Legal Writing and Research for LL.M. Students

Whether or not English is your native language, you will need to become fluent in the discourse of U.S. legal practice. This course provides foreign lawyers with practical experience in writing and researching legal issues. Designed specifically for foreign-trained lawyers, this course is team-taught by an experienced legal writing professor, research librarian, and a linguist trained in English as a Second Language, allowing for comprehensive individualized feedback. Students will have numerous opportunities to hone their legal writing skills. The course focuses on the development of a number of skills required of the lawyer in a common law system: reading case law critically by synthesizing cases and identifying rules, determining key facts, drawing analogies between case law and legal problems, interpreting statutes, organizing information effectively, and producing a written work that meets a supervising attorney's expectations regarding tone, clarity, concision, and professionalism. Faculty members offer instruction in objective legal analysis as well as legal research and citation form. This course is required for all LL.M. students.

Grading and Method of Evaluation:
Pass/Fail only.