How Metacognitive Deficiencies of Law Students Lead to Biased Ratings of Legal Writing Professors

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine J. Wasson ◽  
Barbara J. Tyler
Keyword(s):  
Law Students ◽  
Legal Writing ◽  
Biased Ratings

Casefinder: A Non-Law Students Smartphone App for Legal Writing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rizauddin Saian ◽  
Zeti Zuryani Mohd Zakuan
Keyword(s):  
Law Students ◽  
Smartphone App ◽  
Legal Writing

scholarly journals SCAFFOLDING THE WRITING COMPONENT OF THE ENGLISH FOR LAW SYLLABUS AT UNIVERSITY

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-111
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Łuczak
Keyword(s):  
Law Students ◽  
Common Elements ◽  
Practical Guide ◽  
Legal Writing

Abstract The present paper is intended to be a practical guide for teachers who need to run writing for law classes for pre-experienced law students with no or little experience of academic or legal writing. It provides the teachers with advice on how to teach students to draft modern documents by sequencing and selecting the content that reflects the needs of practising lawyers. It shows how legal writing stems from academic and general writing. Overlapping or common elements of academic and legal writing are identified and sequenced in order to create an introductory base for writing for legal purposes. Types of texts that lawyers draft have been selected and used as the scaffold- ing for writing tasks specially designed to suit the students’ proficiency and expertise.

scholarly journals WHAT IS ‘ACADEMIC LEGAL WRITING’?

2011 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Daily Basis ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Legal Writing ◽  
Practical Exam

In the editors’ note to the inaugural edition of the Pretoria Student Law Revie (PSLR) the editors wrote that the purpose of the PSLR is to serve as a platform for students to engage in ‘academic legal writing’. To students interested in publishing in the PSLR, or any other law journal for that matter this might raise the questions: ‘What is academic legal writing?’; ‘Are there other forms of legal writing?’; and ‘If so, how are they different from academic legal writing?’ These are important questions. They certainly do not only arise for potential student authors for the PSLR, but all law students who at some stage of their studies have to write ‘academic’ essays or dissertations, somehow different from ‘practical’ exam and test answers or pleadings for moot courts, or pretend-contracts. They also confront legal academics on a daily basis when they think about the nature and purpose of their work. I attempt here some answers to them.

scholarly journals EDITORS’ NOTE

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisca Pretorius
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Student Voice ◽  
Student Support ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Research Skills ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Positive Law ◽  
Legal Writing ◽  
The Many

You hold in your hands the very first edition of the Pretoria Student Law Journal. It has been a tremendous journey in completing the first edition, due largely to the process of finding our feet in everything from footnote styles to page sizing to the task of editing the articles(which in truth was made simple by the exceptional quality in contributions and contributors). The spirit with which the many who made this possible have worked has enabled the creation of a fantastic opportunity for us, as students, to publish our own concepts and ideas. Academic legal writing in South Africa has, with a few exceptions, traditionally been the domain of lecturers and practitioners. One result of this is that, as students, we tend to forget that law applies to the whole society. As citizens (and especially as legally trained citizens) we have a right – even a duty – to think critically about the laws which govern our society. We need to question and to analyse deeply whether the positive law as it stands necessarily meets its objectives. Where it doesn't, we must highlight its shortfalls precisely because we are part of a broader society. With our Constitutional dispensation and the prominence it gives to the rule of law, we must further determine whether our current law meets the demands that we, as society, set for it in 1993 and 1996. The PSLR represents a forum to students for at least a small portion of this debate. It has been started with two main aims – to stimulate critical legal thought amongst law students and to develop students’ writing and research skills. As a student-run journal for publication by students it is entirely dependant on student support. We appeal for, request, encourage – even demand – criticism, submissions, assistance and any other form of participation, because without it, this project will lack the richness it may otherwise have had it. The PSLR represents a student voice in a previously exclusive domain - it's up to you to use it and make it strong.

scholarly journals The Theoretical and Practical Underpinnings of Teaching Scholarly Legal Writing

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-557
Author(s):  
Jessica Wherry Clark ◽  
Kristen E. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Writing Process ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Law School ◽  
Law Students ◽  
The Other ◽  
Scholarly Writing ◽  
Independent Writing ◽  
Legal Writing ◽  
Minimum Requirements ◽  
Upper Level

Scholarly writing has long been a part of the upper-level law school curriculum. Like children thrown into the deep end of the pool to see if they can swim, every year, thousands of upper-level law students are asked to write a scholarly paper to satisfy an upper-level writing requirement on a topic likely of little acquaintance to them. For many of these law students, the scholarly writing process is daunting1 given the unknown subject matter, the lack of structured feedback and guidance, and the inability to become engaged or inspired by the project because of the often-isolating experience of writing a scholarly paper. These students, whether they are writing journal notes, seminar papers, independent writing projects, or LL.M. theses, will have varying levels of success with these projects. Like a swimmer who barely makes it to the other side of the pool, some will sink—submitting a weak paper that meets the minimum requirements. Some will reach the other side of the pool more successfully, but only after struggling through long periods of treading water. These students will submit a final paper, but even the well-written papers will not reflect an enjoyable, engaged experience for students. A handful of students will take on the challenge with strong instruction and guidance from an able coach; this group of students will have a uniquely enjoyable scholarly writing experience producing a strong contribution to student scholarship. Some of these students will even see their work published.

Towards A Comparative Rhetoric of Argument: Using the Concept of “Audience” as a Means of Educating Students about Comparative Argument

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Whalen-Bridge
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Comparative Rhetoric ◽  
Criminal Justice Systems ◽  
Legal Writing ◽  
Legal Position

AbstractAre Asian law schools adequately preparing law students to handle problems raised by cross-border disputes? Preparation has generally been limited to courses in conflicts of law, international law and comparative law, but the successful presentation of a legal position in a foreign legal system arguably requires more than an understanding of legal rules. Studies in legal culture suggest that participants in different legal systems think about the law in radically different ways. Comparative examples from the criminal justice systems of the United States and Japan demonstrate that some knowledge of a comparative rhetoric of argument - which arguments are appropriate in different legal systems - is required. Legal Writing Programmes can play a role in teaching comparative argument by expanding the concept of “audience” to include foreign legal systems.

scholarly journals Motivating Large Groups of Law Students to Think Critically and Write Like Lawyers: Part 2

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Angela Diane Crocker
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Student Motivation ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Learner Participation ◽  
Constructive Alignment ◽  
Teaching Principles ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Legal Writing ◽  
The Will ◽  
The University

This two-part article explores two central themes – student motivation and critical thinking – as they relate to teaching law students how to write like lawyers. The article examines these two themes through the lens of a case study on a legal writing programme, the “Write it Like a Lawyer” (WiLL) programme implemented at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban in 2019. The design of the programme draws upon three distinct teaching principles – constructive alignment, learner participation and conversations in feedback. This article argues that by applying these principles when teaching legal writing, law students are motivated to engage critically with legal materials, thereby enabling them to produce persuasive, logical, coherent legal writing, containing well-substantiated arguments. The article is in two parts. Part 1 began by focusing on the theoretical underpinnings of the main themes of the article as well as the teaching principles applied in the WiLL programme. It then went on to describe the significance of the central themes to a legal writing programme such as WiLL. Part 2 of this article moves on to a discussion of the three teaching principles – constructive alignment, learner participation (including blended-learning techniques) and conversations in feedback – and the manner in which these principles were used to achieve the desired outcomes in the WiLL programme. Finally, the second part of the article evaluates the relative success of employing the three principles in order to further student motivation and critical thinking in the programme. The article concludes with recommendations for improvements that could be implemented in future such programmes.

scholarly journals Motivating Large Groups of Law Students to Think Critically and Write Like Lawyers: Part 1

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 751-766
Author(s):  
Angela Diane Crocker
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Student Motivation ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Learner Participation ◽  
Constructive Alignment ◽  
Teaching Principles ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Legal Writing ◽  
The Will ◽  
The University

This two-part article explores two central themes – student motivation and critical thinking – as they relate to teaching law students how to write like lawyers. The article examines these two themes through the lens of a case study on a legal writing programme, the “Write it Like a Lawyer” [WiLL] programme implemented at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, in 2019. The design of the programme draws upon three distinct teaching principles – constructive alignment, learner participation and conversations in feedback. This article argues that by applying these principles when teaching legal writing, law students are motivated to engage critically with legal materials, thereby enabling them to produce persuasive, logical, coherent legal writing, containing well-substantiated arguments. The article is in two parts. Part 1 begins by focusing on the theoretical underpinnings of the main themes of the article as well as the teaching principles applied in the WiLL programme. It then goes on to describe the significance of the central themes to a legal writing programme such as WiLL. Part 2 of this article moves on to a discussion of the three teaching principles – constructive alignment, learner participation (including blended-learning techniques) and conversations in feedback – and the manner in which these principles were used to achieve the desired outcomes in the WiLL programme. Finally, the second part of the article evaluates the relative success of employing the three principles in order to further student motivation and critical thinking in the programme. The article concludes with recommendations for improvements that could be implemented in future such programmes.

Citing Sources or Mitigating Plagiarism: Teaching Law Students the Proper Use of Authority Attribution in the Digital Age

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-219
Author(s):  
DeCarlous Y. Spearman
Keyword(s):  
Digital Age ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Legal Research ◽  
Legal Writing ◽  
First Time ◽  
Law Professors ◽  
Rules Of The Game

Learning the rules of legal citation is a challenge for new and seasoned legal researchers alike. Good instruction and practice are required to master these rules. Think about the first sport you learned to play. Did you master all the rules the first time you played the game? Do most people even read a rule book when learning to play a new sport? Initially, it is a challenge for any player learning the game to follow all of the rules correctly. Generally, only coaches study the rule book. The rules of the game are very important so coaches and players know what is and is not permitted “on the field.”Most rules are disseminated orally and learned through practice. Law professors who teach legal research or supervise legal writing are the coaches in the game of legal citation; they must disseminate the rules to their students. The professors have a duty to stimulate a student's mastery of legal citation rules to meet the proficiency required of legal writing in the profession. Law students who do not master the rules of legal citation are more likely to plagiarize.

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