Legal Writing Prof Blog

We're About to Have Our 250,000th Visitor to the Legal Writing Prof Blog

We will soon see our 250,000th Visitor to the Legal Writing Prof Blog!  Thank you all for your visits!

Fox Business News story on the University of Miami School of Law 1L deferrals

As you may have heard, Above the Law last week broke the story that U of Miami School of Law had a historically high 1L yield and as a result the Dean was advising students to either defer their decision to go to law school (with some financial incentives thrown in to sweeten the pot) or stay away altogether.

ATL's editor Elie Mystal, who has been an extremely good friend to this blog, appeared on Fox Business News to talk about the U. Miami decision as well as the state of legal education and the job market.  We hope you find this interesting.

I am the scholarship dude.

(jbl)

Scholarship alert: "A Preliminary Exploration of the Elements of Expert Performance in Legal Writing"

This is a working paper available on SSRN, here, by Shelley M. Kierstead and Erika Abner, both Canadian academics.  From the abstract:

This paper describes results of focus group research conducted with senior advocacy lawyers in relation to the lawyers' characterization of expert legal writing. The results suggest an important interplay between product and process, and are consistent with general theoretical models of expertise that characterize the writing process as exploratory, recursive, reflective and responsive. The results may also be linked with existing studies of school to work transitions. The authors also describe how the research results tie into a longer term research project aimed at developing a description of increasingly sophisticated writing competencies that can be expected of lawyers as they progress through their careers.

Hat tip to Professor Linda Berger.

I am the scholarship dude.

(jbl)

How our brains assess risk and possible lessons for more effective advocacy

Here's a very interesting NYT's editorial that discusses the work of University of Oregon psychology Professor Paul Slovic, an expert on how humans assess risk in connection with decision-making.  Although the editorial is directed at Congress's tepid efforts to address global warning, the author argues this may have as much to do with our brain's wiring as Beltway politics (and if you haven't read the latest predictions on climate change - be afraid, be very afraid).

As Professor Slovic notes, evolution has conditioned the brain to respond to immediate threats - like poisonous snakes and spiders - but distant, more abstract harm (like global warming), not so much:  

If you come across a garter snake, nearly all of your brain will light up with activity as you process the 'threat.'  Yet if somebody tells you that carbon emissions will eventually destroy Earth as we know it, only the small part of the brain that focuses on the future — a portion of the prefrontal cortex — will glimmer.

'We humans do strange things, perhaps because vestiges of our ancient brain still guide us in the modern world, notes [Professor] Slovic.

Harvard psychology Professor Daniel Gilbert also weighs in on the human ability to assess more abstract, future harm:

Continue reading "How our brains assess risk and possible lessons for more effective advocacy"

Scholarship alert: "Putting it All Together: Law Schools' Role in Improving Appellate Practice"

This one comes to us from Professor Coleen Barger's former student and protege Stella J. Phillips (they grow up so fast, don't they?) and is available at 31 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 135 (2008).  Here's the abstract for Putting it All Together: Law Schools' Role in Improving Appellate Practice:

[T]he pressure of clients' expectations and filing deadlines often leads lawyers to become careless when preparing their briefs careless in their adherence to court rules, in writing style and tone, and in the brief's overall presentation. ... Family law classes also highlight the requests spouses commonly make when seeking a divorce child support, alimony, property division and issues that may arise during the proceedings that could prevent an appealable order. ... Rulings on summary-judgment motions or post-trial motions may lead to orders that seem somewhat different than a judgment on the merits of a civil or criminal case. ... By teaching students about the pitfalls they

Continue reading "Scholarship alert: "Putting it All Together: Law Schools' Role in Improving Appellate Practice""

promotions for legal writing professors

This spring, Danielle Shelton and Lisa Penland, both legal writing professors at Drake University Law School, were promoted to the rank of Professor of Law.

Nancy Oliver, at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, has been promoted to the position of Associate Dean for Curriculum and Student Affairs at her school.  She served as the Interim Associate Dean this past year.

And legal writing program director David Romantz, at the University of Memphis School of Law, will now serve as that law school's Associate Dean.

Congratulations one and all!

(spl)

American Association of Law Libraries

Here's a little something special for all of our citation junkie readers.  It's a link to the Citations Committee Page of the American Association of Law Libraries.  Enjoy.

(mew)

Hey baby, "It's the 4th of July"

Here's a little seasonal music courtesy of Dave Alvin.  This one goes out to a very special person in Palm City.

If the embedded video isn't working (even though I clicked "enabled" :-), go here.

Have yourself a very happy 4th.

I am the scholarship dude.

(jbl)

"Forthwith" versus "promptly" - you decide!

Here's an interesting post from AdamsDrafting in which contract drafting expert Ken Adams questions why lawyers continue to use archaic terms in their contracts like "forthwith" rather than "promptly" or "immediately." 

But progress is being made. To wit, blogmeister Adams found that of the more than 2200 contracts filed in the past month with the SEC on its EDGAR system, "promptly" led "forthwith" more than three to one. 

In the comments below his post, one attorney vividly recalls being traumatized about 18 years ago by a senior partner who balked at his use of "immediately" rather than "forthwith."  As a result, that attorney has never dared use the more pedestrian form since that soul-scorching experience.

Read the whole thing right here.

I am the scholarship dude.

(jbl)

Michigan bans electronic communication devices during jury trials

In response to complaints from prosecutors that jurors are distracted during trials by their cell phones, PDA's and similar devices, the Michigan Supreme Court has banned jurors from engaging in electronic communication during trials.  As the blog Law.com reports:

Michigan's new rule follows a wave of recent cases in which jurors have blogged, posted Tweets or sent text messages during trials, infuriating judges and triggering mistrials.

In Florida, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Scott Silverman in May declared a mistrialin a civil fraud case after discovering a witness -- a company executive -- was texting his boss on the stand during a side bar conference.

"I never had this happen before," Silverman stated. "This is completely outrageous."

Read the full article here.

I am the scholarship dude.

(jbl)

Are academic listservs, including LWI's, losing their appeal?

That's the question raised by this column from the Chronicle of Higher Ed which asks whether academic listservs are losing relevance in light of blogs, wikis, Facebook, Twitter and the like since they arguably do a better job facilitating exchange and debate among scholars.   While some say listservs are dead, other data shows that subscriptions are up, generally speaking, although the number of posts on many lists has steadily declined since 2000.

There have been some rumblings (and grumblings) recently about eliminating some of the unnecessary traffic on the LWI listserv.  So what do you think America?  Do you find yourself unsubscribing from listservs or perhaps not signing up for new ones that you might have joined in the past?

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

I am the scholarship dude.

(jbl)

Westlaw goes "green"

In this YouTube video, Westlaw representatives talk about the steps they are taking to be more environmentally-conscious in their dealings with summer law clerks.

If the embedded video doesn't work (there have been some problems lately with the blog), try this link instead.

Hat tip to librarians extraordinaire Robert Hudson and Debra McGovern

I am the scholarship dude.

(jbl)

"Excellent communication skills": bad boilerplate?

Among the "worst 10 boilerplate phrases" one should "seek out and destroy" in professional resumes is this standard reference to communications skills, says Liz Ryan of The Savvy Networker (posted in Yahoo! hotjobs).  Another "stodgy boilerplate" phrase is "team player."

Ryan advises job seekers to add a human voice to their resumes. Someone with excellent communication skills should have no trouble doing that.

(cmb)

Still more on the "apprenticeship" model of law firm employment

We reported earlier that several law firms are slashing starting associate pay and instead placing new grads on an apprenticeship track that will provide supplemental skills training that law schools, at least according to these employers, are not offering.  Some law firms that reject the "apprenticeship" model have expressed their views to the online ABA Journal.  Here's one comment:

Carter Phillips, managing partner of Sidley Austin's Washington, D.C., office, tells the National Law Journal that law students interviewing for jobs may be unwilling to give up the money. "If you're a top-flight law student and you talk to one firm offering $80,000 or $100,000 to take extra classes and then you talk to another firm offering $160,000 to do work you can bill to a client, I don't see that as much of a choice," he said.

In response, the managing partner of Washington D.C.'s Howrey, which is the largest firm to date to adopt the apprenticeship approach, says "the old model is broken."  The new model will provide grads with the training they need while saving clients from otherwise having to pay for the learning curve of these grads.

Interestingly, although an informal poll conducted by Above the Law showed that its readers overwhelmingly support the apprenticeship model, comments left in connection with this story indicate that many think the apprenticeship model is a pretext for lowering salaries while keeping the firm's reputation intact.

I am the scholarship dude.

The online ABA Journal's "Question of the Week": The worst briefs and oral arguments.

There should be good lessons to pass along to students based on this week's question to readers posed by the online ABA Journal.  Specifically, the Journal is asking its readers:

What kind of words and phrasing do you see in briefs that drive you crazy? And in court, are you always sitting through hackneyed oral arguments by lawyers who have clearly never read McElhaney on Litigation? If so, we want to read your horror stories.

You can track the answers in the comment section here.  Also please feel free to share your own war stories with our readers in the comments below. I am the scholarship dude. (jbl)