2018
Legal Research and Writing
LEADING THE WAY
Leading the Way in Legal Communication Happy Anniversary!
The Institute Celebrates its Fifth Year The Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication celebrated its fifth year focused on the legal communication issues that face lawyers, judges, other professionals and the public. Institute Faculty developed new training programs, innovated with curriculum and engaged in Legal Communication Leadership.
Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication
Teaching Legal Writing: Out of the Box Ideas Inside
The Institute continued its signature teaching project that collects, organizes and shares the legal writing community’s favorite classroom exercises and other teaching ideas. In addition to Stetson’s Institute Faculty, legal writing faculty from across the nation have added teaching ideas about research, writing, style, attribution and persuasion to The Box. To learn more about The Box and to request your own, visit stetson.edu/thebox.
Broadening Our Reach: Training and Leadership Legal Communication Training for Students and Professionals This year, Institute Faculty engaged in legal communication training for students and professionals. Training sessions included those on active listening, business writing, legal research and impression management. Dr. Kirsten Davis (center), spoke with lawyers and students about impression management and women in the legal profession at the Florida Association for Women Lawyers at Stetson Networking CLE.
Institute Faculty:
National Legal Writing Leadership Stetson’s Institute Faculty lead national organizations committed to developing an active community of legal writing scholars and teachers. • New faculty member, Anne Mullins (left), is President-Elect of the Association of Legal Writing Directors. • Dr. Kirsten Davis (center) is a member of the Legal Writing Institute Board of Directors. • Professor Jason Palmer (right) serves as the Treasurer of the Legal Writing Institute Board of Directors.
“ Stetson supports me in taking leadership roles in legal writing organizations and collaborating with my peers in my efforts to build the discipline of legal writing.” –Jason S. Palmer, Institute Faculty
Legal Research and Writing: A Commitment to Excellence Stetson’s commitment to legal communication extends to teaching Legal Research and Writing. Stetson is ranked second among law schools for legal writing by U.S. News & World Report (2019). It has consistently ranked among the top six legal writing programs since the inception of the Legal Writing rankings. Stetson Law features: • Full-time tenured faculty teaching in the first-year curriculum • Unitary tenure and title for all full-time legal writing faculty • Seven credits of required legal research and writing • Subject-focused first-year advocacy courses in areas such as elder law, environmental law and international law • Advanced legal writing courses, including Judicial Writing, Successful Writing for Law Practice, Pretrial Practice and Contract Drafting • Four academic law journals: – Journal for International Aging Law and Policy – Journal for International Wildlife Law and Policy – Stetson Law Review – Stetson Journal of Advocacy and the Law
Brooke Bowman Appointed Interim Library Director Professor Brooke Bowman was appointed Interim Law Library Director of the Dolly and Homer Hand Law Library. She has taught legal research and writing at Stetson since 2002. The law library celebrated its 20-year anniversary in its current space in September.
Faculty Updates
Linda Anderson J.D. Franklin Pierce Law Center In addition to teaching legal research and writing, Professor Anderson teaches Stetson’s Survey of Florida Law course to help students taking the Florida bar exam hone their essay-writing skills. She recently published an iBook, Grassroots Advocacy: Essential Skills Development, and published a multi-media website: Grassroots Advocacy: Documenting the Process that Led Vermont to be the First State to Provide Marriage-Like Rights to Same-Sex Couples. (www.addendabyanderson.com). Professor Anderson is an active member of the Accessibility Committee of the Woodhull Freedom Association and serves as the chair of Stetson’s Outcomes and Assessment Committee.
Brooke Bowman J.D., Stetson University M.S.L.I.S., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Professor Bowman continues to serve as Professor of Legal Skills; Director of Finances, Advocacy Boards; and Director, Moot Court Board, in addition to serving as the Interim Law Library Director during the 2018–2019 school year. Professor Bowman presented Certified Paralegal Review — Legal Research and Certified Paralegal Review — Written Communication at the 2017 National Association of Legal Assistants Conference & Expo. She also presented Polishing for Professionals: An Expected Skill at the 2018 Stetson Professional Development Conference.
Catherine Cameron J.D., University of Florida Institute Faculty Professor Cameron’s article “In the Eyes of the Law Student: Determining Reading Patterns with Eye-Tracking Technology,” was published in the Rutgers Law Record in December 2017. She taught The Internet, the Law, and Populist Uprisings in the summer Granada, Spain, study abroad program.
Kirsten Davis J.D., The Ohio State University Ph.D., Arizona State University Institute Faculty Dr. Davis continues to serve as Director of the Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication. She was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Legal Writing Institute in 2018. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Florida Bar’s Standing Committee on Professionalism. At the 2018 Biennial Legal Writing Institute Conference Dr. Davis spoke on the panel Converting to Tenure: Stories of Success. She was an organizer for the Writing Connections programming for the 2018 Southeastern Association of Law Schools Conference.
Faculty Updates
Kelly Feeley J.D., Stetson University Institute Faculty Professor Feeley serves as the First-Year Legal Research and Writing Curriculum Coordinator. She is co-chair of the Competitions Committee and a Subcommittee member of both the Negotiation Competition and National Appellate Advocacy Competition for the American Bar Association Law Student Division. She is also currently co-authoring Mastering Interviewing and Counseling to be published by Carolina Academic Press in spring 2019.
Royal Gardner J.D., Boston College Law School Director, Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy Professor Gardner’s work focuses on the intersection of environmental science and policy. As Chair of the scientific advisory body for the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, he helps ensure that its technical publications are accessible to wetland managers and policymakers. Professor Gardner received the Society of Wetland Scientists President’s Service Award in recognition of his work on Clean Water Act policy issues and amicus briefs on behalf of the Society. He spoke on Persuasive Comment-Writing: Connecting with the Administrative Process and Policy Advocacy at the 2018 Southeastern Association of Law Schools Conference.
Lance Long J.D., Brigham Young University Institute Faculty Professor Long has focused his legal communication scholarship and teaching on experiential environmental advocacy this year. With student volunteers, Professor Long provided research and drafted pleadings and FOIA requests in connection with climate change litigation brought by Our Children’s Trust (OCT). His most recent article, “The Climate Necessity Defense: Proof and Judicial Error in Climate Protest Cases,” will be published in the fall in the Stanford Environmental Law Journal. In his environmental advocacy class, Professor Long’s students spearheaded a successful campaign that resulted in the City of Gulfport, Florida, passing an ordinance that bans plastic straws.
Faculty Updates
Anne Mullins J.D., University of Chicago Law School Institute Faculty Professor Mullins is president-elect of the Board of Directors of the Association of Legal Writing Directors. She is also Conference Chair for the Association’s 2019 Biennial Conference. She serves the Legal Writing Institute as a member of the Discipline-Building Working Group, the Scholarship Grants Committee, and the Administrative Options Committee. Professor Mullins published “Reframing the Mundane: From Research to Relationships” in the legal writing journal Perspectives. At the 2018 Biennial Legal Writing Institute Conference, she presented Meeting Students Where They Are: Developing Self-Directed Learners at the Law School Level.
Jason Palmer J.D., George Washington University Institute Faculty Professor Palmer serves on the Board of Directors of the Legal Writing Institute and was elected in July 2018 to a two-year term as Treasurer. He was the chair of the Site Selection Committee for the 7th Biennial Applied Legal Storytelling Conference and is a planning member for this year’s conference. He is the Co-General Editor of the Section of International Law The Year in Review and a corresponding editor for International Legal Materials. Professor Palmer presented Cut Curbs: Using Universal Design in the Law School Curriculum (To Teach Millennials, Students with Disabilities, and Gen Z) at the 2018 Biennial Legal Writing Conference.
Ann Piccard J.D., Stetson University LL.M., University of London Professor Piccard is currently the Wm. Reece Smith, Jr. Distinguished Professor, focusing on professionalism and service to the law school and greater community. She is the author of the 2017 book U.S. Legal Writing for International Lawyers and Law Students published by West Academic.
Stephanie Vaughan J.D., Stetson University Associate Dean for Student Engagement Vaughan’s article, “Experiential Learning: Moving Forward in Teaching Oral Advocacy Skills by Looking Back at the Origins of Rhetoric,” is forthcoming in the South Texas Law Review. She recently co-coached the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot arbitration team, which competes in Vienna, Austria, and while overseas, was a panelist at the Conference on Certain Aspects of International Law and Arbitration, Making the Most of the VIS Moot, an Extraordinary Educational Experience. Stetson’s Vis team won the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration 25th Anniversary First Annual Video Contest.
Visit us at stetson.edu/legalcomm to learn more about our legal writing curriculum and the Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication.
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