Advanced Legal Writing

Description: This course is the SENIOR year capstone for the Law, Diversity & Justice Curriculum and will require you to put in a substantial amount of work using law school writing textbook and independent research. Students develop two main projects. Students write an appellate brief based on a question in front of the U.S. Supreme Court for which there is no answer. For the second project, students present the oral arguments to their briefs to a panel of three judges (known as a Moot Court). Though these projects may seem daunting at first, steady work will make them possible. It is imperative that you create a schedule and follow it. Required Texts: A Practical Guide to Legal Writing and Legal Method, Sixth Edition. Dernbach, et. al. ISBN: 978-1-4548-8081-3. Evaluation/Credit: No more than THREE absences. Informed participation in class discussion by keeping up with the reading load and doing the assigned exercises. Successful completion of case briefs of relevant cases and the creation of a Cases Notebook. Successful completion of the appellate brief in proper citation format BY THE DEADLINE. Successful oral argument in the Moot Court. Learning Objectives: >Review of legal vocabulary, role and hierarchy of trial and appellate courts, and the importance of the judicial system in government >Review of the sources and hierarchy of law, including the role of precedent and statutory construction >Review of basic legal research techniques >Continued practice with writing case briefs >Emphasis on legal reasoning--the synthesis of case law >Strengthen argument writing skills through the creation of an appellate brief >Strengthen oral advocacy skills through argument in a Moot Court >Strengthen project and time management skills How is this class taught and why: This class fosters students' engagement with topics in law as independent thinkers. Guided on principles of Inquiry-Based pedagogy, this class allows students to find their own rhythms of learning, think about a problem with many creative lenses, and bring each person's lived experiences and world view and perspectives to solve a problem.