2017 Stetson Law Legal Research & Writing Brochure

Legal Research and Writing

The Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication

T

he Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication celebrated its fourth year focused on the legal communication issues that face lawyers, judges, other professionals and the public.

This year’s projects included:

The Advanced Legal Writing and Communication Development Program

The Institute hosted a year-long extra-curricular enrichment program during which students improved legal communication skills through workshops and hands-on assignments.

Learn more about the program at stetson.edu/lwskillsdev.

Law, Rhetoric, and Legal Writing Seminar Workshop

For the third time, the Institute brought together faculty who research and write about law, rhetoric, and legal writing for a seminar and workshop.

Participants spent the day discussing the connections between law, rhetoric and legal writing and presented works-in-progress.

Teaching Legal Writing: Out of the Box Ideas Inside The Institute continued its new teaching initiative that collects, organizes, and shares the legal writing community’s favorite classroom exercises and other teaching ideas. To request a box, email SendMeTheBox@ stetson.edu.

Dr. Kirsten Davis (third from left) and Southeast Regional Legal Writing Conference speakers (L-R), Dr. Juliane Mora, Dr. Megan O’Neill, and Dr. Katie Langford.

The 2016 Southeast Regional Legal Writing Conference, Legal Writing in 3-D: Discourse, Discipline, and Doctrine

About 60 faculty members from around the country spent the day at Stetson Law exploring new avenues for legal writing scholarship and the rhetoric of legal writing, the changing technology landscape of legal research and writing, and methods for teaching students the core skills necessary for effective legal research and writing.

Institute Visiting Scholar

Dr. Chantal Morton, Director of the Office of Teaching and Learning in Law at the University of Melbourne Law School in Melbourne, Australia, came to Stetson Law for a two-week visit as an Institute Visiting Scholar.

Legal Communication Professional Training

The Institute sponsored a day-long CLE for lawyers on Persuasive Legal Writing as well as a Narrative Report Writing training session for Elder Abuse Investigator Supervisors at the Florida Department of Children and Families.

LEADING THE WAY IN LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING

Stetson’s commitment to legal communication extends to teaching Legal Research and Writing. Stetson has been ranked fourth among law schools for legal writing by U.S. News & World Report.

Our program features: • Full-time tenured faculty teaching in the first-year curriculum

• Unitary tenure and title available 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

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 serves as assistant editor of the Journal of the Legal Writing Institute and as a member of the Legal Writing Institute’s Professional Development Committee. At the ALWD Scholar’s Forum at the 2017 Rocky Mountain Regional Legal Writing Conference, she presented on her WebbyBook project about grassroots advocacy and leadership skills.

Brooke Bowman J.D., Stetson University Institute Faculty

Professor Bowman continues to serve as Professor of Legal Skills; Director of Finances, Advocacy Boards; and Director, Moot Court Board. She is editor of the ALWD Online Companion that accompanies the 6th edition of the ALWD Guide to Legal Citations. Professor Bowman presented “MBTI and Moot Court: A Match Made in Heaven” at the 2017 Legal Writing Institute Moot Court Conference. She also presented “I Have Only Written Memos and Briefs, and You Want Me to Write a What?! A Law Review Article?” at the 2016 Biennial Legal Writing Institute Conference.

Catherine Cameron J.D., University of Florida Institute Faculty

Professor Cameron presented on “The Science Behind the Art of International Legal Research and Writing” at the 2016 Global Legal Skills Conference and the 2017 Southeast Regional Legal Writing Conference. She co-presented with Kirsten Davis and Lance Long on “Scholarship: Who Are We Now? Legal Writing Scholarship in Today’s Academy” at the 2016 Biennial Legal Writing Institute Conference.

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. Her article, “Rhetorical Criticism as Essential Legal Skill: Some Thoughts on Developing Lawyers as ‘Public Citizens’,” appeared in volume 16 of the Communication Law Review in 2016. She presented “Communicating Professionalism: An Introduction to Impression Management for Lawyers” at the Florida Bar’s Putting the “Pro” in Professionalism symposium. Her essay, “Why Does Comey Get an ‘A’ in Legal Writing?” appeared on the Lady (Legal) Writer Blog.

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 Subcommittee Chair for Arbitration Competitions for the American Bar Association Law Student Division.

Faculty Updates Lance Long

J.D., Brigham Young University Institute Faculty Professor Long has been busy presenting and writing about legal communication. His works include “Is There A Science Behind the Art of Legal Writing?,” which appeared in volume 16 of the University of Wyoming Law Review. He presented “Environmental Advocacy Through Document Design” at the 2017 Public Interest Environmental Law Conference. At the one-day LWI Workshop at Lewis & Clark College of Law, he presented “Implicit Bias in Teaching Legal Writing.”

Jason Palmer

J.D., George Washington University Institute Faculty Professor Palmer serves on the Board of Directors of the Legal Writing Institute and was a planning member of the 6th Biennial Applied Legal Storytelling Conference. He is a corresponding editor for International Legal Materials, which is published quarterly by the American Society of International Law. He presented “Cross-Cultural Lawyering: Helping our Students Recognize Diversity in Their Attorney Client Communications” at the 2017 Southeast Regional Legal Writing Conference.

Hosting the Southeast Regional Legal Writing Conference accomplishes the Institute’s goal of supporting an active community of legal communication teachers and scholars.

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 (West Academic Publishing). She presented at the 2017 Southeast Regional Legal Writing Conference on using real cases to teach legal writing.

Stephanie Vaughan

J.D., Stetson University Associate Dean for Student Engagement Vaughan continues in her role guiding students on how to blend their academic, co-curricular and extracurricular experiences. She recently co-coached the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot arbitration team in Hong Kong, which won Honorable Mention Awards for both Claimant’s and Respondent’s Memoranda and is one of only a handful of U.S. teams to be recognized in both categories.

Stetson University College of Law 1401 61st Street South Gulfport, Florida 33707 stetson.edu/legalcomm

Visit us at stetson.edu/legalcomm to learn more about the Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication

Fall 2017