Law Commons^™

“And/Or” And The Proper Use Of Legal Language, Ira P. Robbins

Maryland Law Review

The use of the term and/or is pervasive in legal language. Lawyers use it in all types of legal contexts—including statutes, contracts, and pleadings. Beginning in the 1930s, however, many judges decided that the term and/or should never be used in legal drafting. Ardent attacks on the term included charges that it was vague, if not meaningless, with some authorities declaring it to be a “Janus-faced verbal monstrosity,” an “inexcusable barbarism,” a “mongrel expression,” an “abominable invention,” a “crutch of sloppy thinkers,” and “senseless jargon.” Still today, critics maintain that the construct and/or is inherently ambiguous and should be avoided …

A Proud Maryland Law Review Alumnus Looks Back, Richard D. Bennett

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Multitasking For Professional Development: Legal Writing, Constitutional Law And Scholarship, Regina Ramsey James

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

Using Non-Directive Conference Techniques With International Students, Jennifer Davis

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

Using Foreign Authority To Teach Foreign-Trained Llms, Andrew Jensen Kerr

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

Grasp The Subject, The Words Will Follow: Reinforcing Doctrinal Learning And Building Skills And Competencies Through Legal Writing Exercises, Veronica Finkelstein

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

Using Technology To Teach The Flipped Classroom: A Presentation Of Various Tools, Techniques, And Tips, Duane R. Donahoe, Jessica Wherry, Shakira Pleasant, Kristen Murray

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

The Integrated Law School Curriculum, Adam Lamparello

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

Peer Editing On A Large Scale: Protecting Anonymity, Encouraging Class Participation, And Increasing Awareness Of Learning Objectives, Jennifer Franklin

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

Bridging The Gap Between Required First And Second Year Legal Writing Courses And The Evolving Roles Of Students And Professors, Jessica K. Webb, Heather Baum

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

It's Alive! Breathing New Life Into Old Topics, Olympia Duhart, Amanda Foster, Hugh Mundy

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

Experiments In Pedagogy: The Pro Humanitate Project, Abigail Perdue

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

Fairy Tales And The Importance Of Telling A Story, Brian Nese

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

Teaching Electronic Legal Research: Bookless But Not Bootless, Sharon A. Pocock

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

Making It Stick: Using The Science Of Successful Learning In The Legal Writing Classroom, Craig T. Smith

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

A Conversation About Discipline Building, Ruth Anne Robbins, Ellie Margolis, Sherri Keene

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

All The Law's A Stage: Using Vocal Techniques From Theatre To Improve Presentation Skills, Stephen Paskey

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

Add-On Contract Drafting Workshops, Martha M. Ertman

The Sixth Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference

No abstract provided.

Standing In The Judge’S Shoes: Exploring Techniques To Help Legal Writers More Fully Address The Needs Of Their Audience, Sherri Keene

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

"The Hindrance Of A Law Degree": Justice Kagan On Law And Experience, Laura Krugman Ray

Maryland Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Are We There Yet? Aligning The Expectations And Realities Of Gaining Competency In Legal Writing, Sherri Lee Keene

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

One Small Step For Legal Writing, One Giant Leap For Legal Education: Making The Case For More Writing Opportunities In The "Practice-Ready" Law School Curriculum, Sherri Lee Keene

Faculty Scholarship

Legal writing is more than an isolated practical skill or a law school course; it is a valuable tool for broadening and deepening law students’ and new attorneys’ knowledge and understanding of the law. If experienced legal professionals, both professors and practitioners alike, take a hard look back at their careers, many will no doubt remember how their work on significant legal writing projects advanced their own knowledge of the law and enhanced their professional competence. Legal writing practice helps the writer to gain expertise in a number of ways: first, the act of writing itself promotes learning; second, close …

Library Services For The Self-Interested Law School: Enhancing The Visibility Of Faculty Scholarship, Simon Canick

Faculty Scholarship

This article suggests a new set of filters through which to evaluate law library services, in particular those that support faculty scholarship. Factors include profound changes in legal education, and motivators of today’s law professors. Understanding the needs of self-interested deans and professors, libraries can fill new roles that are consistent with our core values. In particular we can focus on dissemination and promotion of faculty work, especially through innovative open access projects.

Teaching Amidst Transformation: Integrating Global Perspectives On The Financial Crisis Into The Classroom, Shruti Rana

Journal of Business & Technology Law

No abstract provided.

Teaching Business Law In The New Economy; Strategies For Success, Kamille Wolff Dean

Journal of Business & Technology Law

No abstract provided.

The New Legal Writing: The Importance Of Teaching Law Students How To Use E-Mail Professionally, Kendra Huard Fershee

Maryland Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Bridging Gaps And Blurring Lines: Integrating Analysis, Writing, Doctrine, And Theory, Susan J. Hankin

Faculty Scholarship

This article is an outgrowth of the author’s participation in a July 29, 2009 panel presentation, “Change in Legal Education: Practical Skills,” at the Symposium, YES WE CArNegie: Change in Legal Education after the Carnegie Report. The article responds to the Carnegie Report’s call to “bridge the gap between analytical and practical knowledge” by presenting two models for integrating skills with doctrine in the first-year curriculum. The first model, built into the curriculum at the University of Maryland School of Law, involves teaching the first semester Legal Analysis & Writing course by pairing it with another required first-semester course, Torts, …

Is Legal Scholarship Out Of Touch? An Empirical Analysis Of The Use Of Scholarship In Business Law Cases, Michelle M. Harner, Jason A. Cantone

Faculty Scholarship

Commentators have observed two apparent trends in the use of legal scholarship by the judiciary. First, judges now cite law review articles in their opinions with less frequency. Second, despite this general decline in the invocation of legal scholarship, judges now cite articles in specialty journals with more frequency.

Some commentators attribute the apparent decline in the courts’ use of legal scholarship to the increasingly theoretical and impractical nature of that scholarship. A few studies even suggest that the increasing use of specialty journals by the courts reflects the gap between the content of legal scholarship in general law reviews …

Statutory Interpretation In The Age Of Grammatical Permissiveness: An Object Lesson For Teaching Why Grammar Matters, Susan J. Hankin

Faculty Scholarship

This article uses an unpublished case interpreting New York’s animal cruelty law as an object lesson to teach why grammar matters. In People v. Walsh, 2008 WL 724724 (N.Y. Crim. Ct. Jan. 3, 2008), the court’s interpretation of the statute turned, in part, on the serial comma rule (sometimes called the “Oxford comma” rule). The court followed a mandatory approach to interpret the statute’s meaning, even though most contemporary grammar and style books make such use of a comma optional. One of the many benefits of using a case example to teach why grammar matters is that it focuses students …

The Ownership Delusion: When Law Libraries "Buy" Electronic Documents, Are They Getting More, Or Simply Paying More?, Simon Canick

Faculty Scholarship

This article explores the issues surrounding electronic document ownership in academic libraries. It discusses the guidelines of AALL with regard to licensing electronic materials, and how it measures up to what vendors are willing to offer. The author takes a critical stance on who benefits from the electronic document ownership agreements.