The Pre-Writing Handbook for Law Students: A Step-by-Step Guide - Softcover

Graham, Laura; Felsenburg, Miriam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 161163184X ISBN 13: 9781611631845

Publisher: Carolina Academic Press, 2013

Synopsis

Intended primarily for use in the first few weeks of the first-semester legal writing course, The Pre-Writing Handbook for Law Students: A Step-by-Step Guide takes a systematic approach to the process of preparing to write legal memos, briefs, and other documents. The Handbook is designed to help students focus on and become competent in the process of legal analysis that precedes their work on a written product. The Handbook is uniquely designed to help students gauge their own progress as they work through the pre-writing process. The confidence students will gain from engaging in the pre-writing process outlined in the Handbook will translate into a smoother, more effective writing process and a better written product.
Each chapter of the Handbook contains a number of useful features:

- Frequent metacognitive ''checkpoints'' — text boxes that prompt students to pause or stop in their pre-writing work and assess their own efficiency and effectiveness.

- Concrete examples of how the steps in the pre-writing process would work in the context of two recurring legal scenarios.

- End-of-chapter recaps that summarize the desired results of the student's work during each step of the pre-writing process.

- Independent Practice Exercises.

About this title

About the Author

Laura Graham is a Law Professor at Wake Forest University School of Law. Miriam Felsenburg is a Law Professor at Wake Forest University School of Law.

Review

''The Handbook hits the nail on the head! It centers on exactly what is missing from all the other legal writing books: the deep thinking that is necessary before pen hits paper.'' --Joi Montiel, Faulkner University School of Law

''Writing professors have claimed for years that learning to write is learning to think; legal writing professors have claimed for years that learning legal writing entails learning legal analysis. This book makes good on both claims and provides a welcome and useful tool for anyone trying to master legal writing.'' --J. Christopher Rideout, Professor of Lawyering Skills and Associate Director of the Legal Writing Program, Seattle University School of Law

''You need to crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run, and run before you can fly. Professors Graham and Felsenburg will have fledgling students flying in no time.'' --Louis J. Sirico, Jr., Professor of Law and Director, Legal Writing Program, Villanova University School of Law

About this edition

• Publisher: Carolina Academic Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 161163184X
• ISBN 13: 9781611631845
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 142