Writing Specialist

Over the last few years, many law schools have made an invaluable staff addition: the Writing Specialist.  If your school has one – visit.  The role of the writing specialist is to assist students in the transition from the type of writing they have been producing in college, graduate school, or the work force to the types of writing they will need to master quickly in law school. 

"What is "legal writing" and how is it different?  Most legal writing – for memoranda required by Legal Writing or Legal Methods classes, and for examination answers –  follows a predictable format of: 

• identification of the ultimate problem the writer sets out to resolve, often including a brief summary of the situation presented in a real or hypothetical set of circumstances,
• specification of the sub-issues that need to be addressed in order to achieve that resolution,
• a precise statement and explication of the rules of law – cases, statutes, administrative regulations for example – which will be used in the analysis to follow,
• analysis of the situation presented – which consists of an 'interweaving' of the facts and the law, often with the 'policy' related to the law – including a presentation of the 'other side' of the argument and the reasons why that 'other side' does not qualify as the best resolution, followed by . . .
• a conclusion which logically flows from, and is well-supported by, the preceding cogent display of lawyerly persuasive writing.

Who is in the best position to assist the law student in learning, refining and mastering a method of writing so different from the creative writing or even expository writing so prevalent in undergraduate education?  If your school has hired a Writing Specialist, he or she is the “go to” professional. 

Those who think the Writing Specialist at a law school is restricted to remedial help for those who can’t figure out where to place the commas, how to construct a 'topic sentence,' or how to change wimpy passive sentences into potent active-voice sentences have been misled.  Writing Specialists can accelerate the process of becoming adept at legal writing.  Visit them often.