The Authors discuss Legal Research and Writing course requirements at Western New England College School of Law. Although the students must complete a qualified writing course, previously there was no general advanced legal research and writing course. However, recently Western New England College School of Law has offered an Advanced Legal Research and Writing tutorial as an elective. This course is taught by a member of the Legal Research and Writing faculty on a rotating basis

Cohen, Beth

Kaiser, Jeanne M.

English

Western New England University School of Law

An Elective Advanced Course

This Article discusses the experiences of offering an Advanced Legal Research and Writing tutorial as an elective at Western New England College School of Law. This course is taught by a member of the Legal Research and Writing faculty on a rotating basis. This elective course allows students the opportunity to research and write for another semester of law school

Kaiser, Jeanne

bepress Legal Repository

Western New England University School of LawDigital Commons @ Western New England University School ofLawMedia Presence Faculty Publications1-1-2002An Elective Advanced CourseBeth CohenWestern New England University School of Law, bcohen@law.wne.eduJeanne KaiserWestern New England University School of Law, jkaiser@law.wne.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.wne.edu/mediaPart of the Legal Writing and Research CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Publications at Digital Commons @ Western New England University School ofLaw. It has been accepted for inclusion in Media Presence by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Western New England UniversitySchool of Law. For more information, please contact pnewcombe@law.wne.edu.Recommended CitationThe Second Draft (The Legal Writing Institute), May 2002, at 13THE SECOND DRAFT 13An ElectiveAdvanced CourseJeanne Kaiser & Beth Cohen, Western NewEngland College School of LawAt Western New England College Schoolof  Law, there is no required third semesterof  legal research and writing. Although thestudents must complete a qualified writingcourse, there was, until recently, no generaladvanced legal research and writing course.However, for the last three semesters, wehave offered an Advanced Legal Researchand Writing tutorial as an elective. Thiscourse is taught by a member of the LegalResearch and Writing faculty on a rotatingbasis.Our plan with this course was to offerthe same type of experience that a requiredthird semester might offer—a morecomplex and sophisticated legal researchand writing experience to build upon thefoundation of skills acquired in the first-year course—but absent the requirement.The advanced LRW course is designed tofurther develop and refine the research,analysis, citation, and writing skillsintroduced in the first-year course. Forinstance, in the first-year required course,students write and argue a trial court brieffor the final assignment. Consequently, weassign an appellate brief as the final projectin the advanced LRW class. Similarly, whilethe research in the first-year class focusesprimarily on statutes and case law, theadvanced LRW course seeks toincorporate more sophisticated research.With close supervision and guidance,students are expected to develop their ownresearch strategies using a wide range ofmaterials such as regulations, legislativehistory, and advanced secondary sources.Students also have the opportunity todesign their own independent researchprojects and present their findings to theclass in the form of  a detailed bibliographyand an oral report.Offering the course as an elective,rather than as a requirement, has bothadvantages and disadvantages. On thepositive side, because the course is notrequired for every student, we are free tolimit the class size. Enrollment in eachsection is limited to approximately twelvestudents. The small class has proven, notsurprisingly, to be ideal for this experience.With a small number of students, weapproach the class as a collaborative-learning seminar. The class includes peerassessment, self-editing, small groupprojects, group and individual conferences,and multiple presentations. There are alsothe obvious benefits of more individualattention to research and writing issues anda greater amount of time for individualstudent conferences with the limitednumber of  students.Other less obvious benefits include thegreater level of comfort and collegialitywhich can be developed in a small groupsetting that incorporates a collaborativelearning approach. Students growcomfortable working together on a varietyof projects in a small and supportivesetting. In some classes we have been ableto do live, on-screen editing of studentwork using a laptop and projector withoutan undue level of discomfort for thestudent whose work was being reviewed.This has been an effective tool to teachline-by-line editing that would not be asconstructive in a large group where thestudents had not bonded through the smallgroup experience. Also, most of  thestudents who sign up for the course arebeyond their third semester in law school.Consequently, in addition to havingcompleted numerous electives on a widerange of topics, many students havepractical work experience to bring to theclass as well. This provides greater flexibilityin choosing the substantive law that formsthe basis of the advanced writingassignments. Instructors feel less confinedto limit assignments to the more familiartopics covered in the first-year curriculumand instead can explore more compellingissues.There have also been someunanticipated twists. Many students whoelected to take the advanced LRW courseare students in their very last semester oflaw school. These students often state theirmotivation for taking the course bluntly:“I’m in the last semester of law schooland I’d better learn how to research andwrite now!” Faced with impendinggraduation and entry into the work-force,it is no real surprise to us that studentssuddenly seem to recognize the far-reaching significance of the first-year LRWcurriculum. The power of hindsight! Theygo on to say that they feel as though theyhave forgotten what they did in the first-year, that their moot court argument was“so long ago,” and that they have only thedimmest memory of how to begin and toshepardize.In response to this, the first part ofthe advanced class has necessarily been areview of  the first-year basics. Studentsneed to be refocused and refreshed onrudimentary book and computer research,as well as in basic legal writing methods.This experience has confirmed our viewthat students ideally need to exercise theirresearch and writing muscles everysemester, lest they wither. Thus, althoughan advanced LRW class is helpful, arequired third-semester that providesstudents with a more immediateopportunity to build upon the first-yearLRW course might help to alleviate thisphenomenon. An advanced course thatfollows a required third semester couldthen be tailored to provide a more in-depthand arduous experience.In conclusion, although we are pleasedto be able to offer our students an essentialsupplement to the first-year legal researchand writing experience, it is still not enoughof  a good thing. Ideally, all students wouldhave the opportunity to research and writeevery semester of law school, eitherthrough advanced LRW courses, qualifiedwriting courses, a required extra semesterof  LRW, internships, or more writingacross the curriculum. Our advancedLRW elective is an effort to provide atleast one more of these opportunities forour students.2004 LWI ConferenceSeattle UniversitySchool of LawSeattle, WAWednesday, July 21–Saturday, July 24, 2004

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An Elective Advanced Course

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