Legal Education Commons^™

Law Schools Should Substantially Increase Instruction In Mediation Representation, John Lande

Faculty Publications

American law schools generally focus 10% or less of their mediation curriculum on mediation representation. As shown in a survey of faculty teaching mediation and an analysis of course syllabi in this article, most of the instruction focuses on the role of a mediator.

This is a problem for several reasons. New graduates represent clients in mediation much more frequently than they mediate. Clients usually need professional advice to evaluate their cases and develop strategies, which mediators cannot provide. This is precisely the important service that attorneys can provide, but we teach students very little about what to do when …

Theory And Practice Of Mediation Representation, John Lande

Faculty Publications

These days, American attorneys regularly represent clients in mediation. This representation is a complex process, and attorneys and law students need guidance about how to serve clients well in this context. This article offers a theoretical framework for analyzing mediation representation based on Real Practice System Theory. It reviews books that outline elements of mediation representation and identify practical techniques that attorneys can use when representing clients in mediation. It supplies several suggestions for faculty who teach mediation, including teaching courses combining the perspectives of both mediators and mediation representatives.

The Important Role Of Attorneys In Promoting Parties' Self-Determination In Mediation, John Lande

Faculty Publications

This short article analyzes the meaning of self-determination, and it demonstrates that attorneys generally have much greater ability than mediators to promote parties’ self-determination. I argue that “self-determination” is an admirable but unattainable ideal.

Instead, attorneys and mediators should focus on promoting parties’ best possible decision-making under the circumstances. To optimally promote the quality of parties’ decision-making during mediation sessions, they must be well-prepared before mediation sessions. At that stage, attorneys are in the best position to counsel clients, when they have more time to carefully consider their situation and they are not under pressure to respond to the …

The Case For Mediation Representation Clinics And Externships, John Lande

Faculty Publications

This article recommends that law schools offer mediation representation clinics and externship courses to assist self-represented litigants in cases with legally-represented parties. These courses would prepare law students to practice in the modern world. Students would get experience working with real clients, conduct interviews, help clients assess their goals and interests, analyze claims, perform legal research, prepare documents, coordinate with mediators, and negotiate with counterpart attorneys.

The courses would address the needs of multiple stakeholders including self-represented litigants, law students, law schools, courts, attorneys, mediators, and society in general. Law schools would develop these courses in collaboration with many potential …

Modern Mediation Practice In American Legal Cases, John Lande

Faculty Publications

This article provides excerpts of It's Time to Make Important Upgrades to Our Mediation Curriculum. It notes significant changes in mediation practice in the past five decades and highlights the nature of modern mediation practice in American legal cases. It suggests that law school faculty upgrade of our mediation instruction to reflect the realities of modern practice.

A Threshold Assessment: Is Technology Among The Competencies Tested By The Mpre?, Amy A. Emerson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Tribute To Professor Marjorie Corman Aaron Upon Her Retirement, Sandra F. Sperino

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Merging The Bench, Bar, And Law Schools: How A Student Scholars Program Achieves Professional Identity Through Scholarly Writing, Mentorship, And Presentation, John C. Foley, Robin Boyle-Laisure, Troy Kessler

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Legal education is transforming. The American Bar Association's accreditation standards now require law schools to provide students with substantial opportunities for the development of professional identities together with an education that results in competencies in oral and written communication. As the professional identity formation requirement changes law school curricula, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated changes in the practice of law resulting in an emphasis on remote advocacy and presentation skills. This article explains the design and implementation of an innovative co-curricular program that addresses the new educational standard and the realities of practicing law today. In the Student Scholars …

In-House Counsel(Or): The Case For Providing Integrated Mental Health Support Services To Law Students, Eric W. Shannon

Faculty Publications

While some American law schools currently provide onsite mental health support services to their student populations, many still do not. This essay is the first to argue that all law schools should provide onsite mental health support services to their students—ideally, by way of a mental health professional integrated within the law school’s staff (an “integrated mental health professional,” or “IMHP”) who is familiar not only with the unique pressures of law school generally, but also with the school-specific environment. It explores current data on law student well-being as well as external considerations including ABA recommendations and standards for law …

Critical Race Thinking In A Pro-Black Space: An Asian American Law Professor's Reflections On Teaching At An Hbcu, Philip Lee

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have been the subject of both scholarly criticism and praise. Some of these colleges have shut down in recent years. Many HBCU law schools could face the same fate due to bar passage and other issues. However, with the recent Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admission, Inc. (SFFA) v. Harvard invalidating long-standing race-conscious admissions policies in higher education, HBCUs have become even more relevant in the educational landscape. As admission to historically White institutions (HWIs) become more elusive and as racial diversity at these places plumets, HBCUs are expected to admit …

Having Fun While Learning: Pedagogical Techniques For Teaching Contract Drafting, Robin Boyle

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Welcome everyone. Thank you very much for coming. It’s so exciting that we’re all together. I was looking forward to this conference. I’m Robin Boyle and I haven’t been here in a long time, unfortunately. So, it’s wonderful to come back and to see all of you.

My foray into contract drafting began about twenty years ago, when I started teaching Drafting Litigation Documents and Contracts (3 credits), which had a contract drafting component. The school also created a standalone Contract Drafting course (2 credits). The books that I’ve been using over the years have been very helpful. I …

Outside The Margins: Journal Alternatives For Professional Skill And Identity Development, Eric W. Shannon

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Every summer I hear from students who did not receive an offer to join their preferred journal—or sometimes any journal at all. Overall student interest in journal staff member positions generally outnumbers available spots in publications. Still other students opt out of participating in the writing competition entirely because of significant out-of-school responsibilities or other constraints on their time.

The appeal of journal membership is in many ways self-evident. It affords the space, time, and resources to sharpen legal research and writing skills. It can facilitate exploration of subject-matter areas of interest and help staff members decide on an …

The Music & The Movement: Race, Rhythm, And Social Justice, Renee Nicole Allen

Faculty Publications

From Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" to Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" to J. Cole's "Be Free," music has played a vital role in energizing social justice movements and elevating the legal and social issues facing Black people. An examination into the legal, historical, and social contexts for the music created during ten key movements in Black history reveals the role of lyrics and rhythm. Through the lens of music, ten movements—Freedom, Lynching, the Great Migration, Civil Rights, Black Power, Black Feminism, Police Brutality, Mass Incarceration, Black Love, and Black Lives Matter—demonstrate that Black music is more than entertainment. It is …

The Stories We (Don’T) Tell: Using Case Briefing To Explore Bias And Oppression In The Law, Ashley B. Armstrong

Faculty Publications

Traditional case briefing focuses on the text of the opinion—how courts frame and resolve legal issues. This Essay explores how to teach case briefing to investigate bias and oppression in the law. By discussing socio-historical context during class or assigning reimagined judicial opinions alongside the original opinion, teaching case briefing this way asks students to consider the stories that judges don’t tell (and why). This Essay proffers two examples that illustrate these approaches: United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218 (1973) and Williams v. Walker-Thomas Furniture Co., 350 F.2d 445 (1965).

American Association Of Law Libraries Academic Special Interest Section White Paper On Continuing Status And Tenure Of Law Librarians, Aall Special Interest Section On Academic Law Libraries Subcommittee On Continuing Status And Tenure, Stephanie Davidson, Cindy Hirsch, Caroline Osborne, Brian Quigley, Jessica Whytock

Faculty Publications

In 2023 the ALL-SIS Continuing Status/Tenure Committee was charged with developing a white paper to provide information on the status, rights, and responsibilities of academic law librarian positions. The information provided in this paper is intended to allow law librarians to make informed career choices, increase knowledge of the rights and obligations of librarian positions, and ensure the development of necessary skills and education for future new positions. Clarity on how positions are structured, their required skills, and credentials is essential at all levels of experience for planning and development for future career growth.

This White Paper does not advocate …

Leveraging Technology To Promote Access To Justice, Amy Emerson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Attaining Academic Tenure, Amy A. Emerson, Charlotte Schneider

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Critique Is On The Glass: The Extension Of Museum-Presentation Techniques To Substantively Advance Law School Pedagogy, Rachel H. Smith

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

In The Writing’s on the Wall: Using Multimedia Presentation Techniques from the Museum World to Improve Law School Pedagogy, Professor Cecilia A. Silver demonstrates how traditional law school teaching would benefit from embracing museum techniques. The Writing’s on the Wall offers museum presentation principles as a corrective to old-fashioned law teaching. And they certainly are. But they can be much more.

The museum techniques that the article describes are a starting point for thinking about museums as a useful analog to law schools, especially in confronting the biases, hierarchies, and injustices of the past and present. The Writing’s …

Get Out: Structural Racism And Academic Terror, Renee Nicole Allen

Faculty Publications

Released in 2017, Jordan Peele’s critically acclaimed film Get Out explores the horrors of racism. The film’s plot involves the murder and appropriation of Black bodies for the benefit of wealthy, white people. After luring Black people to their country home, a white family uses hypnosis to paralyze victims and send them to the Sunken Place where screams go unheard. Black bodies are auctioned off to the highest bidder; the winner’s brain is transplanted into the prized Black body. Black victims are rendered passengers in their own bodies so that white inhabitants can obtain physical advantages and immortality.

Like Get …

Peer Review In Advanced Legal Writing Course, Patricia G. Montana

Faculty Publications

This Article adds to the conversation about peer review, discussing specifically the numerous benefits peer review brings to an advanced legal writing course. The Article illustrates how to effectively integrate peer review into an advanced legal writing course. Peer reviews can support student learning and improve students’ legal analysis and writing, among other things. Thus, the Article encourages law professors to experiment with peer review exercises and incorporate them into their advanced legal writing courses.

High Anxiety: Racism, The Law, And Legal Education, Elayne E. Greenberg

Faculty Publications

Conspicuously absent from the United States’ ongoing discourse about its racist history is a more honest discussion about the individual and personal stressors that are evoked in people when they talk about racism. What if they got it wrong? The fear of being cancelled - the public shaming for remarks that are deemed racist - has had a chilling effect on having meaningful conversations about racism. What lost opportunities!

This paper moves this discussion into the law school context. How might law schools rethink their law school curricula to more accurately represent the role systemic racism has played in shaping …

Four Essential Tips For New Attorneys Working With Children And Families, Jennifer Baum

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Congratulations! You’ve started your first legal job working with children and families. Perhaps you work for an institutional provider of legal services for children or as a prosecutor of dependency cases, or perhaps you are defending such cases on behalf of parents and guardians. Or maybe you are in private practice, and this is your first pro bono experience working on a family, immigration, or juvenile court matter. Whatever your role, your job is the same: to represent your client and seek as favorable an outcome as possible.

But you are new, or new to this area of the …

Integrating An Oral Presentation Assignment Into A Course On Drafting Contracts, Patricia G. Montana

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Law schools have a critical responsibility to train students in effective oral communication skills. Indeed, the American Bar Association’s Standard 302 requires that law schools establish learning outcomes that include student “competency” in, among other things, “[l]egal analysis and reasoning, legal research, problem-solving, and written and oral communication in the legal context.” Yet, apart from clinical and externship offerings, where students can regularly interact with clients, lawyers, judges, and others, and courses like trial or appellate advocacy, which focus on essential courtroom communications, students generally have limited opportunities to practice oral communication skills in a traditional law school classroom. …

A Connoisseur Of Experiences: Academic & Career Planning For Jd Students, Ashley B. Armstrong

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

As a legal skills professor who works primarily with first-year law students, I often engage in academic and career planning discussions. In this context, I developed a method designed to help students strategically shape their JD careers. This approach encourages students to think intentionally about their goals and identify opportunities for career exploration throughout their time in law school. This method also allows students to discern key characteristics of legal careers that ultimately will bring them the most job satisfaction in the future. The activity can be introduced in a legal skills classroom, or used in one-on-one academic and …

Didn’T I Cover That In Class? Low-Stakes Technique Of Quizzing To The Rescue, Robin Boyle-Laisure

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

We all have had those moments when students’ papers do not reflect an important lesson covered in class. For instance, if teaching persuasive writing, you have likely instructed your students to use a full sentence for their point headings in their briefs, only to find phrases where sentences should have been used. Consequently, you find yourself making the same written comments on papers or verbal comments in conferences with students, beginning with, “As I had instructed in class…” In his groundbreaking book, Experiential Learning, researcher and theorist David Kolb introduced the concept of “deep learning,” which can remedy …

Bridging The Legal Writing Skills Gap: Pre-Mediation Statements, Elayne E. Greenberg

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

In our settlement-dominated legal culture, it is no longer sufficient for legal writing courses to teach students how to write for the court alone. Instead, to be considered practice-competent it is necessary for students to also be able to write for non-adversarial, collaborative settings such as mediation. Mediation has become the primary dispute resolution process to settle legal cases, and it has become common practice for judges to strongly encourage litigating parties to try to settle their case in mediation. While the current legal writing curriculum teaches students how to draft legal memoranda, motions, and appellate briefs for court, …

Tribute To Professor James Moliterno, Patricia Roberts, Soledad Atienza, Eleanor Myers, James S. Heller, Gary Tamsitt, Neal Devins, Peter Čuroš, Veronika Tomoszek, Maxim Tomoszek, Paul Žilinčík, Rongjie Lan, José M. De Areilza, Irina Lortkipanidze, Ján Mazúr, Javier Guillen, Lucia Berdisová, James Étienne Viator

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Swimming With Broad Strokes: Publishing And Presenting Beyond The Lw Discipline, Robin Boyle-Laisure, Stephen Paskey

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

In our greater skills community, we share ideas, borrow and tweak theories from other disciplines, and create new approaches. It is understandable how our community may expand pedagogy to the brim of legal writing or explore topics outside of the field. Skills professors are, by nature, a creative collective who teach from the heart and enjoy writing and thinking. Our publishing pursuits can be boundless.

Both Authors of this Article share mutual experiences of dipping our toes in a pond beyond the legal writing continent. Our writing experiences have influenced our teaching, bringing these broader perspectives to our legal …

Addressing Asian (In)Visiblity In The Academy, Shruti Rana, Cyra Akila Choudhury

Faculty Publications

To be Asian American in the legal academy is to be caught between a paradox and a dichotomy, with both marked by silencing and erasure. The paradox exists within the term "Asian American" itself, as "'Asian' and 'American' have historically been posed as antithetical" identities in U.S. history and jurisprudence. On one side is a representation of unassimilable perpetual foreignness with Asian bodies targeted for violence and unequal protection of the law often justified by their perceived threat to national security. On the other is the lure of assimilation, where the model minority myth offers a purported path into acceptance …

The Kids Are Alright, Rachel H. Smith, Rosa Castello

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

As with the law itself, law students are always changing. And law professors should regularly consider how those changes will impact the classroom and our pedagogical approach. For our year-long Legal Writing course, the law students of 2021-22 surprised us with the careful and nuanced way they thought about language. Our 1L students were more interested in parsing the meaning, effect, and approach to potentially offensive language than any students we had taught before. We learned a lot from them. And what we learned will have a lasting impact on how we teach legal writing and design our legal …