Legal Writing Prof Blog

Early Bird Registration for the LWI Biennial Conference Until March 31

Here's a reminder to register for the 18th Biennial LWI Conference by March 31 to take advantage of the early bird rate of $450. The conference will be held July 11-14, 2018 at Marquette University School of Law in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In addition to the substantive program, there will be a gala at Discovery World.

After you register for the conference, reserve a room at the Hilton Milwaukee for $179 using the group code "LWI” or, alternatively, in Marquette University dormitory lodging by contacting Carrie Enea at 414-288-4737 or [email protected]

Hat tips to Ted Becker, Rebekah Hanley, & Sherri Keene.

(mew)

Final Reminder: Free Legal Research Webinar on March 19

The American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress will present a free webinar on “free legal research online” as part of the select ABA CLE Premier Speaker Series. The speaker will be Barbara Bavis of the Law Library of Congress.

The webinar will take place on Monday, March 19, 2018 from 1:00 - 2:30 pm Eastern (noon to 1:30 p.m. Central). 

This program will teach you how to use a multitude of free online resources to complete your legal and legislative research.The webinar would normally cost $195.00 but is being offered to ABA members at no cost.

 

Ms. Bavis will explain how to locate federal materials using free online resources from the Law Library of Congress, the Government Publishing Office (GPO), the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives (OLRC), and other government entities. You'll also learn how to use non-governmental databases like Google Scholar, Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute (LII), Casetext, CourtListener, and the American Presidency Project to find case law, articles, executive orders, and much more. You'll also receive:

• Up-to-the-minute information, highlighting both newly available resources, and updates to more established resources
• A complete “cheat sheet” for legal or legislative research conducted outside of the main subscription databases (Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg)
• Resources from all branches of government that are valuable in conducting legal and legislative research

Although there is no charge, registration is required.  To view the listing and to register, please visit ShopABA at https://shop.americanbar.org/eBus/Default.aspx?TabID=1538&productId=303746111&ct=34cb7ddd5ce7110b300b99cf219bdfc5da67a4ef580010b9b55545629f3d360287a61a17b99274a7a18eabde9776d75c0b6f9e73b6a6b0a116c009254a3911cf

Hat tip to Elissa Lichtenstein and the ABA Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress.

(mew)

Early Bird Registration for the LWI Biennial Conference Until March 31

You can register for the 18th Biennial LWI Conference by March 31 to take advantage of the early bird rate of $450. The conference will be held July 11-14, 2018 at Marquette University School of Law in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In addition to the substantive program, there will be a gala at Discovery World.

After you register for the conference, reserve a room at the Hilton Milwaukee for $179 using the group code "LWI” or, alternatively, in Marquette University dormitory lodging by contacting Carrie Enea at 414-288-4737 or [email protected]

Hat tips to Ted Becker, Rebekah Hanley, & Sherri Keene.

(mew)

Texas is Hiring (Application Deadline is April 11, 2018)

The University of Texas School of Law seeks to hire a legal-writing teacher for the 2018–2019 school year.  The person hired will teach two sections of legal analysis and communication in the fall and two sections of persuasive writing and advocacy in the spring.  Each section will have approximately 20 to 25 students.

The successful applicant will join the faculty of the David J. Beck Center for Legal Research, Writing, and Appellate Advocacy.  Job duties will include teaching classes, holding student conferences, training and supervising teaching assistants, creating writing problems, commenting on student papers, and judging oral arguments.

Applicants should have strong academic credentials, including a J.D. from an accredited law school, and proven expertise in legal writing.  Law-practice experience, which may include a judicial clerkship, is expected.  Experience teaching or working with students is valuable.

The position is at the University status of Lecturer, with a nine-month contract (September–May) that will pay $80,000 plus insurance and retirement benefits. Although the contract may be renewed, there is no guarantee of renewal. The position can lead to rolling, renewable contracts of three years. The position cannot lead to a tenure-track appointment.

To apply, submit a cover letter, résumé, law-school transcript, and writing sample by visiting https://apply.interfolio.com/49592.   The application deadline is April 11, 2018.   We will comply with the AALS Statement of Good Practices for the Recruitment of and Resignation by Full-Time Faculty Members.

The University of Texas at Austin does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or sexual orientation. The posititon may lead only to successive short-term contracts of one to four years. After a one-year initial contract, the position may lead to rolling, renewable contracts of three years. The position is eligible for University voting rights, with exceptions, after two or more academic years of service. The anticipated salary is $80,000 to $89,999. The anticipated number of students is 36 to 45.

Hat tip to Kamela Bridges.

(mew)

   

Reminder: LWI Writers' Workshop

Here's a reminder that the Legal Writing Institute will hold its 15th Writers Workshop to take place on Sunday, July 8 through Wednesday, July 11, 2018, just before the 2018 LWI Conference in Milwaukee. The workshop will give up to twelve legal writing faculty the opportunity to spend time working on their academic writing projects and improving their scholarly skills.

The workshop will take place at two adjacent mansions in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, complete with space for discussion, contemplation, and writing.  All LWI members are eligible. You must have a scholarly writing project well underway and beyond the initial stages of performing early research and drafting a tentative outline. You must at least have some sort of partial draft. In most cases, a scholarly writing project should result in a law review article or something similar.

Although all LWI members are encouraged to apply, the workshop is limited to 12 participants. The organizers give priority to full-time Legal Writing faculty for whom scholarly writing is a prerequisite for retention, promotion, or tenure. They also give priority to applicants who have not attended past Workshops, although a significant number of legal writing scholars have benefited so substantially from the workshop that they have returned in following years.

Participants make presentations on their projects to small groups of three and receive feedback from the other members of their group and from experienced scholarly writers who facilitate the sessions. Each session runs about ninety minutes. Participants also benefit from several guided discussion groups, each on a different topic and led by the facilitators. Participants will also have time to work on their drafts. And time to just gaze out on Lake Geneva too, we hope.

Participants will pay a $300 registration. LWI will cover meals, beginning with dinner on July 8 and ending with breakfast on July 11. For more information, contact Deborah Gordon at (215) 571-4811.

Submit your application at https://drexel.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bfnqm5LvernWNDL by 5 p.m. on Monday, April 16. The organizers will select participants on a rolling basis.

Hat tips to Cynthia Adams, Ken Chestek, Deborah Gordon, Kim Holst, Chris Rideout, and Lou Sirico.

(mew)

Reminder: Free Legal Research Webinar on March 19

Here's a reminder that the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress has announced that Barbara Bavis, a librarian at the Law Library of Congress, will present a free webinar on “free legal research online” as part of the select ABA CLE Premier Speaker Series.

The webinar will take place on Monday, March 19, 2018 from 1:00 - 2:30 pm Eastern (noon to 1:30 p.m. Central). 

This program will teach you how to use a multitude of free online resources to complete your legal and legislative research.The webinar would normally cost $195.00 but is being offered to ABA members at no cost.

 

Ms. Bavis will explain how to locate federal materials using free online resources from the Law Library of Congress, the Government Publishing Office (GPO), the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives (OLRC), and other government entities. You'll also learn how to use non-governmental databases like Google Scholar, Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute (LII), Casetext, CourtListener, and the American Presidency Project to find case law, articles, executive orders, and much more. You'll also receive:

• Up-to-the-minute information, highlighting both newly available resources, and updates to more established resources
• A complete “cheat sheet” for legal or legislative research conducted outside of the main subscription databases (Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg)
• Resources from all branches of government that are valuable in conducting legal and legislative research

Although there is no charge, registration is required.  To view the listing and to register, please visit ShopABA at https://shop.americanbar.org/eBus/Default.aspx?TabID=1538&productId=303746111&ct=34cb7ddd5ce7110b300b99cf219bdfc5da67a4ef580010b9b55545629f3d360287a61a17b99274a7a18eabde9776d75c0b6f9e73b6a6b0a116c009254a3911cf

Hat tip to Elissa Lichtenstein and the ABA Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress.

(mew)

NYSBA Offers Advanced Legal Writing Seminars in April

Here's a reminder that the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) will offer an Advanced Legal Writing seminar with Justice Gerald Lebovits, a New York City judge since 2001 and president of the 300-judge New York State Association of Acting Supreme Court Justices.

Justice Lebovits has been an adjunct professor of law for 32 years, currently at Columbia, Fordham, and NYU. Students at Fordham, New York Law School, and St. John’s have each elected him Adjunct Law Professor of the Year. He has authored six books and more than 300 articles and given hundreds of CLEs on legal writing, ethics, criminal practice, and landlord-tenant law for bar associations, government organizations, and the New York State Court System. He will also be known to many New York lawyers because he has authored the Legal Writer Column for the New York State Bar Journal since 2001.

Justice Lebovits will share easy-to remember and simple-to-understand methods of persuasive writing and the essential elements of a winning brief — from cover to conclusion, including storytelling, theme, organization, style, rhetoric, ethics, and legal method. 

• Monday, April 23, 2018 | Long Island
  
• Tuesday, April 24, 2018 | Westchester
  
• Thursday, April 26, 2018 | NYC (Manhattan)
  
• Monday, April 30, 2018 | Syracuse
  
• Wednesday, May 2, 2018 | Rochester
  
• Thursday, May 3, 2018 | Buffalo
  
• Friday, May 4, 2018 | Albany

 

NYSBA Members: $125 | Non-Members: $225

4.0 MCLE Credits in Skills

//www.nysba.org/LegalWritingCLE

 

(mew)