Call for Proposals for Empire State Legal Writing Conference

While the conference is specific to Legal Writing, many in our community have insight in this area.  Check out the call below.

The 2021 Empire State Legal Writing Conference Wants YOU! 

The Empire State Legal Writing Conference is a biennial event dating back to 2010 (when we actually attended conferences in person). The Empire State Planning Committee is comprised of Legal Writing faculty and administrative staff from all over New York State. In addition to arguing about things like whether buffalo chicken wings are better in Buffalo or Brooklyn (ok we know who wins that one), we are also delighted to announce that we will be holding a two-day virtual conference on May 13 and 14.  

If you want to present, we want you!  While we friendly New Yorkers welcome proposals from legal writing faculty at all stages of their career, we particularly encourage proposals from newer legal writing faculty.  If you are a first time presenter afraid to take that leap, a committee member will happily assist you with your proposal. 

The Details. . .  

Cost: Free, free, free. In other words, no charge.   

I am new to teaching legal writing, should I submit a proposal? 

ABSOLUTELY! You are exactly the kind of presenter we are looking for.  Everyone has to start somewhere and the Empire State is the perfect place to start.  We will even assign you a mentor to help you prepare for your presentation, if you want.  

Does the conference have a theme? 

Yes - the theme is there is no theme; we want to encourage presentations on a wide range of topics.  We encourage both individual presentations and panels. 

What types of presentations and panels are you looking for? 

We are looking for presentations and panels on a wide variety of topics - some ideas include: 

• Transitioning from online to in-class, lessons imparted; 
• A panel discussion for legal writing professors who teach classes outside the discipline; 
• A panel for legal writing professors who publish outside of the discipline; 
• Ideas for teaching effectively (this can include a specific exercise or problem that you used that worked well); 
• Techniques for providing meaningful feedback; 

Or anything else you can come up with - the New York City skyline is the limit! 

Will we be going to see a Broadway show, or visiting Niagara Falls? 

Very funny, but look at the bright side- you don’t have to wear a suit when you present. 

Deadline and Submission Instructions for the Presentations  

Submit proposals to Anne Goldstein at [email protected] and Antonella Milevski at  [email protected] by 5:00 pm on Friday, February 12.  

Please use the following for the email subject matter line [if multiple presenters, please use the name of the person submitting the proposal]: EmpireState2021.LastName.FirstName 

Submit the proposal in word, using the same name as the email subject matter line. 

Proposals should include the following information: 

1. The presenters’ names, titles, school affiliations, email addresses, and cell phone numbers (in case of technical glitches). 
2. The title of the presentation. 
3. A description of no more than 250 words.  
4. A description of no more than 2-3 sentences for the program. 
5. The preferred length and format of session (panel/presentation/etc.). In an effort to accommodate as many speakers as possible, we are contemplating sessions of different lengths, with different numbers of speakers. We think we may have some sessions of 20 minutes, and others at 45 minutes.  

Deadline and Submission Instructions for Scholars’ Work in Progress  

We welcome your participation if you have either: 1) an idea for an article and would like to receive feedback and suggestions before jumping into the research/writing progress; or 2) if you anticipate having a draft of an article by May 2021 and would like feedback on the draft from other legal writing scholars (participants will circulate drafts in advance). 

Submit description of either category (1) or (2) to Anne Goldstein at [email protected] and Antonella Milevski at [email protected] by 5:00 pm on Friday, February 12. 

Please use the following for the email subject matter line [if co-authors, please use the name of the person submitting the work]: EmpireStateScholars2021.LastName.FirstName 

Submit the proposal in Word, using the same name as the email subject matter line. 

Descriptions should include the following information: 

1. The authors’ names, titles, school affiliations, email addresses, and cell phone numbers (in case of technical glitches); 
2. A description of no more than 250 words; and 
3. Whether you will be workshopping: 
1.  an idea for an article or 
2.  an article draft in progress (see explanation above).