Practice Writing: Responding to the Needs of the Bench and Bar in First Year Writing Programs
Phoenix Law Review, Fall 2008
41 Pages Posted: 18 Aug 2008
Date Written: April 23, 2008
Abstract
Do first year legal writing programs really prepare law students for the rigors of practice writing? This article begins to answer this question based on attorney and judge survey results, as well as interviews with judges who had also read student work in preparation for their interview. We found that while legal writing programs do provide a good foundation for legal writing skills, improvement can be made. Important changes that we have made at Pierce Law include shorter, more frequent assignments, variation/flexibility in choice of organizational paradigm, understanding the difference between settled and unsettled areas of law, and increased emphasis on grammar, punctuation, and style.
Keywords: legal writing, legal analysis, legal eduction
JEL Classification: K10, K30
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation