Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

Exemplary Legal Writing 2016: Books Selected By Our Respectable Authorities: Five Recommendations, Femi Cadmus

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Judge Lawrence W. Kaplan And His Court Cases In Family Division, Court Of Common Pleas Of Allegheny County (1980-1990), Joel Fishman

Law Faculty Publications

In the last issue of the Pennsylvania Family Lawyer, I compiled a list of family law cases decided by Judge R. Stanton Wettick, Jr. for the decade of the 1980s when the Divorce Code was first introduced into the Commonwealth. The local court was a leader in deciding cases that set forth many of the principles that the appellate courts adopted as new law developed. In this article, I present the cases of Judge Lawrence Kaplan who served his entire judicial career in the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas from June 30, 1978 until his retirement on Augst 12, 1998 …

The Law Review Article, Pierre Schlag

University of Colorado Law Review

What is a law review article? Does America know? How might we help America in this regard? Here, we approach the first question on the bias: As we have found, a growing body of learning and empirical evidence shows that genres are not merely forms, but forms that anticipate their substance. In this Article, then, we try to capture this action by undertaking the first and only comprehensive “performative study” of the genre of the law review article.

Drawing upon methodological advances and new learning far beyond anything thought previously possible, we investigate “the law review article” qua genre. What …

Redefining Roles And Duties Of The Transactional Lawyer: A Narrative Approach, Lori D. Johnson

Scholarly Works

Today’s transactional lawyers perform myriad tasks for their clients, including structuring, drafting, conceptualizing, negotiating, and executing the complex, risky, and often cutting-edge transactions their clients bring to the table. On the other side of that table, often sits another team of sophisticated transactional lawyers. These opposing counsel are armed for battle over every nuance, every word, every representation, every deliverable, and every obligation their client is poised to undertake or agree to. Therefore, modern transactional lawyers must behave as advocates and explore new modes of persuasion. As a response, scholars have begun to propose that transactional lawyers employ methods of …

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 …

Law Library Blog (January 2017): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

The Algorithm As A Human Artifact: Implications For Legal [Re]Search, Susan Nevelow Mart

Publications

The results of using the search algorithms in Westlaw, Lexis Advance, Fastcase, Google Scholar, Ravel, and Casetext are compared. Six groups of humans created six different algorithms, and the results are a testament to the variability of human problem solving. That variability has implications both for researching and teaching research.

Administrative Dissents, Sharon B. Jacobs

Publications

Commissioners, like judges, dissent. They do so at length, with vigor, and with persistence. Yet while separate judicial decisions are the subject of a rich literature, their administrative counterparts have long languished in obscurity. A closer look is warranted, however, because studying administrative dissent can enhance our understanding of internal agency operations as well as the relationships between agencies and other actors. This Article presents the results of an original review of separate statements at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission dating back four decades. It uses these findings to move beyond two common generalizations about …

Introducing Govinfo: A New Source For Federal Government Documents Online, Erik Beck

Publications

No abstract provided.

Lexicographer For A Day, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Articles

Ms. Whisner shares her love of learning about new words and phrases, and details how she investigates their origins and usages in dictionaries and full-text databases.

Service Within And Beyond Our Walls, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Articles

With the growth of the Internet, the typical patron base that reference librarians serve has increased to a much wider group of people who use various electronic means of communication to seek assistance. Ms. Whisner examines how technology has expanded these service borders and discusses the ramifications for the modern reference librarian.

Fostering Student Authorship, Amy R. Mashburn, Sharon E. Rush

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Finding Purpose: Perspective From A "Non-Elite" Journal, Jonathan F. Will

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

99 Problems And The Bitchin' Is One: A Pragmatist's Guide To Student-Edited Law Reviews, Joëlle Anne Moreno

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Long Live The Student-Edited Law Review, Mary Garvey Algero

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Value Of Online Law Review Supplements For Junior And Senior Faculty, Steven W. Bender

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

More Than Words, Rachel H. Smith

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

What a delight it is to spend time with Justice Ginsburg’s singular voice. She is the best kind of teacher and writer: humane, principled, funny, gracious, openhearted, and direct. I felt deeply glad to have this chance to know her a little better—to study the rhythm of her words, the quirks of her personality, the motifs of her life story. As I read My Own Words, I couldn’t help but think over and over, Thank goodness for this remarkable person.

Incorporating Social Justice Into The Law School Curriculum With A Hybrid Doctrinal/Writing Course, Rosa Castello

Faculty Publications

Educating future lawyers is about more than just teaching them substantive law. We are preparing professionals who will go out into our world and shape and affect it in deep and impacting ways. They will make law, enforce law, determine policy, defend people, advocate, and influence lives and businesses. Therefore, any thorough law school education should teach social justice and encourage students to become more engaged in activism.

One way to incorporate social justice into the law school curriculum is to offer specific courses focused on social justice. However, administrators may be concerned about demand for such classes or ability …

Bridging The Reading Gap In The Law School Classroom, Patricia G. Montana

Faculty Publications

Many students struggle in law school, particularly in the first year, because they are weak readers. They do not know how to read text closely and have limited practice in reading complex or lengthy pieces of writing. Nor are they accustomed to reading works that demand deep thinking and reflection.

Yet legal analysis and writing depends on a careful reading and thoughtful understanding of the authority on which a lawyer relies. Without strong reading and critical thinking skills, it is no surprise that incoming law students have difficulty following a structured analysis and mastering legal writing. As the gap between …

Analogical Reasoning, Susan A. Mcmahon, Sonya G. Bonneau

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This chapter from our book Legal Writing in Context aims to demystify analogical reasoning for law students.