This week we welcome back Law School Toolbox Tutor Whitney Weatherly to discuss how writing in law school can be very different from writing you’ve done before (and how to best learn how to write for legal practice).
I can’t even pick out one specific memory of this conversation, because I had it so many times with so many people. Here’s the rough transcript:
Me: So, why did you decide to go to law school?
Law Student: Well, all of my professors at [university] said that I was such a good writer that I should go to law school. So here I am!
Me: Right. OK…so how’s that working out for you?
Okay, so maybe that last reply was (usually) internal. When I first started law school, I certainly didn’t realize what was expected of me from a writing perspective. Like most of my fellow classmates, I usually did well on writing assignments in undergrad, but I’d had the benefit of working for an attorney before law school. Just the fact of working for her helped me shift my mode of writing from “creative” to “professional”, but she also gave me some tips along the way that made me more open to input once I got to my legal writing class. If you’re going into law school with the confidence of a good writer, consider this your wake-up call.