LEGAL WRITING AND YOUR CAREER
by Guest Blogger: Professor Lawrence Rosenthal
Chapman University School of Law
In my first appearance as a guest blogger for career services, I want to talk not about getting a job, but about legal writing. Let me explain . . . .
Developing your writing skills is probably the most important career building step that a law student can take. No one emerges from law school as a polished litigator. Employers know that no matter how many skills-oriented courses or outside jobs a law student has had, litigation skills take years to develop. Newly minted lawyers simply do not excel as litigators – on that score, the most you can offer an employer is potential. But one thing that a law student can offer an employer right away is a high level of competence at writing. There are many successful litigators who lack either the time or the ability to do quality writing, and they hire associates to fill that gap. You can prove your ability as a legal writer to a potential employer right off the bat with the right writing sample. Good writers are always in demand – but you need both experience and a high quality writing sample to meet that demand.
So how do you develop your writing skills? Remember that the 1L legal writing course is only a beginning. The finest 1L course in the country (and we may well offer it here) will not turn students into polished writers. That requires lots of practice, and greater familiarity with substantive law than 1Ls have. So in your student career, take advantage of every opportunity you can to write, and especially to get feedback from someone who knows what kind of legal writing will impress an employer. I have made my own resolution to offer every semester at least one course in which students will write legal briefs and receive individualized feedback from me (this semester it’s my Civil Rights class, next semester I will do it in Appellate Practice). Remember, legal writing is hard; you’ll only get better with lots of practice, and lots of feedback. Remember also that the feedback won’t always be positive, but constructive criticism is the type of feedback most likely to benefit you in the future, at least when you take it to heart. Work on those writing skills with the goal of developing a t40-carat writing sample to wow employers.
by Guest Blogger: Professor Lawrence Rosenthal
Chapman University School of Law
In my first appearance as a guest blogger for career services, I want to talk not about getting a job, but about legal writing. Let me explain . . . .
Developing your writing skills is probably the most important career building step that a law student can take. No one emerges from law school as a polished litigator. Employers know that no matter how many skills-oriented courses or outside jobs a law student has had, litigation skills take years to develop. Newly minted lawyers simply do not excel as litigators – on that score, the most you can offer an employer is potential. But one thing that a law student can offer an employer right away is a high level of competence at writing. There are many successful litigators who lack either the time or the ability to do quality writing, and they hire associates to fill that gap. You can prove your ability as a legal writer to a potential employer right off the bat with the right writing sample. Good writers are always in demand – but you need both experience and a high quality writing sample to meet that demand.
So how do you develop your writing skills? Remember that the 1L legal writing course is only a beginning. The finest 1L course in the country (and we may well offer it here) will not turn students into polished writers. That requires lots of practice, and greater familiarity with substantive law than 1Ls have. So in your student career, take advantage of every opportunity you can to write, and especially to get feedback from someone who knows what kind of legal writing will impress an employer. I have made my own resolution to offer every semester at least one course in which students will write legal briefs and receive individualized feedback from me (this semester it’s my Civil Rights class, next semester I will do it in Appellate Practice). Remember, legal writing is hard; you’ll only get better with lots of practice, and lots of feedback. Remember also that the feedback won’t always be positive, but constructive criticism is the type of feedback most likely to benefit you in the future, at least when you take it to heart. Work on those writing skills with the goal of developing a t40-carat writing sample to wow employers.
posted by Career Services & Professional Development | 1:53 PM
2 Comments:
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Thank you for the informative posts, guys. Keep it up.
-Todd Olivas
Court Reporting Firm
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