Legal Writing at Duke Law School
Learning to write like a lawyer is perhaps the greatest challenge of legal education. The writing faculty support Duke Law students in all of their writing endeavors, helping them to develop and perfect the skills necessary to produce top-quality legal writing.
First-year Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing Program
Duke Law School's first-year Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing Program evidences the Law School's strong commitment to writing and research excellence. The Program, supplemented by the Legal Writing Resources website, emphasizes the integration of legal analysis, writing, and research, and helps students to understand and consider the legal audience for whom they are writing. The research and writing faculty are paired for each section of students, providing opportunities for team-teaching and specialized instruction throughout the yearlong course. (The writing faculty for the first-year course are listed below.) In writing assignments, which range from short office memos to trial and appellate briefs, students master sophisticated research skills, complex analysis, careful construction of legal arguments, and the special requirements of legal prose. The intertwined research and writing tasks additionally enhance the retention of research skills and promote more effective research strategies.
The Legal Analysis, Research and Writing Program is also distinguished by its use of writing faculty with substantial past law practice who have moved into the teaching of writing as their primary professional commitment and research faculty who are part of the Law School's professional reference librarians, all of whom are also lawyers. Duke was one of the first top-tier law schools to employ writing faculty whose first professional commitment is teaching; at a number of other top-tier schools, these courses are still taught by upperclass law students, recent law graduates, or practitioners who serve as adjunct professors. The blend of academic strength and first-rate practical experience in the Duke Law Program results in a rigorous but richly rewarding experience.
Upper-Level, Advanced Legal Writing Courses
Duke Law School's upper-level advanced legal writing courses provide students with opportunities to hone further the legal writing skills taught in the first year. These courses are geared to specific subject-matter or legal writing settings, taught by the first-year writing faculty in small seminars, and include substantial feedback to students on their written products. Some of these courses also involve continued instruction in legal research.
Legal Writing in Civil Practice
Professor Jo Ann Ragazzo teaches this course which helps prepare students for the rigors of legal analysis and writing in general civil practice by providing a variety of writing experiences including opinion and demand letters, pleadings, motions, and trial briefs. It culminates in oral arguments on motions before members of the bench and bar. » more info
Writing for Publication
Professor Jeremy Mullem teaches this course in a collective "workshop" setting where students produce a scholarly paper of publishable length. The course is intended to appeal to students who are interested in pursuing an academic writing opportunity apart from or in addition to those otherwise available through Duke's journals, seminars devoted to particular areas of law, or independent study, and in particular to students considering careers in academia. » more info
Contract Drafting
Prof. Diane Dimond has taught this course which teaches basic practical skills in contract drafting through written drafting exercises. While the skills taught are basic, they are readily translatable to more sophisticated contracts, such as those that Duke Law students can expect to see and draft in practice. » more info
Workshops, Lectures & Consultations
Legal Writing: Craft & Style (formerly Advanced Legal Writing)
Professor Joan Magat offers a series of workshops for 2Ls and 3Ls who wish to hone their legal writing or editing skills. Workshops focus on topics such as cohesive writing, conciseness, clarity, and style. » more info
Student Early Stages
This workshop provides students the opportunity to share their scholarship with other students. Students present their writings and receive feedback from peers and guidance from faculty advisors. » more info
Legal Writing for LLM students
Professor Amy Davis offers a workshop for LLM students who are writing academic research papers or working on improving their legal writing in English. Students may attend this workshop in conjunction to taking the course Legal Analysis, Research and Writing for International Students (195.01).
Lecture Series: Writing from the Reader's Perspective
Professor George Gopen offers a series of lectures at the beginning of the second term on writing from the reader's perspective.
Writing Consultations
Professor Gopen holds regular office hours for consultations with students on style, mechanics, and argument structure in specific writing projects. » more info
