Legal Writing Prof Blog

Southeast Regional Legal Writing Conference

Call for Proposals

2011 Southeast Regional Legal Writing Conference 

Opening the Lens:
Re-Visions in Legal Writing Teaching, Theory, & Practice 

Mercer University School of Law
Macon, GA
April 15-16, 2011

By “opening the lens” to let in interdisciplinary theories and practice perspectives, the 2011 conference is designed to encourage legal writing teachers to look again at their teaching, scholarship, and service to the profession. The conference will focus on interdisciplinary approaches that enrich our understanding of legal interpretation and composition. Just as important, it will highlight the ways in which legal writing teachers are integrating theory and practice throughout their work.

Opening Colloquium
Mercer University School of Law is pleased to announce that the keynote speaker for the opening colloquium will be Martha Albertson Fineman, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law at Emory Law School. Professor Fineman is an internationally known law and society scholar and expert in feminist jurisprudence. She will introduce and explore the use of feminist theory as a lens through which we can “re-view” legal language. Responding to Professor Fineman’s presentation, one or two panels will discuss ways to integrate feminist theory within lawyering teaching, scholarship, and professional service.

Call for Conference Proposals
In line with the Conference theme, Opening the Lens: Re-Visions in Legal Writing Teaching, Theory, & Practice, proposals may draw on interdisciplinary perspectives or emphasize new ways to bring together theory and practice in legal writing teaching, scholarship, and service. To give just a few examples, a proposal might (1) apply feminist theory to suggest ways that lawyers and law students could more effectively frame arguments for clients; (2) draw on cognitive, narrative, or rhetoric theory as resources for teaching law students and lawyers more effective means of persuasion; (3) illustrate how the experience of law practice illuminates teaching or encourages scholarly study; or (4) explain why the use of storytelling in the classroom and the courtroom is effective.

The Program Committee encourages proposals for 25-minute individual presentations or panel discussions but anticipates that there will be a few 55-minute slots as well. Please use the following format to submit your proposal. Proposals must be submitted by email to Jennifer Sheppard, Program Committee Co-Chair, at Sheppard_jl@law.mercer.edu. 

The deadline to submit proposals is January 21, 2011. Include the following in the proposal submission: 

1. Title of proposed presentation or panel.
2. Brief description of proposed presentation or panel.
3. Time needed for presentation (25 minutes or 55 minutes).
4. Technology needs for your presentation (please describe).
5. Contact information                                                                                       

The conference webpage will be available soon, and registration will be open no later than February 21, 2011.

hat tip: Jennifer L. Sheppard

(spl)

Friday Fun: So You Want to Go to Law School

An attorney asks questions of a woman who is going to law school . . .

 

Hat tips to Deborah Borman and Stephanie Allen

(mew)

the five stages of grading

Everyone knows about the psychological stages of grieving.  Well, not uncoincidentally, the stages of grading are much the same.  Click here for the full story.

hat tip:  Sarah Klaper

(spl)



Fellows Versus Faculty

PrawfsBlog is debating legal writing fellows versus legal writing faculty. 

Click here to read the post (and to add your own comments) to that discussion.

Hat tip to Michael HIgdon

(mew)

Applied Legal Storytelling -- Chapter 3!

Applied Legal Storytelling Call for Proposals

LWI and CLEA are co-sponsoring the third biennial International Applied Storytelling Conference, July 8-10, 2011 at University of Denver, Sturm College of Law.  This is a very collegial and supportive conference, and they welcome proposals from people who are new to applied legal storytelling, as well as from those who have already been part of the conversation.  Proposals are due December 7, 2010.  For the link to detailed information about sending in a proposal, go to http://www.lwinonline.org, and on the right hand side of the page you'll see the link to click on.  While there, you can also click on a link to a bibliography of articles from the first two conferences.

hat tip:  Ruth Anne Robbins

(spl)