Legal Writing Prof Blog

AALS Panel on "The Unequal Workplace"

Professor Deborah Borman organized and moderated an excellent panel presentation on The Unequal Workplace: Well Being at Stake, held earlier this year at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools in Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon, January 2nd. The session was so-sponsored by the AALS Section on Balance in Legal Education and the Section on Teaching Methods. In addition to Professor Borman, the speakers included:

Renee N. Allen, St. John’s University School of Law
Cindy Galway Buys, Southern Illinois University School of Law
DeShun Harris, The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law
Alicia Jackson, Florida A&M University College of Law
Lucy Jewel, University of Tennessee College of Law
Nicholas A. Mirkay, III, University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law
Palma Joy Strand, Creighton University
Elaine Sylvester, Esq., Associate, Gunderson Dettmer LLP
Angela K. Upchurch, Southern Illinois University School of Law

The speakers provided ideas for addressing implicit bias, teaching cultural competency, developing cultural capital in marginalized groups, developing leadership skills to support and work with diverse persons in a variety of workplaces, and preparing students to recognize and successfully deal with instances of discrimination they may encounter in the legal profession.

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UNH Law is Hiring an Academic Dean

The University of New Hampshire Law School in Concord, New Hampshire, is looking for an academic dean. Click here for more information.

Hat tip to Amy Vorenberg.

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JALWD Announces Its New Editorial Board

The editorial board of Legal Communication & Rhetoric: JALWD announced its new editorial board members and editorial board members taking on new roles:

 

Aysha Ames (Brooklyn): Aysha joins LC&R as an Associate Editor. Before joining Brooklyn Law in 2018, Aysha served as an attorney for the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

 

Maikieta Brantley (Denver): Maikieta joins LC&R as our Social Media Editor. Before joining the Lawyering Process Program at Denver Law in 2019, Maikieta did commercial and civil litigation work

 

Brad Desnoyer (Indiana): Brad previously served as an Associate Editor for LC&R and is now stepping into a Lead Editor role. Brad previously taught at the University of Missouri. Brad is the author of an exam-writing book published by West Academic, as well as co-author of an article on Race, Rhetoric, and Judicial Opinions.

 

Rachel Goldberg (Cornell): Rachel joins LC&R as an Associate Editor. Prior to joining Cornell, Rachel practiced appellate-level criminal defense at the Center for Appellate Litigation in New York City. She has a Ph.D. in English Language and Rhetoric from the University of Washington, where she also co-directed the Expository Writing Program.

 

Kristin Gerdy (BYU): Kristin has been an editor for LC&R since 2010 and now steps into a new role, Inter-Journal Liaison. She previously served as Editor-in-Chief and Assistant Editor-in-Chief of JLWI and has been a member of the ALWD and LWI Boards. She has authored numerous articles and essays on topics including the use of technology in the classroom and introducing first-year students to the "heart" of lawyering, and has a forthcoming article on literary references in the federal appellate courts.

 

Margaret Hannon (Michigan): Margaret previously served as an Associate and Lead Editor for LC&R and is now stepping into the co-Editor-in-Chief role. Margaret previously served as Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief of LWI's Monograph Series, and is currently serving as Site Committee Host Liaison for ALWD's 2021 conference. Margaret co-authored an employment discrimination textbook and has contributed to Perspectives, the ABA's Before the Bar blog, and the Appellate Advocacy blog. She also volunteers as a cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Michigan.

 

Sherri Keene (Georgetown): Sherri previously served as an Associate Editor for LC&R and is now stepping into a Lead Editor role. Before joining Georgetown Law, Sherri served as the director of Maryland's legal writing program. Sherri was selected as a Distinguished Speaker by ALWD and organized Maryland Law Review's 2018 symposium on race and rhetoric. Sherri's most recent writing focuses on race and racial issues in criminal procedure.

 

Abby Pathoff (Chapman): Abby previously served as Social Media Editor for LC&R and is now stepping into an Associate Editor role. Before joining Chapman Law, Abby taught at the University of Idaho College of Law, where she was nominated for a teaching excellence award. Abby has written on the impact of fear-based narratives on law students.

 

Joe Regalia (UNLV): Joe joins LC&R as an Associate Editor. Before joining UNLV, Joe taught as an adjunct at Loyola Law (Chicago), John Marshall, and UNLV. He co-edits and writes for the Appellate Advocacy Blog and is the co-founder of Write.law and Pro Se Bootcamp.

 

Ruth Anne Robbins (Rutgers): Ruth Anne has served as co-Editor-in-Chief of LC&R since 2010 and is now transitioning into an Editor-in-Chief Emeritus role. She co-founded the Applied Legal Storytelling conference, served on the LWI Board and as LWI's president, and co-authors a 1L textbook about persuasive legal writing. Ruth Anne's writing focuses on applied legal storytelling and visual design in legal documents.

 

Kent Streseman (Santa Clara): Kent joins LC&R as an Associate Editor. Before joining Santa Clara, Kent served as a professor of appellate advocacy and director of the appellate advocacy program at Chicago-Kent College of Law, and as an assistant professor at Baylor Law. Kent was voted Chicago-Kent Professor of the Year five times by the school's Student Bar Association. Kent is a long-time member of LWI's Moot Court Committee and is a contributing editor for the Appellate Advocacy Blog.

 

Beth Wilensky (Michigan): Beth joins LC&R as a Lead Editor. Beth has previously served as a peer reviewer for LC&R, with which she has also published. She has also published articles with the Journal of Legal Education, Perspectives, Scribes, and the Second Draft. Beth's writing focuses on legal writing pedagogy, including collaborations with doctrinal faculty and incorporating live-client work and professionalism into the curriculum.

 

These new editors join an experienced and professional team of continuing editors:

JoAnne Sweeny (Louisville): co-Editor-in-Chief

Susan Bay (Marquette): co-Managing Editor

Jessica Wherry (Georgetown): co-Managing Editor

Jeff Jackson (Washburn): Lead Editor

Amy Langenfeld (Arizona State): Lead Editor

Joan Magat (Duke): Lead Editor (and a former Editor-in-Chief)

Kristen Murray (Temple): Lead Editor

Amy Griffin (Colorado): Associate Editor

Carol Mallory (Northeastern): Associate Editor

Aliza Milner (Syracuse): Associate Editor

Nantiya Ruan (Denver): Book Review Editor

 

Hat tip to Margaret Hannon of Michigan Law School

 

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Appalachian Law School is Hiring

The Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia, invites applications from entry-level and lateral candidates for a full-time legalwriting faculty position.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate a high probability of success as a teacher and awillingness to contribute to the law school's academic mission.

Applicants must possess a J.D. or equivalent degree andoutstanding academic credentials. Relevant experience in private practice, government service or a judicial clerkship is preferred. We strongly encouragewomen, minorities and others who would enrich the diversity of our academiccommunity to apply.

To learn more about our Law School, please visit their website at http://www.asl.edu for more information. Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and three references by email at [email protected]

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Last Call for Nominations for the AALS-LWRR Section Award

Here's a final reminder that the Awards Committee of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research is soliciting nominations for the 2021 Section Award. This prestigious award recognizes individuals who have made a significant lifetime contribution to the field of legal writing and research.

 

The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2021 Section Award is Friday, August 14, 2020. The committee encourages nominations that reflect the richness and diversity of the legal writing community, including nominations of women, people of color, and members of other traditionally underrepresented groups.

 

Although there is no specific nomination form, committee members will appreciate a thorough and thoughtful nomination letter explaining the ways in which the nominee has contributed to the field of legal writing and research. Also, a link to a publicly available professional biography or CV is helpful. Please send nominations to both committee co-chairs, Ken Swift, [email protected], and Dana Hill, [email protected]. Please note that, due to a change in the section bylaws, previous year nominations no longer carry over. Nominators are free to resubmit materials from a previous year’s nomination.

 

The 2021 AALS Section award will be presented at the Section Luncheon during the AALS Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The luncheon is a ticketed event.

 

The award was created at the AALS Section Business Meeting in 1995 and conferred for the first time in January 1996 at the AALS Annual Meeting. Past winners of the AALS Section Award include the following:

 

2020 – Grace Tonner (UC-Irvine)

2019 – Charles Calleros (Arizona State)

2018 – Darby Dickerson (The John Marshall Law School-Chicago)

2017 – Linda Berger (UNLV)

2016 – Suzanne Rowe (Oregon)

2015 – Mark E. Wojcik (The John Marshall Law School-Chicago)

2014 – Jan Levine (Duquesne)

2013 – Terrill Pollman (UNLV) and Jill Ramsfield (Hawaii) [two winners]

2012 – Susan Brody (The John Marshall Law School-Chicago) and Mary Barnard Ray (Wisconsin) [two winners]

2011 – Elizabeth Fajans (Brooklyn)

2010 – Joe Kimble (Thomas Cooley)

2009 – Richard K. Neumann, Jr. (Hofstra)

2008 – Eric Easton (Baltimore)

2007 – Anne Enquist (Seattle)

2006 – Terri LeClercq (Texas)

2005 – Marilyn Walter (Brooklyn)

2003 – Laurel Currie Oates (Seattle)

2002 – Helene Shapo (Northwestern)

1997 – Ralph Brill (Chicago-Kent)

1996 – Mary Lawrence (Oregon)

The Awards Committee is co-chaired by Ken Swift (Houston) and Dana Hill (Northwestern) and the members are Heather Baxter (Nova), DeLeith Gossett (Texas Tech), Lucy Jewel (Tennessee), Dyane O’Leary (Suffolk), Pamela Saindon (UIC-J. Marshall), Susie Salmon (Arizona), Michelle Zakarin (Touro).

 

The Chair of the AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research is Mary Adkins; the Chair-Elect is Rosa Kim; the Secretary is Lori Johnson; and the Past Chair is Wendy-Adele Humphrey. The other members of the Executive Committee, which will approve the recommendations of the Awards Committee, are Kate Brem, Candace M. Centeno, Shailini J. George, Sammy M. Mansour, and Kayonia L Whetstone.

 

Hat tip to Dana Hill.

 

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