Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

A Golden Opportunity: Legal Research Simulation Courses, Leslie A. Street, Shawn G. Nevers

Leslie A. Street

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Academic Law Library Director Perspectives: Case Studies And Insights, Adeen Postar

Adeen Postar

No abstract provided.

The Rhetoric Of Constitutional Law, Erwin Chemerinsky

Erwin Chemerinsky

I spend much of my time dealing with Supreme Court opinions. Usually, I download and read them the day that they are announced by the Court. I edit them for my casebook and teach them to my students. I write about them, lecture about them, and litigate about them. My focus, like I am sure most everyone's, is functional: I try to discern the holding, appraise the reasoning, ascertain the implications, and evaluate the decision's desirability. Increasingly, though, I have begun to think that this functional approach is overlooking a crucial aspect of Supreme Court decisions: their rhetoric. I use …

Blogs And The Legal Academy, Orin S. Kerr

Orin Kerr

This paper's focus is on today’s technology and ask whether blogs as we know them today are conducive to advancing scholarship. This paper's conclusion is that relative to other forms of communication, blogs do not provide a particularly good platform for advancing serious legal scholarship. The blog format focuses reader attention on recent thoughts rather than deep ones. The tyranny of reverse chronological order limits the scholarly usefulness of blogs by leading the reader to the latest instead of the best.

This doesn’t mean that blogs can’t advance scholarship. The impact of any blog depends on what its author decides …

Fake News, Post-Truth & Information Literacy, Carol A. Watson, Caroline Osborne, Kristina L. Niedringhaus

Caroline L. Osborne

What is fake news? How did it arise? Why does recognizing fake news matter? How do we create information literate consumers in the legal community? This program will discuss the intersection of fake news and information literacy theory. We’ll provide an overview of the rise and proliferation of fake news including highlights of historical instances; a discussion of the impact of failing to detect fake news; and strategies for creating successful information literacy programming.

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

Shakira D. Pleasant

No abstract provided.

Ilene Barshay: A Beloved Friend And Colleague, Rena C. Seplowitz

Rena C. Seplowitz

No abstract provided.

Teaching Students To Use Feedback To Improve Their Legal-Writing Skills, Lara Gelbwasser Freed, Joel Atlas

Joel Atlas

In an age in which writing-software programs tout formative feedback on student papers and advertise clear and compelling sentences, the roles of professor and student in the assessment and outcome-achievement process may appear passive, or even supplanted. Using feedback to improve learning, however, requires both professor and student to play active roles. In legal education, law professors are tasked with identifying and assessing learning outcomes. And much has been written about these tasks as they relate to both doctrinal and legal-writing courses. But less attention has been devoted to law students’ role in responding to feedback on their writing and …

Beyond The “Practice Ready” Buzz: Sifting Through The Disruption Of The Legal Industry To Divine The Skills Needed By New Attorneys, Jason G. Dykstra

Jason Dykstra

A heightened velocity of change enveloped the legal profession over the last two decades. From big law to rural practitioners, the traditional law firm model proved ripe for disruption. This disruption is fueled by several discrete changes in how legal services are provided, including technological advances that allow for the automation of many routine tasks and the disaggregation of legal services; enhanced client sophistication and cost-consciousness; global competition from offshoring routine legal services; the rise of the domestic gig economy, creating a new wave of home-shoring legal services; and competition from non-traditional legal services providers. In the face of declining …

Designing And Implementing Research Competency, Theresa K. Tarves, Anupama Pal, Nicole Downing

Theresa Tarves