Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

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Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) database provides access to information legal, legislative, and regulatory information produced on multiple subjects by the U.S. Government. Content includes congressional bills, congressional committee hearings and prints (studies), reports on legislation, the text of laws, regulations, and executive orders and multiple U.S. Government information resources covering subjects from accounting to zoology.

Arkansas Practice Materials: A Selective Annotated Bibliography, Jessie Wallace Burchfield, Melissa Serfass

Faculty Scholarship

Whether you are a legal professional or a novice legal researcher, this annotated bibliography of Arkansas practice materials provides current and relevant state-specific information about available resources. The bibliography integrates online and print resources, grouped by topic rather than format. Each source is annotated with helpful information.

Detailed information about primary legal materials such as court cases, statutes and administrative regulations is included. Information about secondary sources such as treatises, practice manuals, forms, and websites, is also covered.

It is organized in five main sections: Primary Materials, Government Resources, State Specific Resources, General Jurisprudence, and Practice Materials by Topic.

Law Library Blog (January 2020): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Food Waste Legislation Scholarship: A Mapping Study, Angela Hackstadt

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this study is to examine research activity on food waste legislation published in law journals to identify top sources and experts cited by recent scholarship. Searches for "food loss" and "food waste" were conducted in three legal research databases for law journal articles published between January 2013 and January 2018. The core list of selected articles consists of 13 law journal articles. The citations from each of the core articles were collected to form a database, which was analyzed to determine what kinds of resources legal scholars rely on when conducting research in food waste legislation. Government …

Law Library Blog (November 2018): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Law Library Blog (March 2018): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Tracking Colorado Legislation, Robert Linz

Publications

No abstract provided.

Statutory Law, Kathleen Klepfer, Alexis Fetzer

Law Faculty Publications

This chapter describes the sources of law created by the legislative branch of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The materials include the laws enacted by the Virginia General Assembly, the publications in which those laws are found, and the resources available to assist in interpreting the legislative enactments.

The cardinal rule in Virginia statutory construction is that the statute expresses the intention of the lawmakers. Therefore, it falls upon the courts to ascertain the General Assembly’s intent where that intent becomes important in the application of statutory materials. When researching Virginia statutes, certain principles of interpretation and application must be kept …

Introduction To The Micro-­‐‑Symposium On Scalia & Garner's “Reading Law”:The Textualist Technician, Karen Petroski

All Faculty Scholarship

Recently, the Green Bag issued a call for short (1,000 words) essays on Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts, by Antonin Scalia and Bryan Garner. We sought “[a]ny theoretical, empirical, or practical commentary that will help readers better understand the book.” The result is this micro-symposium. Our call drew dozens of micro-essays, some thought-provoking, some chuckle-prompting, and some both. Blessed with an abundance of good work but cursed by a shortage of space, we were compelled to select a small set – representative and excellent – of those essays to publish in the Green Bag and its sibling publication, …

Hiding In Plain Sight: "Conspicuous Type" Standards In Mandated Communication Statutes, Mary Beth Beazley

Scholarly Works

Professor Beazley defines the concept of mandated communication statutes in this examination of typeface, language, and the mind's ability to comprehend certain syntax. This article has a simple premise: when a government mandates written communication, it should present the mandated communication in a way that speeds comprehension. When communication is so important that the government is mandating the words and the presentation method, the writer and not the reader should not bear the burden of making sure that the information is comprehensible. In other words, the reader should not have to work to decipher the information; the writer should work …

Writer's Block: Why Punctuation Matters, Part Two, David Spratt

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Misplaced Modifiers - Say What, David Spratt

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Writer's Block - Resolve To Become A Better Writer, David Spratt

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Shall - Take No. 2, Debra R. Cohen

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Clear Legal Drafting: What's Holding Us Back?, F. Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Legislative Process And Drafting In U.S. Law Schools: A Close Look At The Lammers Report, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Teaching Legal Writing In The Law Schools (With A Special Nod To Legal Drafting), Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Dale, William, Legislative Drafting: A New Approach, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Legal Drafting: Writing As Thinking, Or, Talk-Back From Your Draft And How To Exploit It, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Seminar On Legal Drafting Raises Questions On Teaching, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Professionalizing Legislative Drafting: A Realistic Goal?, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The teaching of skills that result in sound legislative drafting is neglected in law schools, and professionalism in legislative drafting is lacking on both the federal and state fronts. With the adoption by the American Bar Association of seven major principles relating to the drafting of federal legislation, perhaps there is more hope now that there will be a move toward professionalism.

The Catholic University Study Of Federal Legislative Drafting In The Executive Branch: A Foreword, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Statutory Interpretation: The Uses And Anatomy Of Context, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Every communication that is generated by a written instrument consists of two elements which must be considered in arriving at the meaning of the communication. Those elements are: (1) the written vehicle itself, and (2) its surrounding context. The surrounding context which thus completes the communication consists only of those underlying cultural aspects which, when considered in relation to the written vehicle, are: (1) relevant to the written vehicle, (2) reliable, (3) shared by the author and the audience, and (4) relied on by both author and audience to complete the communication. The author suggests that those cultural elements which …

The Diseases Of Legislative Language, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this article Professor Dickerson examines some of the most basic problems facing the legislative draftsman in his attempt to obtain clarity in statutes. He discusses the "diseases" of ambiguity, over-vagueness, over-precision, over- and under-generality and obesity, and distinguishes them from useful devices with which they are often confused.

The Difficult Choice Between "And" And "Or", Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Legislative Drafting In London And In Washington, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Legislative Drafting: American And British Practices Compared, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The principal difference between legislative drafting for the British Parliament and legislative drafting for the American Congress, Mr. Dickerson declares, arises from the fact that the many-authored legislation 'proposed in Congress is extremely vulnerable to revision and redrafting as it makes its way through subcommittee hearings and committee debates, whereas the legislation in Parliament, prepared by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, is much more likely to be enacted in its original form. This article points up the problems inherent in drafting statutes in a complex world.

How To Write A Law, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Legislative Drafting And The Law Schools, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Legislative Drafting: A Challenge To The Legal Profession, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.