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Write-on Competition

September 26, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Write-on CompetitionThis week we welcome back guest writer Stephanie Gregoire to talk about what the write-on competition experience was like for her.

This past summer, I went through the write-on competition for my school’s flagship law review and was successfully selected to join the law review as a member. During that entire process, I found myself having several “I wish I would’ve known this” moments, so to that end I hope to provide some illumination into the vagaries of the write-on competition.

I do want to caveat that each school (and sometimes each journal at a school) will operate theirs differently, so for the sake of transparency, here’s how mine functions: all of the journals and law review have the same write-on “prompt” but invite different categories of people to participate over a two-ish week period during the summer. Our “prompt” was a case pending before the Supreme Court, and we had to write a note or comment on that case that we then submitted for anonymous evaluation. It was not mandatory, and if we were eligible to write-on to multiple journals we could submit to all of them. With that background out of the way, let’s talk about my multiple “what…” moments! [Read more…]

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Behind the Scenes of Legal Writing: Understanding the Writing of Practicing Lawyers

August 29, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Behind the Scenes of Legal Writing Understanding the Writing of Practicing LawyersThis week we welcome back guest writer Marissa Geannette to talk about the different types of legal writing.

The legal profession is often associated with words, language, and writing, and students who are strong writers have always been drawn to it. From contracts and pleadings to briefs and memos, legal writing is an integral part of a practicing lawyer’s day-to-day work.

While you’ve undoubtedly taken a legal writing course or two in law school, the truth is that legal writing is much more diverse than what those classes make it out to be. If you’re wondering what type of writing you’ll be doing once you become a practicing lawyer, read on as we delve into various forms of writing that lawyers engage in every day. [Read more…]

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Five Foundational Principles of Good (Legal) Writing

February 16, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Five Foundational Principles of Good (Legal) WritingThis week we welcome back guest writer Tiffany Lo to discuss some important basics in legal writing.

Have you ever gotten a headache from reading a statutory provision that went on for ten lines? Or a sentence in a court opinion featuring too many dependent clauses? Or a legal brief with too much jargon or unnecessary words like herein or thereafter?

As a student of the law, I have always been puzzled by why legislators, attorneys, and judges express ideas in convoluted ways. I am also delighted when a legal brief or court ruling is clean and concise, without compromising on sharp and compelling analysis. [Read more…]

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7 Law School Resolutions For The New Year

January 5, 2021 by Leave a Comment

7 Law School Resolutions For The New YearThis week we welcome back guest writer Tiffany Lo to talk about starting fresh in the new year with some resolutions.

Being a law student is not easy. There is always room for improvement—to make things more efficient, to grow your knowledge, to hone your legal skills. This year, consider adopting some of these new year resolutions:

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4 Ways to Seek Feedback in Law School

October 6, 2020 by Leave a Comment

4 Ways to Seek Feedback in Law SchoolThis week we welcome back guest writer and 2L Tiffany Lo to talk about how to get feedback in law school.

In law school, a final exam is often the sole determinant of a grade in a course. For many students, this is an uncomfortable shift from undergraduate classes in which there are multiple assessments, whether as quizzes, group projects, or short papers. I have felt exasperated by not knowing whether I was grasping the materials, whether I was applying concepts correctly, and whether my legal analysis is on point. Unfortunately, the burden falls on us students to take the initiative and seek feedback. Here are four of my ideas for how to do that: [Read more…]

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Did your Summer Job Fall Through? Become a Better Writer Anyway

June 2, 2020 by 1 Comment

Did your Summer Job fall through? Become a Better Writer AnywayThis week we welcome back guest writer and tutor Elizabeth Knox to talk about working on your legal writing skills this summer, whether or not you have a legal job.

Some lawyers find that the value of law school isn’t found in the coursework, but rather in the summer work most students do. Summer jobs allow students to practice tailoring their legal writing and then get real feedback from practitioners. There’s nothing like going through a brutal feedback process to help new attorneys become stellar legal writers.

COVID-19 has changed the summer landscape for most law students. Jobs have been canceled or postponed because of stay at home orders, leaving many students in the lurch. This would normally be a red flag for future employers, but because this is happening on an unprecedented scale, you don’t need to worry about that right now

This does not mean you should do nothing this summer. Employers are still going to wonder how you spent the summer, and you’ll want a good answer. If you don’t have to work or care for family, this summer holds a fantastic opportunity to improve your legal writing. It can be daunting to do this without the promise of feedback, but it’s worth doing anyway.

[Read more…]

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Legal Writing Mishaps You Should Avoid Like the Plague

December 18, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Legal Writing Mishaps You Should Avoid Like the PlaguePlease welcome back attorney Christen Morgan to to talk about some important reminders about legal writing!

God bless my 1L legal writing professor. Although I am now two years removed from law school and five years removed from my first semester of legal writing, I maintain this statement with the utmost conviction. This professor deserves special blessings as she has had to endure reviewing hundreds of memos and briefs proposed as exemplary writing but fraught with blatant error. She has also spent countless hours in her work day trying to explain to each student (me included) about why their writing is in fact not exemplary. Finally, she has on numerous occasions had to maintain the “patience of Job,” as she did her very best to take charge of the debate each student assumed was necessary to prove that they were in fact writing experts after their first three weeks of law school. [Read more…]

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5 Benefits of Having a Career before Law School

October 9, 2018 by 2 Comments

Post about the benefits of having a career before law schoolPlease welcome our guest writer and 1L Briana Borgolini to discuss why having a career before starting law school could be beneficial and how to use what you have learned in the workforce to be a better law student.

The decision of if and when to attend law school is a highly personal one, and often only becomes more difficult the further away from undergrad you get. After spending just a few (or many more) years in the workforce rather than in the classroom, it can be daunting to think about returning to a student lifestyle. If you’re anything like me, you might wonder how you managed to learn so many different things in such a short amount of time in college when it took you nearly two years to (almost) fully understand the nuances of your current job. Fortunately, there are a number of ways that your previous career likely prepared you to handle the rigors of law school, even if you don’t know it. [Read more…]

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Avoiding The “Slings And Arrows” Of Outrageous Case Briefing Misfortune And Getting To What’s Important

September 18, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Reading/briefing casesThis week we welcome guest writer and 3L, Mark Livingston, to discuss how to get started with case briefing as a new law student.

I remember, not so fondly, the first case I tried to brief in law school. It was Todd v. Danner, 17 Ind. App. 368, 46 N.E. 829 (1897). I remember briefing this case, and because it was from 1897, it involved an incident with an unruly steer, and I had no idea how to brief it. The language used by the court was archaic and convoluted. I had no idea what was important or what I needed to include in my brief.

That first brief was awful. Despite the brevity of the court with its two-and-a-half-page decision, my brief weighed in at a cool six pages! I was way off course, and if all of my case briefs had turned out like that one, I would have been briefing my 1L cases after my retirement. I have since developed a few skills and approaches that have helped me streamline the process and cut through my cases like a champ.

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Alternative Careers – Investigator for Workplace Complaints

July 3, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Please welcome Joanna Sattler, Law School Toolbox tutor, to discuss her alternative legal career as a workplace investigator.

I’m the child of no fewer than three lawyers (if you count my stepmother, that is). All three practiced law upon graduating from law school and pursued “traditional” legal careers (two at large firms, the third in-house). As such, I had a certain view of what lawyers did and a (fairly) certain path I planned to pursue: work at a large law firm after graduating and then, maybe, try to work in-house. (At the time, I didn’t realize I could go in-house straight from law school; I truly thought there was one path and one path only!)

A planner by nature, I followed my plan. I worked hard in law school. I summered at a large firm and received an offer of post-graduation employment. Although I didn’t take that job (I didn’t love the firm’s satellite office in the city where I planned to live), I took another firm job soon after passing the California bar.

[Read more…]

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