The John Marshall Law School
Lawyering Skills I
Professor David E. Sorkin
Spring 1999
Syllabus
Schedule of class meetings and assignments:
Week 1 -- Thursday, January 14
Topics: Introduction; analyzing cases. First memorandum assignment distributed. Read chapters 1, 2, and 4 and Appendices C and D in Writing and Analysis in the Law.
Week 2 -- Thursday, January 21
Topics: The writing process; legal memorandum format; large- and small-scale organization; legal writing style. Read chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 in Writing and Analysis in the Law.
Week 3 -- Thursday, January 28
Topics: Sentence structure; plagiarism; citation form. Read materials on plagiarism and citation form (handed out in class), along with chapter 10 in Writing and Analysis in the Law and chapter 1 in The Process of Legal Research. Also, read pages 3-11 in The Bluebook; skim through the entire Bluebook, and bring it to class.
Week 4 -- Thursday, February 4
First memorandum due.
Topics: Citation form (continued); grammar and mechanics in legal writing. ReadAppendix A in Writing and Analysis in the Law.
Week 5 -- Thursday, February 11
Topics: Introduction to legal research; using secondary legal materials (encyclopedias, periodicals, treatises, etc.). Second memorandum assignment distributed. Read chapters 2 and 4 in The Process of Legal Research, and chapter 12 in Writing and Analysis in the Law. Optional reading: chapter 3 in The Process of Legal Research.
Week 6 -- Thursday, February 18
Research assignment #1 due.
Topics: Rewriting and revising; legal writing style. First memorandum returned with critique. Read chapter 9 in Writing and Analysis in the Law.
Week 7 -- Thursday, February 25
Research assignment #2 due.
Tutorial conferences scheduled; no regular class meeting or office hours will be held this week.
Week 8 -- Thursday, March 4
Rewrite of first memorandum due.
Topics: Common-law research; case reporters, digests and Shepard's citators. Read chapters 5 and 6 in The Process of Legal Research.
Spring Vacation -- March 7-14
Week 9 -- Thursday, March 18
Research assignment #3 due.
Topic: Research strategies; constitutions and statutes. Read chapter 3 in Writing and Analysis in the Law, and chapter 7 in The Process of Legal Research.
Week 10 -- Thursday, March 25
Rewrite of first memorandum returned with critique. Tutorial conferences scheduled.
Week 11 -- Thursday, April 1
Second memorandum due.
Topic: Analysis of complex legal problems. Third memorandum assignment distributed. Read chapter 11 in Writing and Analysis in the Law.
Week 12 -- Thursday, April 8
No class meeting this week.
Week 13 -- Thursday, April 15
Research assignment #4 due.
Topic: Research strategies. Second memorandum returned with critique. Read chapter 12 in The Process of Legal Research.
Week 14 -- Thursday, April 22
Final class meeting. Discuss third memorandum assignment. Introduction to Lawyering Skills II. Tutorial conferences scheduled.
Week 15 -- Thursday, April 29
Third memorandum due at 6:00 pm. Submit at Records Office (room 301).
Recommended texts:
In order to pass this course, you must complete four graded writing assignments and a series of research assignments. Failure to complete any of these assignments will result in a grade of "F" for the course. Late submission of assignments will also affect your grade; the late policy will be distributed separately.
Your final grade for the course will be a weighted average of the grades that you receive on the four writing assignments:
First memorandum . . . . . . 10%
Rewrite of first memo . . . . 20%
Second memorandum . . . . 30%
Third memorandum . . . . . . 40%
It is likely that some or all students' final grades will be adjusted upwards or possibly downwards depending upon the overall distribution of grades for the class, based upon the law school's grading curve. The distribution of grades on individual assignments will generally be lower than the curve, in order to avoid the need to make downward adjustments at the end of the semester, but it is possible that downward adjustments may be necessary.
1999/01/12