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Articles 1 - 30 of 539
Full-Text Articles in Law
Scholarship As Fun, Thomas Schultz
Scholarship As Fun, Thomas Schultz
Dalhousie Law Journal
One theme that traverses much of Pierre Schlag’s work is a sense of profound humanity—the idea that thinking and writing about the law can and should be a deeply, genuinely human activity—an activity for which we can, and should, break up many of the barriers that stand between us, between who we really are, and what we think and write. It is an activity for which we should put aside our pretences and insecurities and the attached formalisms and exaggerations behind which we so often hide, and which in the end constrain our humanity so much, as they take on …
The Political Economy Of Laughter And Outrage, Genevieve Renard Painter
The Political Economy Of Laughter And Outrage, Genevieve Renard Painter
Dalhousie Law Journal
A bit uncomfortable. That is how it feels to be among dear friends but labelled professionally as an outsider. I have a law degree, a bar membership, and a PhD in Jurisprudence and Social Policy. I am a professor in a women’s studies department at Concordia University. At conference receptions, people respond breathlessly, “But they don’t have a law school at Concordia!?,” as though I am hearing confession in a gas station, or something as heretical. I teach legal history, international law, feminist legal theory, and constitutional law to undergraduates who are not in law school and mostly don’t want …
The Discipline Of Breaks: Making Time For Rest (And Revisions) In Legal Writing, Patrick Barry
The Discipline Of Breaks: Making Time For Rest (And Revisions) In Legal Writing, Patrick Barry
Other Publications
Editing your work involves the tricky business of finding the right mental distance between two versions of yourself: the version that did the drafting and the version that now needs to do the revising. Mastering that kind of cognitive division is not always an easy task.
40 More Writing Hacks For Appellate Attorneys, Brian C. Potts
40 More Writing Hacks For Appellate Attorneys, Brian C. Potts
Faculty Articles
Script for Trailer: “40 More Writing Hacks for Appellate Attorneys”
Fade in on aerial view of Washington, D.C.
Zoom in on Supreme Court Building. Chopper sounds. Enter helicopter fleet flying by.
Cut to Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., sitting at his desk, reading. He rubs his forehead. Tired. Anxious. Distraught.
Chief: “What a mess! This brief could have been 10 pages shorter!”
Phone rings. Chief answers on speaker.
Law clerk’s voice through phone: “Chief, turn to Appellee’s brief. You’ve got to see this!”
Chief picks up different brief. Flips it open. Zoom in on face. Eyes widen. Jaw drops. …
Mandatory Anti-Bias Cle: A Serious Problem Deserves A More Meaningful Response, Rima Sirota
Mandatory Anti-Bias Cle: A Serious Problem Deserves A More Meaningful Response, Rima Sirota
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
This essay addresses the problematic convergence of two recent trends: (1) the expansion of jurisdictions requiring anti-bias training (ABT) as part of mandatory continuing legal education (CLE), and (2) the growing recognition among social scientists that such training, at least as currently practiced, is of limited effectiveness.
Forty-six American states require continuing legal education (CLE), and eleven of these states now require lawyer ABT as one facet of CLE requirements. I have previously criticized the mandatory CLE system because so little evidence supports the conclusion that it results in more competent lawyers. The central question tackled by this essay is …
Advice About Written Advocacy From The Washington Court Of Appeals, Douglas E. Abrams
Advice About Written Advocacy From The Washington Court Of Appeals, Douglas E. Abrams
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Flawless First Draft In Legal Writing: A Fantasy Of The Uninitiated, Patrick Barry
Flawless First Draft In Legal Writing: A Fantasy Of The Uninitiated, Patrick Barry
Other Publications
I recently received an email from a former student (now a public interest lawyer) who had just finished a major writing project. She wanted to thank me for introducing her to the psychologically liberating concept of “shitty first drafts.” Without it, she said, she probably would have never hit her deadline.
References To Beatles Songs In Advocacy And Judicial Opinions, Douglas E. Abrams
References To Beatles Songs In Advocacy And Judicial Opinions, Douglas E. Abrams
Faculty Publications
This article surveys the indelible mark that the Beatles (Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr) continue to leave on courts in the United States more than half a century after the quartet burst onto the American scene with their three television appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964, six years before the band’s breakup.
Some Thoughts On Reply Briefs, Brian Wolfman
Some Thoughts On Reply Briefs, Brian Wolfman
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
This essay provides suggestions for writing reply briefs. It begins with a quick review of the well-understood ways in which an appellate advocate should acquire and review the information needed to write a comprehensive and powerful reply brief.
The essay then turns to the more difficult challenges of crafting the brief, making three key points:
First, don't just go tit-for-tat in responding to one point after another advanced by the appellee. That can be boring and ponderous and often requires you to argue the case on your opponent's terms. Rather, re-frame the case on your client's terms, taking the case …
“All We Have To Decide Is What To Do With The Time Given To Us”: Using Concepts Of Narrative Time To Draft More Persuasive Legal Arguments, Jennifer Sheppard
“All We Have To Decide Is What To Do With The Time Given To Us”: Using Concepts Of Narrative Time To Draft More Persuasive Legal Arguments, Jennifer Sheppard
Marquette Law Review
When taught to draft a statement of facts or a statement of the case, law students and new lawyers are often told to “tell a story” and that chronological order is usually the best organizational strategy to use when telling that story. While much has been written in recent years on how to draft a story in the legal context, little scholarship is devoted to how to draft a story using chronology or how a lawyer can shape and manipulate time within a story to better advocate for a client. Legal scholars seem to think that the use of chronology …
What Lawyers Can Teach Their Employed Law Students About 'Impactful Legal Writing', Douglas E. Abrams
What Lawyers Can Teach Their Employed Law Students About 'Impactful Legal Writing', Douglas E. Abrams
Faculty Publications
This article concerns the value of teaching employed law students about the potency of “impactful legal writing” – legal writing that can have a substantial impact on someone other than the student writer. Much of the employer’s most instructive teaching about impactful legal writing occurs at the beginning of an assignment, rather than solely during review after the student has completed the assignment. This article identifies four ways an employed law student’s impactful writing when fulfilling assignments differs from the effect of students’ academic writing in law school. Each of the four ways enables the employer to deliver practical lessons …
How Law Students' Part-Time Legal Employment Can Help Employers Improve Their Own Writing Skills, Douglas E. Abrams
How Law Students' Part-Time Legal Employment Can Help Employers Improve Their Own Writing Skills, Douglas E. Abrams
Faculty Publications
Professor Abrams authors a column, Writing it Right, in the Journal of the Missouri Bar. In a variety of contexts, the column stresses the fundamentals of quality legal writing — conciseness, precision, simplicity, and clarity.
The Capitalization Of "Tribal Nations" And The Decolonization Of Citation, Nomenclature, And Terminology In The United States, Angelique Eaglewoman
The Capitalization Of "Tribal Nations" And The Decolonization Of Citation, Nomenclature, And Terminology In The United States, Angelique Eaglewoman
Mitchell Hamline Law Review
No abstract provided.
Reimagining Langdell's Legacy: Puncturing The Equilibrium In Law School Pedagogy, Laura A. Webb
Reimagining Langdell's Legacy: Puncturing The Equilibrium In Law School Pedagogy, Laura A. Webb
Law Faculty Publications
For more than 150 years, legal education has largely followed the course charted by Christopher Columbus Langdell when he became dean of Harvard Law School in 1870. Langdell’s innovations included the case method, high-stakes summative assessments, and preferences for faculty members with experience in “learning law” rather than practicing it. His proposals were innovative and responsive to challenges in legal education at the time, but this Article argues that taking Langdell’s approach to reform—including a willingness toimplement radical changes in the face of institutional shortcomings—requires reimagining his methods for the benefit of today’s students. We identify key deficiencies of the …
Editing, Vehicles In The Park, And The Virtue Of Clarity, Patrick Barry
Editing, Vehicles In The Park, And The Virtue Of Clarity, Patrick Barry
Articles
What is the optimal amount of advocacy?
My law students and I face that question all the time. We face it when we’re drafting motions. We face it when we’re proposing changes to contracts. We even face it when putting together key emails, text messages, and social-media posts.
In all these situations and many more, we don’t want to oversell our arguments and ideas — but we don’t want to undersell them either. Instead, we hope to hit that perfect sweet spot known as “persuasion.”
We don’t always succeed, but one thing that has significantly increased our effectiveness is the …
William T. Kirby Award, The, Notre Dame Law School
William T. Kirby Award, The, Notre Dame Law School
Student, Faculty, and Staff Awards
The William T. Kirby Award
For Excellence in Legal Writing.
Each year, a first-year (1L) student is chosen for excellence in writing a legal memorandum and third-year (3L) student(s) are chosen for excellence in brief writing.
All award winners will be recognized in their third year on Awards Day and in the Commencement Program.
References To Classic American Novels In Advocacy And Judicial Opinions, Douglas E. Abrams
References To Classic American Novels In Advocacy And Judicial Opinions, Douglas E. Abrams
Faculty Publications
With this Journal of the Missouri Bar article, the survey of courts’ cultural markers returns to literature – particularly American literature. Besides “To Kill a Mockingbird,” federal and state courts in their written opinions have cited and quoted from other classic novels written by American authors, including "Catch-22", "Moby-Dick", and "The Grapes of Wrath".
Feedback Loops: E-D-I-T, Patrick Barry
Feedback Loops: E-D-I-T, Patrick Barry
Articles
The Keep/Cut Framework we learned about back in the December 2022 Feedback Loops column is, admittedly, a bit of a blunt feedback instrument. When the only feedback you can give is “Keep” or “Cut,” there’s not a ton of room for nuance or gradation. Your comments are restricted to either endorsing what already exists or pushing for something to be removed. hat’s a pretty limited menu.
So in both this column and in the June 2023 column, we’re going to learn about a feedback framework that creates opportunities for a greater range of opinions and recommendations: “E-D-I-T.”
Feedback Loops: E-D-I-T (Continued), Patrick Barry
Feedback Loops: E-D-I-T (Continued), Patrick Barry
Articles
In the "Feedback Loops" column back in March, we introduced the "E-D-I-T" framework:
- Find something to Eliminate
- Find something to Decrease
- Find something to Increase
- Find something to Try
This new column will discuss each category more in depth.
Arthur Abel Memorial Competition Writing Award, Notre Dame Law Review
Arthur Abel Memorial Competition Writing Award, Notre Dame Law Review
Student, Faculty, and Staff Awards
Each spring, the Notre Dame Law Review accepts entries for the annual Arthur Abel Memorial Writing Competition. Arthur Abel was a 1985 graduate of the Law School, serving on both the Notre Dame Law Review and the Journal of Legislation. After working for several years in private practice, Arthur served as Assistant General Counsel for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A tireless attorney possessed of a keen intellect and a wonderful sense of humor, Arthur achieved much success in a short period of time. Tragically, Arthur's life was cut short at the age of thirty-six.
Through a generous gift …
Problems With Authority, Amy J. Griffin
Problems With Authority, Amy J. Griffin
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Judicial decisionmaking rests on a foundation of unwritten rules—those that govern the weight of authority. Such rules, including the cornerstone principle of stare decisis, are created informally through the internal social practices of the judiciary. Despite the central role of such rules in judicial decisionmaking, we lack a good account of how they are created, revised, and enforced. There is something paradoxical and troubling about the notion that the rules of the game are determined by the players as they play the game according to those rules. Because weight-of-authority rules are largely informal and almost entirely unwritten, we don’t even …
Disrupting Data Cartels By Editing Wikipedia, Eun Hee Han, Amanda Levendowski, Jonah Perlin
Disrupting Data Cartels By Editing Wikipedia, Eun Hee Han, Amanda Levendowski, Jonah Perlin
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Legal discourse in the digital public square is driven by memoranda, motions, briefs, contracts, legislation, testimony, and judicial opinions. And as lawyers are taught from their first day of law school, the strength of these genres of legal communication is built on authority. But finding that authority often depends on a duopoly of for-profit legal research resources: Westlaw and Lexis. Although contemporary legal practice relies on these databases, they are far from ethically neutral. Not only are these “data cartels” expensive-- creating significant access to justice challenges--they also are controlled by parent companies that profit by providing information to Immigration …
Exemplary Legal Writing 2020: Four Recommendations, Jed S. Rakoff, Lev Menand
Exemplary Legal Writing 2020: Four Recommendations, Jed S. Rakoff, Lev Menand
Faculty Scholarship
For some years, John Coffee of the Columbia Law School, one of the country’s leading experts on corporate and securities law, has been critical of the government’s failure to effectively prosecute corporate crime. In this book, Coffee both propounds a general theory of why such criminality is rarely prosecuted in a meaningful way, and also offers some creative solutions to such underenforcement.
Exploring Anti-Racism In The First Year Legal Writing Classroom, Amanda K. Maus Stephen
Exploring Anti-Racism In The First Year Legal Writing Classroom, Amanda K. Maus Stephen
Presentations
The Legal Writing Institute hosted a series of one-day workshops at various law schools, including at SU, where the theme of the workshops was "Teaching Values in the Legal Writing Classroom." This presentation explores assignments and activities that legal writing professors can use to introduce and reinforce ant-racism as a critical professional value.
Assessing A Cooperative Writing Process In An Undergraduate Legal Writing Course, James A. Croft
Assessing A Cooperative Writing Process In An Undergraduate Legal Writing Course, James A. Croft
St. John's Law Review
(Excerpt)
I teach legal writing to undergraduate students, and I primarily do so by cooperatively writing with them, using instructional time to work through the students’ writing assignments as a class. I arrived at this process organically over several years. When I first started teaching, I was surprised by the disconnect between my expectations regarding student writing and student performance. To attempt to close that gap, I began going through parts of the research and writing process cooperatively with my students in class, and increasing the amount of work that we did together each semester until, in the semester assessed …
Legal Citations: A Foundation Of Written Advocacy, Douglas E. Abrams
Legal Citations: A Foundation Of Written Advocacy, Douglas E. Abrams
Faculty Publications
The article advanced this formula for achieving effective appellate advocacy: “First, you seek to persuade the court of the merit of the client’s case, to create an emotional empathy for your position. Then you assist the court to reach a conclusion favorable to the client’s interest in terms of the analysis of the law and the procedural posture of the case.”
Debunking The Efficacy Of Standard Contract Boilerplate: Part V, David Spratt
Debunking The Efficacy Of Standard Contract Boilerplate: Part V, David Spratt
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
After five installments, we can end our discussion of contract boilerplate. We have slashed the outdated language and emerged as a clear and contemporary legal writer. Be willing to adapt what has worked well in the past because change is the foundation of human ingenuity.
References To Robert Frost's Poetry In Advocacy And Judicial Opinions, Douglas E. Abrams
References To Robert Frost's Poetry In Advocacy And Judicial Opinions, Douglas E. Abrams
Faculty Publications
This article concerns courts whose written opinions have recently cited and quoted Frost and his poetry. By profiling Frost’s enduring influence, the article fortifies a theme I have presented in earlier “Writing It Right” articles. The theme begins in the courts, which in recent years often accent their opinions’ substantive or procedural rulings by quoting or citing well-known cultural markers from literature, sports, or popular entertainment.
Improved Writing From Reading Other Writers, Douglas E. Abrams
Improved Writing From Reading Other Writers, Douglas E. Abrams
Faculty Publications
In 1954, a 12-year-old junior high school student wrote to Justice Felix Frankfurter seeking advice about how to prepare to become a lawyer. “The best way to prepare for the law,” Frankfurter answered, “is to come to the study of law as a well-read person.” Reading other writers, he explained, enables future lawyers to “acquire the capacity to use the English language on paper and in speech and with the habits of clear thinking.”
Justice Frankfurter offered his young correspondent sound advice about the intimate link among reading, writing, and lawyering. Reading works from other writers with an eye toward …
Obergefell V. Hodges—And The Use Of Oral Argument And Storytelling To Reinforce Competencies In The Legal Writing Classroom, Karin Mika
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
Legal writing professors struggle with trying to balance learning skills with the bigger picture of learning that law is ultimately about having the power to change lives. Often, learning the skills becomes completely separated from the human aspect of the law. Although we all work toward unifying the two concepts, it is not always done by having discussions about the bigger issues, or even having the students look at more traditional sources such as briefs or even law review articles. Oyez and the oral tradition of storytelling presented by radio (or other similar resources) have the potential of more fully …