Legal Writing Prof Blog

Reminder: Nominations for the Penny Pether Law and Language Scholarship Award

A passionate advocate for interdisciplinary scholarship in law, literature, and language, Professor Penelope J. Pether (1957-2013) was Professor of Law at Villanova University School of Law and former Professor of Law and Director of Legal Rhetoric at the American University Washington College of Law. Her scholarship focused not only on law, literature, and language, but also on constitutional and comparative constitutional law; legal theory, including constitutional theory; common law legal institutions, judging practices, and professional subject formation.

Beginning in November 2013, the Penny Pether Award for Law & Language Scholarship has been given annually to an article or essay published during the preceding year (September 1 to September 1) that exemplifies Penny’s commitment to law and language scholarship and pedagogy.

The Committee selecting award recipients from among the articles and essays nominated will look for scholarship that not only embodies Penny’s passion and spirit but also has some or all of the following characteristics:

• 1. “[S]cholarship concerning itself with the unique or distinctive insights that might emerge from interdisciplinary inquiries into ‘law’ grounded in the work of influential theorists of language and discourse.”
• 2. Scholarship that “attempts to think through the relations among subject formation, language, and law."
• 3. Scholarship that provides “accounts of—and linguistic interventions in—acute and yet abiding crises in law, its institutions and discourses.”
• 4. Scholarship and pedagogy, including work addressing injustices in legal-academic institutions and practices, that is “[c]arefully theorized and situated, insisting on engaging politics and law, [and that] charts ways for law and its subjects to use power, do justice.”

More explanations and descriptions of these characteristics can be found in Penny’s chapter from which these quotations are drawn: Language, in Law and the Humanities: An Introduction (Austin Sarat et al. eds., Cambridge U. Press 2010).

Nominations should be sent by November 30, 2016 to J. Amy Dillard at [email protected]. You are free to nominate more than one work and to nominate work you’ve written. Please provide a citation for each work you nominate.

The Selection Committee includes Linda Berger, David Caudill, Amy Dillard, Bruce Hay, Ian Gallacher, Melissa Marlow, Jeremy Mullem, Nancy Modesitt, and Terry Pollman. Members of the Selection Committee are not eligible for the award.

Hat tip to Jeremy Mullem.

(mew)

Hiring at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston

Northeastern University School of Law is seeking applicants for Assistant/Associate Teaching Professors, a full-time faculty position teaching legal research and writing, and legal skills beginning July 1, 2017. The Assistant/Associate Teaching Professor is a one to three-year, benefits-eligible position to teach legal research, writing and professional skills, in the first year Legal Skills in Social Context Program. The primary responsibilities for this position will include teaching legal research, writing and lawyering skills to first year students, teaching in the Social Justice component of the Legal Skills in Social Context program, and supervising student projects in the Social Justice program. The Assistant/Associate Teaching Professor may also teach one or more sections of an upper level legal writing course and may work collaboratively with other first year faculty to develop simulations and assignments.

Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a dynamic and highly selective research university located on an attractive campus in the heart of Boston’s cultural district, whose standing among peer universities has increased rapidly in recent years. A distinguishing feature of the School of Law’s academic mission is its emphasis on practice in both education and research, and the University has been widely recognized as a world leader in the integration of work and learning through its co-operative educational program and other practical learning opportunities for students. The School of Law, in particular, has long been a national leader in experiential legal education, with a deep commitment to law in service of the public interest and to engaged scholarship and interdisciplinary collaboration.

 

Northeastern University has a strong tradition of diversity and accessibility. The search committee is especially interested in qualified candidates who can contribute, through their research, teaching, and or service to the diversity and excellence of the academic community. They also encourage applications from persons whose characteristics will further the school's commitment to diversity, including racial and ethnic minorities, women, persons with disabilities, gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered persons. We encourage candidates to self-identify in their initial application. However, all candidates are encouraged to apply. Compensation will be commensurate with education, training, and experience and includes an outstanding benefits package.

Applicants must hold a JD from an accredited institution. Candidates must have substantial experience teaching legal research, writing and lawyering skills and a demonstrated commitment to using law as a means for advancing social justice. Candidates with experience using experiential teaching techniques are preferred. The salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

 

The position is a tenure-track appointment that may lead to successive long-term contracts of five or more years. The professor hired will be permitted to vote in faculty meetings but not on matters of tenure. The school anticipates paying an annual academic year base salary of $70,000 to $89,999. The number of students enrolled in each semester of the courses taught by the legal research & writing
professor will be 30 or fewer.

 

Hat tip to Margaret Hahn-Dupont.

(mew)

 

Reminder: Nominations for the Penny Pether Law and Language Scholarship Award

A passionate advocate for interdisciplinary scholarship in law, literature, and language, Penelope J. Pether (1957-2013) was Professor of Law at Villanova University School of Law and former Professor of Law and Director of Legal Rhetoric at the American University Washington College of Law. Her own scholarship focused not only on law, literature, and language, but also on constitutional and comparative constitutional law; legal theory, including constitutional theory; common law legal institutions, judging practices, and professional subject formation.

Beginning in November 2013, the Penny Pether Award for Law & Language Scholarship has been given annually to an article or essay published during the preceding year (September 1 to September 1) that exemplifies Penny’s commitment to law and language scholarship and pedagogy.

The Committee selecting award recipients from among the articles and essays nominated will look for scholarship that not only embodies Penny’s passion and spirit but also has some or all of the following characteristics:

• 1. “[S]cholarship concerning itself with the unique or distinctive insights that might emerge from interdisciplinary inquiries into ‘law’ grounded in the work of influential theorists of language and discourse.”
• 2. Scholarship that “attempts to think through the relations among subject formation, language, and law."
• 3. Scholarship that provides “accounts of—and linguistic interventions in—acute and yet abiding crises in law, its institutions and discourses.”
• 4. Scholarship and pedagogy, including work addressing injustices in legal-academic institutions and practices, that is “[c]arefully theorized and situated, insisting on engaging politics and law, [and that] charts ways for law and its subjects to use power, do justice.”

More explanations and descriptions of these characteristics can be found in Penny’s chapter from which these quotations are drawn: Language, in Law and the Humanities: An Introduction (Austin Sarat et al. eds., Cambridge U. Press 2010).

Nominations should be sent by November 30, 2016 to J. Amy Dillard at [email protected]. You are free to nominate more than one work and to nominate work you’ve written. Please provide a citation for each work you nominate.

The Selection Committee includes Linda Berger, David Caudill, Amy Dillard, Bruce Hay, Ian Gallacher, Melissa Marlow, Jeremy Mullem, Nancy Modesitt, and Terry Pollman. Members of the Selection Committee are not eligible for the award.

Hat tip to Jeremy Mullem.

(mew)

Election Results

Monica Piga Wallace, a Lecturer in Law, Legal Analysis, Writing, and Research at the University of Buffalo School of Law was elected to the 143rd district of the New York State Assembly.

New York State Assembly, District 143 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	X Monica P. Wallace
	Republican	Russell W. Sugg
Source: The New York Times

 

Ken Chestek, former president of the Legal Writing Institute, did not prevail in his bid to represent the 46th District in the Wyoming House of Representatives.

Wyoming House of Representatives, District 46 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	X Bill Haley	58.45%	2,935
	Democratic	Ken Chestek	41.55%	2,086

 

Legal writing casebook author and former Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, Sheila Simon, a former legal writing professor at Southern Illinois University School of Law, lost her bid for a seat in the Illinois Senate.

Illinois State Senate, District 58 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Sheila Simon
	Republican	X Paul Schimpf
Source: The New York Times

 

Whether they win or lose (although winning is better), we salute all of our legal writing colleagues who decide to run for political office. It's a tremendous commitment to be a candidate, and we appreciate your dedication.

(mew)

Institute for Law Teaching and Learning Conference, July 2017

This is a Call for Proposals for the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning’s Summer 2017 Conference, “Teaching Cultural Competency and Other Professional Skills Suggested by ABA Standard 302.”  The conference will take place July 7-8, 2017 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. 

The Institute invites proposals for workshop sessions addressing how law schools are responding to ABA Standard 302’s call to establish learning outcomes related to “other professional skills needed for competent and ethical participation as a member of the legal profession,”  such as “interviewing, counseling, negotiation, fact development and analysis, trial practice, document drafting, conflict resolution, organization and management of legal work, collaboration, cultural competency and self-evaluation.”  The conference will focus on how law schools are incorporating these skills, particularly the skills of cultural competency, conflict resolution, collaboration, self-evaluation, and other relational skills, into their institutional outcomes, designing courses to encompass these skills, and teaching and assessing these skills.  The deadline to submit a proposal is February 1, 2017.

hat tip:  Kelly Terry

(njs)

 

Details:

The Institute invites proposals for 60-minute workshops consistent with a broad interpretation of the conference theme.  To be considered for the conference, proposals should be one single-spaced page (maximum) and should include the following information:

• the title of the workshop;
• the name, address, telephone number, and email address of the presenter(s);
• a summary of the contents of the workshop, including its goals and methods; and
• an explanation of the interactive teaching methods the presenter(s) will use to engage the audience.

The Institute must receive proposals by February 1, 2017.  Submit proposals via email to Kelly Terry, Co-Director, Institute for Law Teaching and Learning, at [email protected].

Conference Details

 

Schedule of Events:

The UALR Bowen School of Law will host a welcome reception on the evening of Thursday, July 6.  The conference will consist of concurrent workshop sessions that will take place at the law school all day on Friday, July 7 and until the early afternoon on Saturday, July 8. 

Travel and Lodging:

A block of hotel rooms for conference attendees has been reserved at the Little Rock Marriot Hotel, 3 Statehouse Plaza, Little Rock, AR 72201.  The discounted rate will be available until June 5, 2017.  Reservations may be made online by using this link: Group rate for UALR School of Law Room Block July 2017.  Reservations also may be made by calling the hotel’s reservations department at 877-759-6290 and referencing the UALR Bowen School of Law/ ILTL Conference Room Block.

Fees:

The conference fee for participants is $400, which includes materials, meals during the conference (two breakfasts and two lunches), and the welcome reception on Thursday evening, July 6.  The conference fee for presenters is $300. 

For more information:

Please visit our website (http://lawteaching.org/conferences/2017/.

DeLeith Duke Gossett and Wendy Adele Humphrey Granted Tenure and Promotions at Texas Tech

The faculty at Texas Tech University School of Law voted yesterday to give tenure and promotions to full professors to Professor DeLeith Duke Gossett and Associate Dean Wendy Adele Humphrey, both of whom teach Legal Practice at Texas Tech. Congratulations!

(mew)

Hiring at the University of Missouri School of Law

The University of Missouri School of Law invites applications for a full-time, non-tenure track, nine-month appointment in its Legal Research and Writing program for the 2017-2018 academic year. The LRW program is a four-credit, two-semester, graded course sequence. The successful applicant will be responsible for teaching two sections of Legal Research & Writing (LR&W) during the fall semester (20 or fewer students per section) and two sections of Advocacy & Research (A&R) during the spring semester (20 or fewer students per section), plus two additional courses to be determined by curricular needs and the legal writing professor’s interests. These courses may involve participation in or oversight of a student success program. The school seeks an applicant who will be a collaborative member of an autonomous three-member team that will make decisions about the LRW program. LRW faculty work together on course design and assignments. They seek a candidate who is passionate and reflective about teaching and dedicated to student learning.

The initial appointment to a legal writing track position will ordinarily be at the rank of legal writing associate professor of law. The one-year appointment can lead to rolling three-year contracts. Legal writing faculty members are eligible and expected to participate in applicable faculty governance activities.

Applicants must have a J.D. from an accredited law school, a strong academic record, excellent legal research and writing skills, and experience in the practice of law. The ideal candidate would also have experience teaching legal research and writing.

The University of Missouri School of Law is a full-time J.D. and LL.M.-granting institution located in Columbia, Missouri, and is home to 37 full-time faculty and approximately 320 students. For more information, please see http://law.missouri.edu/. The Law School strives to foster a diverse faculty committed to effective teaching and to attract a student body with diverse experiences and views. Columbia has a population of approximately 115,000, and is regularly ranked as one of the most livable cities in the United States.

Application Procedure: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, and list of three references (with their contact information) by logging in at http://hrs.missouri.edu/find-a-job/academic/

For additional information about our Legal Research & Writing program, please contact Anne Alexander, Brad Desnoyer, or Melody Daily. Anne can be reached at [email protected] or (573) 999-6246; Brad can be reached at [email protected] or (314) 602-8144; Melody can be reached at [email protected] or (573) 882-7244.

The University of Missouri is fully committed to achieving the goal of a diverse and inclusive academic community of faculty, staff, and students. The school seeks individuals who are committed to this goal and our core campus values of respect, responsibility, discovery, and excellence.

The position advertised may lead to rolling three-year contracts. The professor hired will be permitted to vote in faculty meetings. Voting is allowed on every issue except promotion and tenure of tenured or tenure-track professors. The school anticipates paying an annual academic year base salary in the range of $80,000 to $89,999. Salary is dependent on experience. Also, salary can be supplemented with summer teaching. The number of students enrolled in each semester of the courses taught by the professor will be 36 to 40 total in legal writing courses plus additional students in any additional courses. Each semester the teaching load will be two sections of legal writing (Legal Research and Writing in the fall and Advocacy and Research in the spring) plus one or two additional courses to be determined by curricular need and faculty interests. Typically, each section of LR&W or A&R has 18 to 20 students. Enrollment in additional courses varies.

Hat tip to Melody R. Daily.

(mew)

Hiring at the Univeristy of Massachusetts School of Law - Dartmouth

Full-Time Lecturer, Legal Skills I and II

Position Announcement

The University of Massachusetts School of Law – Dartmouth invites applications from persons interested in teaching Legal Skills I and II, courses in which students develop abilities in legal research, writing, and analysis. Legal Skills I and II are part of the law school’s core first-year required curriculum. Full-Time Lecturers may also apply to teach a summer course for additional compensation subject to the law school’s curricular needs, and are eligible to apply for summer research stipends subject to the law school’s standard selection process. The position will begin in July 2017. Successful applicants must be available to teach in the day and evening/weekend divisions, as needed.

The law school’s mission emphasizes public service and access to legal education. The law school seeks to prepare students to practice law in a competent and ethical manner while serving the community. We offer a robust legal education program that includes nine required credits of Legal Skills, including six in the first-year at credit hours equal to other first-year courses, an Upper-Level Writing Requirement, simulated practice courses, in-house and off-campus clinical programs, and a field placement program under the guidance of experienced practitioners.

Minimum qualifications: Applicants must have a law degree, strong academic credentials, and previous experience teaching legal writing. Preferred qualifications: We prefer applicants with full-time legal writing teaching experience.

To apply please submit an application package to http://www.umassd.edu/hr/employmentopportunities/ including (1) a cover letter, (2) curriculum vitae, (3) the contact information for three professional references, (4) two samples of feedback on student work (anonymized), (5) a copy of prior student evaluations, and (6) a writing sample.

The review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

UMass Law is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty and student body, and encourages applications from members of underrepresented groups who will add diversity to the Law School Community.

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth employees and applicants for employment are protected by federal laws, Presidential Executive Orders, and state and local laws designed to protect employees and job applicants from discrimination on the bases of race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, family medical history or genetic information, military service, veteran status or other non-merit based factors. The University of Massachusetts also reserves the right to conduct background checks on all potential employees.

Hat tip to Professor Jason Potter Burda.

(mew)