Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

Is There A New Digital Collection In Your Future?, Roger V. Skalbeck

Law Faculty Publications

In this article, we take a look at a handful of the bigger law-related digital collections available today. We present the core elements of each collection to give readers an idea of what is out there. In addition, we look at some broad-based questions presented by acquiring access to digital collections. Finally, briefly, we look at issues of access, ownership, copyright, interlibrary lending, catalog records, and cost.

Integrating Contract Drafting Skills And Doctrine, Eric Goldman

Faculty Publications

In February 2006, I participated in the Symposium, Teaching Writing and Teaching Doctrine: A Symbiotic Relationship?, at Brooklyn Law School. I prepared some personal and unscientific observations about the challenges of concurrently teaching legal doctrine and contract drafting. Obviously, there is a rich literature on these topics that I did not try to address; instead, my goal was simply to acknowledge my first-hand experiences wrestling with these challenges and discuss some specific solutions I have tried. This brief Essay recaps my presentation.

Assessing The Ssrn-Based Law School Rankings, Theodore Eisenberg

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

One noteworthy feature of the SSRN-based rankings is the high correlation between them and other rankings. Black and Caron report correlation coefficients between their two Social Science Research Network (SSRN) school rankings (one based on downloads from SSRN and one based on the number of papers posted on SSRN) and six other published rankings. The correlations provide a useful and creative measure of consistency across studies. If ranking studies are highly correlated, then the least expensive and most efficient study to conduct can be used without incurring the expense and delay of the more labor-intensive ranking methods. SSRN has a …

Judge Posner's Dissenting Judicial Oeuvre And The Aesthetics Of Canonicity, Robert F. Blomquist

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Index To The American Journal Of Legal History Volumes 1-48 (1957-2006), Joel Fishman

Law Faculty Publications

This index is an update of the original index published as Index to the American Journal of Legal History Volumes 1-42 (1957-1998) published in 43 AM. J. LEGAL HIST. 353-506 (1999), published in 2001. Now I have updated the index to include the next four volumes.

Forensic Linguistics: An Introduction To Language In The Justice System, By John Gibbons, Drury Stevenson

University of Colorado Law Review

John Gibbons's book Forensic Linguistics provides an excellent introduction to the different areas of interdisciplinary studies involving linguistics and law. Gibbons explores many of the unique linguistic features of legal writing and courtroom speech, and discusses legal regulation of inappropriate uses of language (threats, lies, etc). This review surveys each of these sections of Gibbons's work, and adds in depth critique on issues related to "audience design " in legal documents and the linguistic pitfalls of relying on trial transcripts.

Reflections On The Law Review Symposium On Women’S Rights And Pornography: Big Sister, Big Brother, And The Role Of Legal Scholarship In Affirming Human Rights, Nadine Strossen

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Science Of Persuasion: An Initial Exploration, Kathryn M. Stanchi

Scholarly Works

The purpose of this Article is to enhance knowledge of effective persuasive legal writing by taking the exploration in a somewhat different direction from the traditional approaches. This Article argues that it is critical for persuasive writers to study the existing social-science data about human decisionmaking. Trial lawyers have taken serious steps to study and probe social science for ideas about how to persuade (or pick) juries. Yet, decades after Jerome Frank reminded us that judges, like juries, are human, appellate lawyers have been slow to follow their trial brethren in the pursuit of scientific data about what persuades people. …

Aristotle’S Tried And True Recipe For Argument Casserole, Kristen Konrad Robbins-Tiscione

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

I thoroughly enjoyed John Schunk’s article— “What Can Legal Writing Students Learn from Watching Emeril Live?”—in the Winter 2006 issue. We are big Emeril fans in our family, and we too have heard him distinguish the art of baking casseroles from the art of baking cakes. Baking a casserole is more art than science, because although there are basic ingredients, a creative cook can vary the recipe to please a variety of palettes. Baking a cake, on the other hand, is more science than art, because if the cook eliminates a necessary egg or adds too much baking powder, the …

Jewish Law For The Law Librarian, David Hollander

Articles

Mr Hollander provides an introductory guide to the Jewish legal system with the intent of providing law librarians with the basic knowledge necessary to begin to help a patron conduct research in Jewish law.

“Only A Sith Thinks Like That”: Llewellyn’S “Dueling Canons,” One To Seven, Michael Sinclair

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Learning From Experience: Adding A Practicum To A Doctrinal Course, Elizabeth Fajans

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Ethics Of Electronic Record Sharing, Barbara A. Bintliff, Georgia Briscoe

Publications

No abstract provided.

How Do You Know When Research Is Good?, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Articles

Ms. Whisner explores the question of how to tell when research is good-or who is a good researcher

A Blog's Life, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Articles

Seeking to provide a current awareness service to an underserved part of her library's clientele, Ms. Whisner enters the world of blogging and discovers that there is both joy and learning to be had in bringing a blog to life.

Little Biographies, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Articles

Although few reference librarians do the painstaking research involved in developing full, nuanced biographies, Ms. Whisner explores how most can and do pull together little biographies all the time.

Helping Students Develop A Humanistic Philosophy Of Lawyering, Beth Cohen

Faculty Scholarship

This Article considers the need to help students develop a cohesive philosophy of lawyering and suggests some ideas and methods to help introduce these concepts and concerns to students. Although this Article focuses primarily on aspects of the legal research and writing curriculum and pedagogy as well as professional development programs that can enhance the curriculum, the concepts are applicable and transferable to other subjects and courses. The purpose of this Article is to explore the issues raised by a conscious decision to help students consider and develop a beneficial philosophy of lawyering in areas including the development of legal …

Uncovering The Past: Lessons From Doing Legal History, Annette Gordon-Reed

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Two Hemispheres Of Legal Education And The Rise And Fall Of Local Law Schools, Randolph N. Jonakait

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Political Advocacy On The Supreme Court: The Damaging Rhetoric Of Antonin Scalia, Stephen A. Newman

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Life Of The Law Online, David R. Johnson

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

“Ain’T No Goin’ Back”: Teaching Mental Disability Law Courses Online, Michael L. Perlin

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

“Only A Sith Thinks Like That”: Llewellyn’S “Dueling Canons,” Eight To Twelve, Michael Sinclair

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Philosophy V. Rhetoric In Legal Education: Understanding The Schism Between Doctrinal And Legal Writing Faculty, Kristen Konrad Robbins-Tiscione

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The author argues that although legal writing faculty know that what they teach is absolutely essential to their students' success, yet it continues to be grossly, even embarrassingly, undervalued in legal education. Doctrinal legal faculty perpetuate the view that legal education is a philosophical endeavor that focuses on the truth about the nature of law and, in the twenty-first century, on the law's ability to serve justice in a multicultural America. Because of their political power, however, doctrinal faculty are able to preserve the task of truth finding for themselves. Since the nature of truth is independent of its practical …

Analyze This: Using Taxonomies To "Scaffold" Students' Legal Thinking And Writing Skills, Christine M. Venter

Journal Articles

This article describes the deficiencies in current pedagogies used to teach writing in many law schools. It suggests refocusing attention on the development of students' analytical skills, and describes the use of learning theory and taxonomies to teach that goal. The author argues that by specifically developing students' thinking and analytical skills, students can become more effective writers and lawyers.

Neither Dead Nor Dangerous: Postmodernism And The Teaching Of Legal Writing, Adam Todd

School of Law Faculty Publications

This article explores postmodernism and its relation to the teaching of legal writing. Postmodernism is an undeniably important theory in literary criticism, composition and rhetoric and has provoked much debate in areas of legal scholarship, but it has seldom been addressed directly by legal writing scholars.

The teaching of legal writing has been greatly affected by postmodernism and can be characterized as a postmodern class in what is otherwise a modernist academy. Legal writing teachers generally teach in a modernist paradigm which seeks to normalize the law and create unitary meaning from the morass of texts and ideas which is …

Contract Drafting Courses For Upper-Level Students: Teaching Tips, Robin A. Boyle

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)
/="/">Contract-drafting courses are gaining in popularity in law school, and they are a pleasure to teach. On July 20–21, 2005,Northwestern University School of Law provided the location and Judith A. Rosenbaum provided on-site assistance in hosting the first national conference, in recent times, on the topic of contract drafting. The conference was aptly called “Teaching Contract Drafting.” Approximately 100 participants attended, which was significantly more than the organizers expected. The conference’s large attendance indicates the need and growing enthusiasm for guidance on how to develop and teach contract drafting courses. The organizers of the conference, Susan Irion, Richard …

Redefining Open Access For The Legal Information Market, James G. Milles

Journal Articles

The open access movement in legal scholarship, inasmuch as it is driven within the law library community over concerns about the rising cost of legal information, fails to address - and in fact diverts resources from - the real problem facing law libraries today: the soaring costs of nonscholarly, commercially published, practitioner-oriented legal publications. The current system of legal scholarly publishing - in student-edited journals and without meaningful peer review - does not face the pressures to increase prices common in the science and health disciplines. One solution to this problem is for law schools to redirect some of their …

Tax Preparation Services For Low- And Moderate-Income Households: Preliminary Evidence From A New Survey, Michael S. Barr, Jane K. Dokko

Articles

Recently, researchers have begun to examine the financial service patterns of low- and moderate-income households. These behaviors are of interest because high cost financial services, barriers to saving, the lack of insurance, and credit constraints contribute to poverty and other socioeconomic conditions . Many low- and moderate-income households use alterna­tive financial service (AFS) providers, such as check cashers, for their financial services needs. Tax preparation firms are among the important financial service providers in the lives of low-income households. Such firms help households navigate the complicated process of filing their taxes, and many low-income households obtain sizeable tax refunds. At …

Michigan Family Law Research Resources: Review And Update, Barbara H. Garavaglia

Articles

"Family law" includes topics relating to "marriage, divorce, adoption, child custody and support, child abuse and neglect, paternity, juvenile delinquency, and other domestic relations issues,"] including cohabitation and domestic violence. Michigan family law research continues to be facilitated by a combination of print and electronic research resources. As in other areas of law, web-based access to legal research resources in the realm of family law continues to improve and expand, following the general trend in legal publishing toward electronic publication. This article is primarily a review of the web-based resources provided by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE), although …