Legal Writing Prof Blog

Kirsten Davis earns a PhD and a promotion

Kirsten Davis, the LRW director at Stetson, has been a very busy person. This spring she successfully defended her dissertation and was awarded a PhD from Arizona State University's Hugh Downs School of Human Communication. She also was promoted this spring at Stetson, to full Professor of Law. Congratulations on both excellent accomplishments!

(spl)

 

 

Scalia and Garner’s new book covers legal analysis

Justice Antonin Scalia and legal writing expert Bryan Garner have written a new book, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts. Unlike their previous book, Making Your Case, Reading Law does not focus on legal writing. But this new 567-page volume may interest readers of this blog because it covers legal analysis, albeit from a specific viewpoint, textualism, which the authors define as follows:

     We look for meaning in the governing text, ascribe to that text the meaning that it has borne since its inception, and reject judicial speculation about both the drafters’ extratextually derived purposes and the desirability of a fair reading’s anticipated consequences.

     The book contains a clue about the recent health care decision. Scalia and Garner write that a 1942 case, Wickard v. Filburn, “expanded the Commerce Clause beyond all reason.” Both the majority and dissenting opinions in the health care case rejected that expansive view of the Commerce Clause.

(jdf)

Institute conference, post #2

One of the hallmarks of an Institute conference is that each plenary and large-group session demonstrates active learning techniques for the engaged classroom.

In our first meeting on Monday morning, we used pair-and-share with both cold-calling and volunteering, pass-the-paper, and send-youself-a-tickler.

To pair and share, have participants form groups of 2-3, discuss a point, and then report back to the group.  So in a torts class, you might have students pair up to identify a point that they'd like the professor to go over, then report it to the larger group.

Pass-the-paper involves posing a question or task, then simply passing a piece of paper along a row and having each person briefly answer the question.  Participants benefit from seeing a variety of responses, and the professor may collect them as well for feedback.

Send-yourself-a-tickler has participants writing themselves a note, reminder, or insight, to be sent to them later on.  So the first day of class, you might ask students to record their emotions or motivations on a piece of paper and place it in an envelope.  At the end of the semester, return the envelopes to the students to remind them of where they started and where they are now.

(njs)

Institute for Law Teaching and Learning

The Institute's annual conference was held on Monday at Gonzaga, followed by a teaching retreat on Tuesday.  These two wonderful days--of learning from each other and of reflecting--were a welcome break from the summer's tasks of teaching and research.  Many thanks to Gerry Hess of Gonzaga and Michael Hunter Schwartz of Washburn, co-directors of the Institute.  More details of specific sessions to come.

(njs)

if you're looking for colleagues ...

Legal writing professors are moving around this summer:

Jake Carpenter will join the faculty at Marquette in the fall, as an Assistant Professor of Legal Writing. He started his teaching career at DePaul in 2006.

Legal writing veteran David Cleveland is moving from Nova Southeastern to join the legal writing faculty at Valparaiso in the fall.

And Sarah Ricks will be taking a leave from Rutgers-Camden, crossing the Delaware River, and visiting at Penn next year.

 

 

(spl)

 

Networks’ mistakes about the health care case are a cautionary tale

Oops! Two television networks, Fox and CNN, got it wrong when they first reported yesterday’s decision in the National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius health care case. After quickly skimming the Supreme Court decision under pressure for a scoop, reporters on each network erroneously said the individual mandate had been struck down.

These gaffes provide a cautionary tale for our students, illustrating the importance of reading an entire case carefully before relying on it.

(jdf)

LRW program changes at Miami, Texas, & Stetson

Here are some recent changes within legal writing programs around the country:

The University of Miami School of Law’s Legal Communication & Research Skills program has moved to a directorless model with a rotating chairperson. 2010. Pete Nemerovski will serve as the chair through the 2013-14 academic year.

Thanks to a substantial gift, the LRW program at the University of Texas is now the David J. Beck Center for Legal Research, Writing, and Appellate Advocacy. The Beck Center includes the required first-year course, a new course on legal writing for foreign LLMs, upper-division courses (Transactional Drafting, Writing for Litigation, and Advanced Legal Writing), two judicial-clerkship courses, and a writing center. In addition, a Beck Center faculty member will oversee interscholastic moot court. Also, for the first time, the clinicians and writing professors will be eligible for summer research stipends of up to $5000. 

And at Stetson University College of Law, the faculty voted to extend full voting rights to Assistant, Associate, and full Professors of Legal Skills with tenure and on the tenure-track. Previously, Legal Skills faculty had only limited voting rights on appointments, promotion, and tenure matters. Now, those limitations have been eliminated.

(spl)

D.C. Circuit Quotes Schoolhouse Rock

 

In a blockbuster environmental ruling, the D.C. Circuit quoted from the classic Schoolhouse Rock cartoon, I'm Just a Bill. 

From the opinion (after a detailed discussion of the legislative process):

As a generation of schoolchildren knows, "by that time, it's very unlikely that [a bill will] become a law.  It's not easy to become a law."

The court went on to cite an internet link to the cartoon.  I wonder if the reference would have been even more effective with an embedded video clip (or at least a live hyperlink) in the opinion to make viewing easier.

(dbb)

What makes bad writing

Someone recently asked Wall Street Journal columnist Cynthia Crossen to explain what constitutes bad writing. In her June 25 column, she focuses on three key traits: obscurity, wordiness, and overwriting. As an example of obscurity, she quotes this piece of academic prose: “The lure of imaginary totality is momentarily frozen before the dialectic of desire hastens on with symbolic chains.” Wordiness, Crossen believes, is due partly to lax editing of published works; she is “often shocked by how badly some books need to be trimmed.” As for overwriting, Crossen cites Amanda McKittrick Ros (1860-1939), whose books were fodder for contests that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien held among the literati at Oxford. The prize went to the one who could read Ros’s work the longest without laughing. Crossen provides an example: “Do not sit in silence and allow the blood that now boils in my veins to ooze through cavities of unrestrained passion and trickle down to drench me with its crimson hue.”

While I don’t see much overwriting in my students’ work, I do see obscurity. And we work on problems with wordiness all year. Meanwhile, I regularly have to trim my own writing.

(jdf)

under new management

Legal writing professors are moving into some new management positions over the summer:

Elena Langan has been appointed the new Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Nova Southeastern. She had been serving as the Director of the Lawyering Skills and Values program at Nova since July 2010. Meanwhile, Olympia Duhart has been appointed Nova's new Director of Lawyering Skills and Values program. Both professors will assume their new duties as of July 1st.

This fall, Atlanta's John Marshall Law School will be opening a new branch campus, Savannah Law School. Elizabeth Megale, who has been teaching at Barry, will be joining the inaugural faculty at Savannah as an Associate Professor of Law and the Director of Legal Skills and Professionalism program.

Christine Cerniglia, who previously taught at Stetson and Atlanta’s John Marshall, has joined the faculty at Loyola New Orleans as a clinical professor. She will be the new coordinator of the Office of Law Skills and Experiential Learning.

(spl)

 

 

tenure for Lucy Jewel!

Four years ago, Atlanta's John Marshall Law School put all of its legal writing and skills professors on the regular tenure track. And this spring, Lucy Jewel became the first of the legal writing and skills professors to be granted tenure there. A hearty congratulations, Lucy!

(spl)

 

 

Last Week to Submit News Items for the Second Draft

One last reminder:  The Second Draft is the news magazine of the Legal Writing Institute. To share news of your promotions, publications, presentations, and noteworthy program developments from your school's legal writing program, send an email before next Sunday, July 1, 2012 to [email protected].  Have the subject line read "Program News and Accomplishments."

Hat tip to Harris Freeman and The Second Draft Editorial Board

(mew)

 

Problems with grammar in the workplace

“Managers are fighting an epidemic of grammar gaffes in the workplace.” So writes Sue Shellenbarger in a June 20 Wall Street Journal article.  Managers tend to attribute this epidemic to the informality of electronic comunication, "where slang and shortcuts are common.” Readers of this blog might cite lax or nonexistent coverage of grammar in some of today’s schools, a point that has been mentioned here recently. Shellenbarger’s article also quotes legal writing expert Bryan Garner, who suggests that the decline in professional copy editing is another cause of rampant grammar gaffes. Whatever their cause, managers say grammar errors "'can create bad impressions with clients, ruin marketing materials and cause communications errors.'"

(jdf)

ABA's new guide to punctuation, grammar, etc.

The ABA has announced the publication of a new guide for lawyers, on punctuation, grammar, workplace productivity, and time management. The fact the very productivity of the legal workplace is implicitly linked to writing mechanics in the title of this book speaks volumes -- although what it says may need to be translated for legal writing students to understand. We haven't had a chance to see the book yet, but if you have, let us know what you think about it.

(spl)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comma tips for students who've missed sufficient writing instruction

Professor Suzanne Rowe (pictured at right) of the University of Oregon wrote recently that many students come to law school “without sufficient writing instruction or practice.” She even overheard a university professor exclaim disdainfully that college courses shouldn’t include grammar. (Speakers Suzanne Rabe and Susie Salmon made similar points at the recent LWI Conference.)

The students’ resulting lack of knowledge is “not their fault,” Professor Rowe says. To help remedy the problem, her Oregon State Bar Bulletin article includes a list of basic tips for comma usage.

(jdf)

Susan Duncan to be interim dean at Louisville!

Susan Duncan, former president of the Legal Writing Institute, has just been named interim dean of the University of Louisville's Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.  Susan has served the legal writing community in many different capacities, including through her scholarship about legal writing. Her appointment is exciting news for our entire community. Those who would like to contact her can reach her at [email protected] .

(jdf)

 

vote for the best legal novel of the year

The ABA Journal is holding a contest to identify the best legal novel of the year. The judges have narrowed it down to three finalists for the 2012 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. Surely legal writing professors are well qualified to vote on this matter, and you can cast your vote here.

(spl)

 

 

Why law school is still worth it

In the latest issue of the National Jurist, Professor Aaron Taylor of St. Louis University (pictured at right) gives reasons why law school is still a good investment. In the current weak economy, lawyers’ incomes are still good—the median income for 2010 was $113,000, and the median starting salary was $63,000. Taylor also argues that a law degree is helpful in many good jobs that do not actually require a J.D.  And the current decreased number of applications means an individual applicant may have a better chance of being admitted to the school of his or her choice.

 Hat tip: Cynthia Fountaine

 (jdf)

W&M revamps its LRW program

William & Mary Law has re-staffed its LRW program, changing from an adjunct-taught program to a program taught by full-time professors for the upcoming fall semester. Meredith Aden, previously at Mississippi College, will be William & Mary's new Director of Legal Skills. The new Assistant Director will be Jennifer Franklin. The six new full-time legal writing professors will be Anna Chason, Rob Kaplan, Laura Killinger, Mason Lowe, Rachel Suddarthm, and Jen Stevenson. Adjuncts will still teach in the second year LRW curriculum.

We look forward to hearing good things from this group!

hat tip: Meredith Aden

(spl)

Most-cited law review articles

In case you’re wondering which are the most cited law review articles of all time, Fred Shapiro, with the assistance of co-author Michelle Pearse, has just published his latest list of them. Number one is Coase’s The Problem of Social Cost, 3 J.L. & Econ. 1 (1960). Second is Warren and Brandeis’s article on the right to privacy. Rounding out the top ten are

3. O.W. Holmes, The Path of the Law, 10 Harv. L. Rev. 457 (1897).

4. Gerald Gunther, The Supreme Court, 1971 Term--Foreword: In Search of Evolving Doctrine on a Changing Court: A Model for a Newer Equal Protection, 86 Harv. L. Rev. 1 (1972).

5. Herbert Wechsler, Toward Neutral Principles of Constitutional Law, 73 Harv. L. Rev. 1 (1959).

6. Guido Calabresi & A. Douglas Melamed, Property Rules, Liability Rules, and Inalienability: One View of the Cathedral, 85 Harv. L. Rev. 1089 (1972).

7. Charles A. Reich, The New Property, 73 Yale L.J. 733 (1964).

8. Charles R. Lawrence III, The Id, the Ego, and Equal Protection: Reckoning with Unconscious Racism, 39 Stan. L. Rev. 317 (1987).

9. William J. Brennan, Jr., State Constitutions and the Protection of Individual Rights, 90 Harv. L. Rev. 489 (1977).

10. Robert H. Bork, Neutral Principles and Some First Amendment Problems, 47 Ind. L.J. 1 (1971).

 Read the full list at 110 Mich. L. Rev. 1483 (2012).

 (jdf)