Legal Writing Prof Blog

Teri McMurtry-Chubb to be Distinguished Legal Writing Visitor at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago

The Lawyering Skills Program at The John Marshall Law School announced that Professor Teri McMurtry-Chubb will be a distinguished visitor during the 2019-20 academic year. 

During her year-long visit, Professor McMurtry-Chubb will teach two of the courses in JMLS’s required four-semester LS curriculum, including Lawyering Skills I.  She will also teach a seminar in Critical Race Feminism, a special master class in legal writing, and two pedagogy workshops for JMLS faculty. 

Prof. McMurtry-Chubb is Professor of Law at Mercer University, Walter F. George School of Law where she researches, teaches, and writes in the areas of discourse analysis, genre analysis, and legal history.  She has lectured nationally on structural workplace discrimination, disproportionate sentencing for African Americans, racial and gender inequalities in post-secondary education, and African diasporic cultural forms. She is the author of Legal Writing in the Disciplines: A Guide to Legal Writing Mastery (Carolina Academic Press 2012) and contributed to Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinions of the United States Supreme Court (Cambridge University Press 2016).

Professor McMurtry-Chubb is also a member of the Board of Directors of Scribes--The American Society of Legal Writers.

Before entering the legal academy, Professor McMurtry-Chubb practiced in the areas of insurance defense, employment discrimination, and employee benefits involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.  She was the first person of color to join her former law firm in Des Moines, Iowa.  She was the first African American woman law clerk for the 5th Judicial District of Iowa. In 2016, she was the first woman of color to serve as President of the Association of Legal Writing Directors.

Professor McMurtrty-Chubb is the second distinguished legal writing visitor to be hosted at The John Marshall Law School. The inaugural visitor was Professor Sophie Sparrow of the University of New Hampshire School of Law.

Hat tip to Kim Chanbonpin (Director of the Lawyering Skills Program at The John Marshall Law School and Immediate Past President of the Legal Writing Institute).

(mew)

The John Marshall Law School in Chicago Seeks Spring 2019 Full-Time Faculty Podium Visitors

Spring 2019 Full-Time Faculty Podium Visitors

Here's a reminder that the John Marshall Law School in Chicago is looking for one or two full-time visiting faculty members for the Spring 2019 semester. The school needs coverage in the areas of Civil Procedure (evening course), Secured Transactions, and Estates & Trusts. The appointment is for one semester, but it will be seeking visitors for the 2019–2020 academic year in these areas plus some combination of Evidence, Criminal Law, and Property.

Candidates should have taught full-time at an ABA-approved law school.

To Apply:

Submit a current CV, cover letter, and three professional references to Associate Dean David Sorkin at [email protected]. The review will begin immediately and continue on a rolling basis until one or both positions are filled. The school may request a Skype or in-person interview and submission of prior teaching evaluations.

The John Marshall Law School, finding any invidious discrimination inconsistent with the mission of free academic inquiry, does not discriminate in admission, services, or employment on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic characteristics, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

(mew)

ASU Congratulates Judy Stinson and Kim Holst

Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law mailed out a postcard to congratulate Professor Judy Stinson, who has been awarded a Distinguished Professorship in Legal Method, a fully-endowed $1 million professorship. ASU also congratulated Professor Kim Holst who began her term as President-elect of the Legal Writing Institute Board of Directors. Had they waited a little longer to do the post card, they could have also congratulated Charles Calleros on winning the AALS Section Award.

ASU will be the site for the 2019 Global Legal Skills Conference, which will be held December 12-14, 2019. Somehow the GLS conference organizers thought that everyone would be o.k. with going to Phoenix in December . . . .

(mew)

Library of Congress Appoints New Chief of the Hispanic Division

The Library of Congress appointed Suzanne Schadl, academic expert in Latin American studies, as chief of the Hispanic Division. Schadl has more than 16 years of teaching and library experience. Schadl was curator of the Latin American collections at the University of New Mexico (2008-2018), where she managed Latin American, Iberian and U.S. Latino acquisitions, related library instruction and community outreach. Prior to this work, Schadl was director of the Gerald and Betty Ford Library at The Bosque School, assistant professor of history at Roanoke College and lecturer in history at the University of Texas in Austin.

Schadl holds a doctorate in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico. She is active in the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials, serving most recently as president. Also notable is her board participation at the National Hispanic Cultural Center (2014-2018) and the New Mexico Humanities Council (2016-2018).

The Hispanic Reading Room, established in 1936, is the first international reading room of the Library of Congress and the center for Latin American, Iberian, Caribbean and US Hispanic and Latino Studies and related areas. The Division prepares the annual research tool “The Handbook of Latin American Studies,” available in print form and online. The Division also houses the Archived of Hispanic Literature. For more information, visit loc.gov/rr/hispanic/.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States – and extensive materials from around the world – both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

Adapted from a Press Release from the Library of Congress

 

The John Marshall Law School in Chicago Seeks Spring 2019 Full-Time Faculty Podium Visitors

The John Marshall Law School in Chicago seeks one or two full-time visiting faculty members for the Spring 2019 semester. The school needs coverage in the areas of Civil Procedure (evening course), Secured Transactions, and Estates & Trusts. The appointment is for one semester, but the school will be seeking visitors for the 2019–2020 academic year in these areas plus some combination of Evidence, Criminal Law, and Property.

Candidates should have taught full-time at an ABA-approved law school.

To Apply:

Submit a current CV, cover letter, and three professional references to Associate Dean David Sorkin at [email protected]. The review will begin immediately and continue on a rolling basis until one or both positions are filled. The school may request a Skype or in-person interview and submission of prior teaching evaluations.

The John Marshall Law School, finding any invidious discrimination inconsistent with the mission of free academic inquiry, does not discriminate in admission, services, or employment on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic characteristics, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

(mew)

Nominations for the 2018 Global Legal Skills Awards

The 2018 Global Legal Skills Conference in Melbourne, Australia will include award presentations to individuals, institutions, law schools, law firms, publishers, and other organizations that have advanced global legal skills education around the world. The awards continue the award presentations made in Costa Rica, Italy, Mexico, and the United States.

A full list of prior recipients is available at https://glsc.jmls.edu/2018/gls-awards/.

There is no particular nomination form – a simple email is enough to nominate a person or an institution for a GLS Award. The awards will be presented at Melbourne Law School during the GLS-13 conference, which takes place from December 9-12, 2018. Winners need not be present, but it's always nicer for everyone if they are there.

There ere four award categories:

• Individual Winners; This category recognizes individuals around the world who have made significant contributions to the promotion and improvement of global legal skills.

• Scholarship and Book Awards: This category recognizes exceptional books and articles that advance the teaching of global legal skills, including new casebooks and texts for lawyers and law students.

• Law Firms and Other Institutional Winners: This category recognizes companies, professional associations, law firms, and other organizations around the world that give special support for global legal skills. The names of persons accepting these law firm and institutional awards are in parentheses.

• Law School Winners: This category recognizes law schools around the world that give special attention to and support for global legal skills.

Please send your nominations for one or more of the categories to [email protected] by November 15, 2018. Include a paragraph about why the person, institution, law firm, law school, publisher, or other organization is worthy of an award. We will contact you if we need additional information. Nominations not selected in a particular year will be carried forward to the following year.

(mew)

Terrill Pollman to Receive the 2019 Blackwell Award

Professor Terrill Pollman of the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas has been named as the recipient of the 2019 Thomas F. Blackwell Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Legal Writing.

The award is jointly conferred by the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) and the Legal Writing Institute (LWI) to recognize a person who has made an outstanding contribution to improve the field of Legal Writing by demonstrating:

• an ability to nurture and motivate students to excellence;
• a willingness to help other legal writing educators improve their teaching skills or their legal writing programs; and
• an ability to create and integrate new ideas for teaching and motivating legal writing educators and students.

This Blackwell Award honors the late Professor Thomas Blackwell (Appalachian Law School), who was killed by a disturbed student in January 2002. Professor Blackwell was an active member of both the Association of Legal Writing Directors and the Legal Writing Institute, and the organizations joined together to present the award in his memory. The award in the past has included a desk lamp, a symbol of the light that Tom Blackwell shed on his students and a reminder of his penchant for lightbulb jokes. [How many legal writing teachers does it take to change a lightbulb? We wish that we had the resources to change the lightbulb.]

Professor Pollman will join this list of 16 previous recipients of the Blackwell Award:

• 2019: Terrill Pollman, University of Nevada at Las Vegas
• 2018: Ian Gallacher, Syracuse University College of Law
• 2017: Melissa H. Weresh, Drake University
• 2016: Coleen Miller Barger, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law.
• 2015: Helene Shapo, Northwestern University
• 2014: Jan Levine, Duquesne University School of Law
• 2013: Judy Stinson, Arizona State University
• 2012: Suzanne Rowe, University of Oregon
• 2011: Carol McCrehan Parker, University of Tennessee
• 2010: Steve Johansen, Lewis & Clark
• 2009: Linda Edwards, Mercer Law
• 2008: Diana Pratt, Wayne State University
• 2007: Louis Sirico, Villanova Law School
• 2006: Mary Beth Beazley, The Ohio State University (now at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas)
• 2005: Ralph Brill, Chicago-Kent College of Law
• 2004: Pam Lysaght, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law
• 2003: Richard K. Neumann, Hofstra University

Professor Pollman was on the founding faculty of the law school at UNLV. She teaches in the areas of Lawyering Process, Persuasion, Negotiation, and Leadership and Law. She is a past president of the Association of Legal Writing Directors and the Managing Editor of the Journal of the Legal Writing Institute. Her scholarship focuses on legal writing, pedagogy and rhetoric. She is an author of Examples and Explanations: Legal Writing. She graduated from the University of Arizona College of Law where she was an articles editor of the Arizona Law Review and an Ares Fellow. She also directed legal writing programs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Stetson University College of Law.

The Blackwell Award Reception will be held at in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Friday evening, January 4, 2019 during the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). You do not need to register for the AALS Annual Meeting in order to attend the Blackwell Award Reception.

Hat tips to Jodi L. Wilson, President of ALWD, and Kristen K. Tiscione, President of LWI.

(mew)

Charles Calleros to Receive 2019 AALS Section Award

Charles Calleros, Professor and Alan A. Matheson Fellow in Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. Charles has been selected as the recipient of the 2019 Association of American Law Schools Section Award for the Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research. This prestigious award recognizes individuals who have made significant lifetime contributions to the field of legal research and writing. It has sometimes been referred to as the lifetime achievement award in legal writing. The award was created in 1995 and conferred for the first time at the 1996 AALS Annual Meeting.

As the award announcement notes, Charles is one of the legends of legal writing. More than 35 years after he started teaching at ASU, he remains actively engaged in teaching, scholarship, and service (not to mention being the drummer in a rhythm and blues band). From the publication of his first-generation legal writing text, Legal Method and Writing, now in its 8th edition, to his use of the flamenco guitar to illustrate teaching principles, Charles brings a distinctively thoughtful and engaging perspective to explain and illuminate difficult topics of legal communication.

Many legal writing professors have experienced his "dance lessons" at conferences such as the Global Legal Skills Conference in Verona, Italy. We are happy to share here some rare Charles Calleros flamenco and drumming photos that have not been seen before on his blog or on the legal writing listserve. The black and white photo (right) is of Charles Calleros flamenco dancing with the Lydia Torea Spanish Dance Company. The other dance photo is of Charles dancing "sometime in the 1980s."

His colleagues at ASU and across the country praise his warmth, generous spirit, and kindness; he “unfailingly models cheerful, nonjudgmental inclusiveness.” Charles has been a constant champion of diversity in legal education, and he has long been engaged with a variety of organizations that assist and embrace law students of color.

His work has taken place within the academy (e.g., AALS, LSAC, CLEO) and within the practicing bar (e.g., Hispanic National Bar Association). Charles’s significant lifetime contributions to the field of legal writing have greatly enriched law teaching and legal education.

 

The 2019 AALS Section award will be presented to Charles Calleros at the AALS Annual Meeting in New Orleans during the luncheon for the AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research. That luncheon on Friday, January 4, 2019 from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. is a ticketed event. Tickets should be purchased when registering for the AALS Annual Meeting. We do not know if the luncheon will include live drumming or flamenco dancing on the table tops, but we'll be ready with a camera in case it happens.

The award recipient is selected from nominations submitted to the section. The AALS Section Awards Committee is co-chaired by Linda Berger and Rebekah Hanley and the members are Mary Algero, Annie Chan, Raúl Fernández-Calienes, Darby Dickerson, Deleith Gossett, Dana Hill, Jan Levine, Kathryn Mercer, Terry Pollman, and Ursula Weigold.

Here is the full list of winners of the AALS Section Award:

• 1996 - Mary Lawrence (Oregon)
• 1997 - Ralph Brill (Chicago-Kent)
• 2002 - Helene Shapo (Northwestern)
• 2003 - Laurel Currie Oates (Seattle)
• 2005 - Marilyn Walter (Brooklyn)
• 2006 - Terri LeClerq (Texas)
• 2007 - Anne Enquist (Seattle)
• 2008 - Eric Easton (Baltimore)
• 2009 - Richard K. Neumann, Jr. (Hofstra)
• 2010 - Joe Kimble (Thomas Cooley)
• 2011 - Elizabeth Fajans (Brooklyn)
• 2012 - Susan Brody (The John Marshall Law School-Chicago) and Mary Barnard Ray (Wisconsin) [two winners that year]
• 2013 - Terrill Pollman (UNLV) and Jill Ramsfield (Hawaii) [two winners that year]
• 2014 - Jan Levine (Duquesne)
• 2015 - Mark E. Wojcik (The John Marshall Law School-Chicago)
• 2016 - Suzanne Rowe (Oregon)
• 2017 – Linda Berger (UNLV)
• 2018 - Darby Dickerson (The John Marshall Law School-Chicago)
• 2019 - Charles R. Calleros (Arizona State University)

Hat tip to Professor Suzanna Moran, Chair, AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, & Research 

(mew)

 

Save the Date: Burton Awards 2019

20th Annual Burton Awards

Monday, May 20, 2019

Burton Awards event begins: Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress 4:00p.m. prompt
Cocktail Reception: Great Hall of the Library of Congress, 6:00p.m.
Gala/Dinner: Great Hall, Atrium Level, 6:30p.m. to 8:00p.m​.

Event Venue: Library of Congress, Coolidge Auditorium and Great Hall.
City/State/Zip: 10 First Street, S.E., Washington, D.C.

The awards program recognizes major achievements in the law, ranging from literary awards to the greatest reform in law. The awards are selected by professors from Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, UC Berkeley School of Law, Stanford Law School, and Columbia Law School, among others. The members of the Honorary Board of Directors are Chief Judge Richard Posner (retired), Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals; U.S. Senator John Cornyn; U.S. Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr.; U.S. Senator Mike Crapo; U.S. Senator Michael F. Bennet; California Supreme Court Justice Carol Corrigan of California; Yabo Lin, Partner, Sidley Austin LLP; Jane Sullivan Roberts, Partner, Major, Lindsey & Africa; Lisa Rickard, President, U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform; Thomas L. Sager, Partner, Ballard Spahr LLP; Les Parrette, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Compliance Officer, Novelis Inc.; James M. Rishwain, Jr., Chairman Emeritus, Pillsbury Winthrop LLP; Betty Whelchel, Head of Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs, BNP Paribis SA; Stephen R. Mysliwiec, Partner, DLA Piper LLP (US); Leslie T. Thornton, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, WGL Holdings, Inc. and Washington Gas; and Linda Klein, Immediate Past President, American Bar Association.​

(mew)

Marilyn Walter has died.

Marilyn Walter, who directed Brooklyn Law School’s legal writing program for more than thirty years, died last Friday after a long battle with cancer.

Professor Walter's book, Writing and Analysis in the Law, is a widely used first-year legal writing text. She was also the co-author of the first edition of the Sourcebook on Legal Writing Programs.  A leader in her field, Professor Walter was the recipient of the 2005 Association of American Law Schools' Legal Writing Section Award in recognition of her “pioneering leadership, extraordinary vision, and outstanding service.”

Marilyn was a former Chair of the AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research, a member of the Board of the Legal Writing Institute, a member of the ABA’s Committee on Communication Skills, and an Editorial Committee member of the Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors. She was a frequent and popular a speaker on numerous panels at legal writing conferences.

Before she joined the faculty of Brooklyn Law School in 1980, she was a legal writing instructor at New York University Law School and a staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project. In spring 2008, she was a Visiting Professor at the University of Delhi Law School in India.

As her colleague Betsy Fajans noted, Marilyn was central in making the field of legal writing what it is today. She was also a mentor to dozens of people in the legal writing community. We extend our condolences to her family, colleagues, and former students. She will be missed.

(mew)

What's New at Congress.gov?

There are some new enhancements to Congress.gov and some helpful search tips for searching federal legislation.  Click here to read more from In Custodia Legis, the blog of the Law Library of Congress.

(mew)

Happy International Teachers' Day!

Happy International Teachers' Day! (October 5)

 

 

UMKC is Hiring

Job Announcement – Clinical Assistant or Associate Professor for International LL.M. and J.D. programs

 

The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law seeks applications for a Clinical Assistant or Associate Professor to start in Fall 2019. The critical courses to be covered are: Common Law, Legal Analysis and Writing, a three-credit hour required, writing-intensive, foundational course for international LL.M. students (this course is offered in both the Fall and Spring semesters); International Human Rights, a paper course for LL.M. and J.D. students offered in the Fall semester; Global Legal Systems (Comparative Law) in the Spring semester, and another course for which there is some flexibility. Needs include International Commercial Arbitration, Cross-Cultural Dispute Resolution, and possibly Introduction to American Legal Skills (interviewing, counseling and negotiation).

 

UMKC School of Law seeks faculty members with a strong commitment to educating lawyers for the twenty-first century, and those who will actively participate in our collegial, collaborative community. It is the urban law school of the University of Missouri System and is located on a beautiful landscaped campus in the Country Club Plaza area of Kansas City, Missouri, a vibrant metropolitan area of more than two million people. UMKC offers courses leading to J.D. or LL.M. degrees for approximately 400 students. 

 

UMKC is an equal access, equal opportunity, affirmative action employer that is fully committed to achieving a diverse faculty and staff. Equal Opportunity is and shall be provided for all employees and applicants for employment on the basis of their demonstrated ability and competence without unlawful discrimination on the basis of their race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status. For more information, call the Vice Chancellor – Human Resources at 816-235-1621. To request ADA accommodations, please call the Office of Affirmative Action at 816-235-1323.

 

Applicants must apply through the UMKC’s Human Resources website: http://www.umkc.edu/hr/career-opportunities/default.asp.

 

Inquiries may be sent to: Jeffrey E. Thomas, Associate Dean for International Programs, UMKC School of Law, 500 E. 52^nd Street, Kansas City, MO 64110

[email protected]

(mew)

Underline or Italics?

Here's a tip from the Illinois Supreme Court Style Guide: Because underscoring has become the standard way to indicate a hyperlink to another document, it should not be used in lieu of italics.

• NOT: Duffy v. Orlan Brook Condo. Owners’ Ass’n, 2012 IL App (1st) 113577 ¶36, 981 N.E.2d 1069, 1079 (Ill. App. Ct. 2012).
• BUT THIS: Duffy v. Orlan Brook Condo. Owners’ Ass’n, 2012 IL App (1st) 113577 ¶36, 981 N.E.2d 1069, 1079 (Ill. App. Ct. 2012).

(mew)