About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


87 U. Det. Mercy L. Rev. 147 (2009-2010)
Redirecting the Scope of First-Year Writing Courses: Toward a New Paradigm of Teaching Legal Writing

handle is hein.journals/udetmr87 and id is 155 raw text is: Redirecting the Scope of First-Year Writing Courses: Toward a New Paradigm of Teaching Legal Writing SOMA R. KEDIA TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................... .......147 I. FOUNDATIONS OF TEACHING LEGAL WRITING .....................152 A. Law Students as Writers: Baseline Comprehension of a First- Year Legal Writing Student............................152 1. Basic Argumentation Skills .........................153 2. Basic Grammar and Composition Skills................154 3. Ability to Self-Teach..............................154 B. Law Students Entering the Discourse: The Needs of a First- Year Legal Writing Student............................155 1. Legal Problem-Solving and Issue Spotting. ..............156 2. Legal Organization..............................158 3. Legal Reasoning.................................158 1. THE EXISTING PEDAGOGY AND ITS CRITIQUES. .................... 162 A. The Case Method in Legal Writing Pedagogy.......... .... 165 B. Legal Reasoning ........................ ................ 168 C. IRAC........................................... 169 1. SHIFTING THE PARADIGM.. ..................................... 171 CONCLUSION................................................... 177 INTRODUCTION Read over this file and start drafting a trial memo to the court on X. Here's some old research on the topic, but you'll have to update it as well as branch out and find some case law on Y and tie it in since Z statute was passed a few years ago. We'll want the memo to be as comprehensive as possible, because this is a new judge without much familiarity with the law in this area. Can you have a draft to me by tomorrow? Umm ... sure. Let me just chug a few Red Bulls and give me a few minutes to pound my head against the wallfirst. * I.D., 2006, The George Washington University Law School. B.A., B.S., 2002, The Pennsylvania State University. The author was formerly the Assistant Director of the George Washington University Writing Center and a member of the International Writing Centers Association.