Law Commons^™

Legal Writing--What’S Next? Real-World, Persuasion Pedagogy From Day One, Adam Lamparello, Charles Maclean

Adam Lamparello

No abstract provided.

Legal Writing As Good Writing; Tips From The Trenches, Michael A. Zuckerman, Andrey Spektor

Michael A. Zuckerman

No abstract provided.

Baker V. State And The Promise Of The New Judicial Federalism, Charles Baron, Lawrence Friedman

Charles H. Baron

In Baker v. State, the Supreme Court of Vermont ruled that the state constitution’s Common Benefits Clause prohibits the exclusion of same-sex couples from the benefits and protections of marriage. Baker has been praised by constitutional scholars as a prototypical example of the New Judicial Federalism. The authors agree, asserting that the decision sets a standard for constitutional discourse by dint of the manner in which each of the opinions connects and responds to the others, pulls together arguments from other state and federal constitutional authorities, and provides a clear basis for subsequent development of constitutional principle. This Article explores …

Creating A Six-Semester Writing Requirement: Using Legal Writing's "Hobble" To Solve Legal Education's Problem", Kristen Konrad Robbins-Tiscione

Kristen Konrad Robbins-Tiscione

The attached article argues that the best way to solve the current crisis in legal education is for law schools to commit to teaching writing by creating a six-semester writing requirement. In a 2011 article published in the Journal of Legal Education, John Lynch urged legal writing faculty to return to an outmoded and ineffective writing pedagogy, the “product approach,” on the grounds that it would make teaching legal writing easier. This article demonstrates that what Lynch calls legal writing’s hobble has become legal education’s problem. By failing to commit to teaching writing, law students are graduating without adequate preparation …

Synaptic Plasticity In Neurological Deficit As A Form Of Indemnification: The Utility Of Analogical Thinking, Madeleine Schachter, Madeleine Schachter

Madeleine Schachter

The need for creative problem-solving is as infinite as are the ways in which to engage in it. This article posits that one useful, albeit not flawless, mechanism in which to seek scientific advancements is through the use of analogical thinking. The technique has been invoked in virtually all disciplines, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. The utility of thinking by analogy lies, paradoxically, in its capacity to conceptualize a solution or a viable avenue of further inquiry as much as in its capacity to expose flaws in the analogical concept hypothesized. As such, it is an important means of stimulating …

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

Sherri Keene

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 …

Is There Life After Laptops? Further Thoughts On The Effects Of Unplugging A Uniquely "Wired-In" Generation, Eric A. Degroff

Eric A DeGroff

The Millennial Generation is the most technologically savvy age group ever to enter the legal academy. Many, however, enter law school with learning styles and other traits that make a legal education challenging. Though research suggests that accommodating student learning styles may enhance the educational experience generally, there is mounting evidence that accommodating student preferences for technology in the classroom may be counterproductive in some ways. This article summarizes that evidence, discusses the results of the author's two-year experiment with a no-laptop policy in his first-year doctrinal course, and suggests that such a policy may be well received by most …

A Dialogue On Jordanian Legal Education, George Critchlow, Nisreen Mahasneh

George Critchlow

This a readable article about the need for legal education reform in Jordan. It grew out of the experiences, discussions, and shared interests of the co-authors – a Jordanian female law professor and an American male law professor who have worked with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) and Jordanian law faculties to develop strategies for strengthening legal education in Jordan. The article is unusual in that it is presented as a dialogue in order to identify and reflect the authors’ different professional and cultural perspectives. The text is supported by citation to authority in conventional …

Judicial Training Programs In Bosnia And The Efficacy Of Rule Of Law Training, E. Joan Blum

E. Joan Blum

Presentation on personal experience conducting judicial training programs in Bosnia, including observations and recommendations on the efficacy of rule of law training programs.

Playing To The Audience, David Spratt

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Student, Esquire?: The Practice Of Law In The Collaborative Classroom, Nantiya Ruan

Nantiya Ruan

Law faculty and non-profit lawyers are working together in a variety of partnerships to offer students exposure to “real life” clients in the first year of law school, as well as in advanced courses in substantive areas. Teachers engaged in client-centered advocacy through experiential frameworks have broken out of their isolated silos in the law school (e.g., legal writing, clinical, externship, and doctrinal) and begun to work together. To help students develop a sense of professional identity, cultivate professional values, and tap into key intrinsic motivations for lawyering, such as serving the public good, collaborative classrooms have an important role …

Thinking Outside The Box: Publication Opportunities Beyond The Traditional Law Review, Susan Chesler, Anna Hemingway, Tamara Herrera

Anna P. Hemingway

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 Keene

Sherri Keene

Legal writing is more than an isolated practical skill or a law school course; it is a valuable tool for broadening and deepening one’s 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 work on legal writing …

A Strategy For Teaching Objectivity To The Domestic Relations Student: Utilizing Psychodrama To Explore Attorney Empathy Toward Improving Family Law Outcomes, Bruce L. Beverly

Bruce L. Beverly

The basic domestic relations law course is often taught by the casebook method, with little reference to actual underlying human drama. In order to produce effective advocates, it is necessary for student to be brought out of the sterile case recitation model and into a role where the student experiences, in a controlled and directed fashion, some of the hardships faced by the players in a family law case. This article proposes that, in line with new emphasis on experiential learning and alternate learning styles, one might employ a psychodramatic approach to teaching the domestic relations course, in order to …