Lecture Series event last week with Justices Breyer and Scalia speaking to the community on Friday and then at the law school on Monday. At the faculty lunch,...

Typography for Lawyers

Posted on November 19, 2010
Matthew Butterick has written a new book, Typography for Lawyers. If you are a lawyer who writes anything that ends up as typed text, you need to read this book. If you are a legal writing professor who teaches law...

job opening in North Carolina

Posted on November 18, 2010
Elon University School of Law is taking applications for a full-time instructor position, teaching two sections of Legal Method & Communication, a two-semester, five credit, first-year course, beginning in August 2011.?The initial appointment will be for a three-year term, with...

empathy -- a core legal skill

Posted on November 17, 2010
Perhaps you have to be a legal academic to become a fan of the law journal articles of particular authors. Over time I've come to appreciate that no matter what I read by Ian Gallacher at Syracuse University, my time...

the non-tenured life

Posted on November 16, 2010
Most legal writing professors do not have tenure-line appointments. What is it like to be surrounded by tenured faculty when you don't -- and won't ever -- have tenure? Click here to see. hat tip: Melissa Marlow (spl)

Preserving Our History: Past LWI Newsletters Now Online

Posted on November 15, 2010
Karin Mika has kindly uploaded earlier editions of the LWI newsletter and The Second Draft. Click here to see the list of newsletters now available. If you would like to have a look at the very first LWI newsletter from...

Plain Writing Act of 2010

Posted on November 14, 2010
President Obama signed the Plain Writing Act of 2010 into law on October 13, 2010. The new legislation will require federal government agencies to draw up a plain language action plan, and to train staff to write plain English, within...

Researching U.S. Supreme Court Materials and Oral Arguments

Posted on November 13, 2010
The Oyez Project, a multimedia archive devoted to the U.S. Supreme Court of the United States, is moving its website to IIT Chicago Kent. The site aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the...

Reducing Word Counts

Posted on November 13, 2010
One skill that we need to teach our students is how to reduce the number of words in their writing without sacrificing the underlying message. Where courts limit words, we must teach our students to eliminate phrases such as these:...

Tim Blevins elected

Posted on November 12, 2010
Word has arrived that Tim Blevins, veteran legal writing professor at FAMU, has been elected the Orange Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisor, Group 2, i.e. for his area of Florida. Congratulations Tim! So why is it that experience as...

writing negotiation demand letters

Posted on November 12, 2010
An aspect of legal writing often overlooked is how to truly successfully draft a negotiation demand letter. Now Carrie Sperling has filled the gap with her article on "Priming Legal Negotiations Through Written Demands". Here's her abstract: "Lawyers frequently start...

the 11th day of the 11th month

Posted on November 11, 2010
See http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm. (spl)

staying up-to-date

Posted on November 11, 2010
For those of us of a certain age who teach legal research and writing, the challenge to stay-up-to-date in the internet age can seem daunting. Edward McClure provides some reassurance in his article on "How to Drink from a Firehose...

Reminder: Applied Legal Storytelling Conference

Posted on November 10, 2010
The Third Applied Legal Storytelling Conference, co-sponsored by the Legal Writing Institute (LWI) and the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA), will be hosted by Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver on July 8-10, 2011. Although that conference...

save a word

Posted on November 10, 2010
Yesterday evening, on All Things Considered, NPR reported on a movement to save English words that have fallen out of usage. You can adopt a word, promising to use it with some regularity, and help bring it back to life....

legal writing, lead the way

Posted on November 10, 2010
Kirsten Dauphinais, at the University of North Dakota, has written an article on the "Sea Change: The Seismic Shift in the Legal Profession and How Legal Writing Professors Will Keep Legal Education Afloat in its Wake". Here's her summary of...

happy lawyers?

Posted on November 09, 2010
Click here to take the little quiz on lawyer happiness. hat tip: Larry Krieger (spl)

writing exercises on concise usage

Posted on November 08, 2010
Scott Fruehwald has posted some helpful writing exercises on his SSRN page. These exercises will help legal writing students learn to eliminate wordiness from their writing. You can find them here -- or send your students directly to them. (spl)

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