Legal Writing Series

Welcome to the Summer Writing Workshop Series

This six-week writing workshop series is designed to help you improve your ability to write in the law office.

Our workshop series explores four key questions:

1. What is good legal writing?
2. What are the most effective processes for drafting legal documents?
3. What types of habits of mind, attitudes, beliefs, and expectations support good legal writing?
4. What are effective ways to showcase your legal writing to improve your marketability?

How does a writing workshop work?

This interactive workshop is designed to build a community of writers, share ideas, and help everyone become better, more confident writers. During week one, three volunteers will bring copies of any legal document they drafted during their coursework. These documents should be legitimate law office genres such as s client opinion letter, demand letter, inter-office memorandum of law, motions to the court, complaints, responses, briefs in support of motions, case briefs, or any other genre used in the law office. In other words, we want to review writing that you did in your courses that replicates writing situations you will encounter in the law office.

We distribute copies of the writing to the group, and then we fill out the top portion handout titled 'Peer Response Guide'. We talk about the purpose of the document, how audiences typically use the document, why audiences use the document, conventions, and rules.

Then, everyone takes copies of the writing home. Over the next week, everyone responds to the draft via the 'Peer Response Guide' describing what makes it good, how it succeeds, and possible improvements.

These responses are important for two reasons. First, the feedback you provide to peers will help them to make improvements to the document. Second, you, as the reviewer, gain insights and better understanding of the genre by responding to peers.

The following week, we conduct workshop by talking about the pieces of writing individually. We will start the discussion by talking about what was good. What did we like about the piece of writing, and where did it succeed? Then we open it up for critique and discuss what can be made more effective. And during this meeting, three new students bring copies of their work. And we repeat the process each week.

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In addition to the workshop component, you will also create an electronic writing portfolio, which will showcase your writing so that you can make yourself more marketable. The tab to the right links up some sample electronic portfolios that use platforms such as Google Blogger, Wix, Weebly, and Wordpress. The goal isn't to just create a writing portfolio that showcases your work, but to brand yourself for the kind of law office job you are looking for.

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Guest Presenters:

Each week we are bringing in guest speakers including attorneys, scholars, paralegals, and perhaps even judges. At the top of the right hand tool bar, you will find a listing of speakers with links to their bios. 

Our Ethos:

We are a writing community based on trust and a mutual goal to become better legal writers. We believe supportive communities have the power to help people become better writers.

Please RSVP by sending an email to Juli Groot at Grootj@seminolestate.edu