Legal Writing, Analysis, and Research

Catalog description

This course introduces first year students to the craft of writing from the perspective of legal writing, analysis and research. As with other first year writing courses, the course is designed to develop first-year students’ proficiency in analytical and rhetorical reading and writing, and critical thinking. Students will assess the strengths and weaknesses of written legal writing, research case law and learn to identify different kinds of sources, develop their own cases, briefs, memos, and motions, and will review each others’ writing and revise their own work based on peer and instructor feedback. Because both law and writing are iterative processes, this course will focus on the creative process in both: students will learn to incorporate feedback, assess and analyze their own work and the work of others, and create a portfolio of legal writing that demonstrates analytic rigor, clear and concise writing skills, and ethical and incisive research skills.