Crafting Comment Letters: Teach Policy, Develop Skills, and Shape Pending Regulation

Abstract

Professor Benjamin Edwards joins his colleague, Professor Nicole Iannarone, in this essay, unpacking the regulatory comment letter process and how to incorporate it into the law school curriculum. Participating in live rulemaking offers unique opportunities for students including mastering the substantive area of law, developing critical thinking skills, and developing their professional identities. The authors describe their own experiences in incorporating students into the regulatory rulemaking process. Because of the focus on securities law, their students review and comment on proposed actions by securities regulators - the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). After providing an overview of the pedagogical and practical rationale for incorporating the securities rulemaking process into their courses, Professors Edwards and Iannarone describe how they teach the process to students. They then conclude with a discussion of the outcomes and benefits that they and their students experienced after adding the live rulemaking process to their pedagogical toolkits