This past Friday and Saturday, a year’s worth of work paid off: Catholic Law hosted the 2025 Capital Area Legal Writing Conference. Organizing this conference was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Legal writing faculty from 45 law schools gathered at our campus; we had 75 registrants and 40 excellent presentations on topics related to legal writing pedagogy and scholarship. This was the first time since 2017 that the Capital Area Legal Writing Conference was held, and I am proud to have revived it. My goal was to bring together the capital area legal writing community, and I’m thrilled with the turnout. Thank you to everyone who presented, attended, and made this conference a success!
In addition to organizing and chairing the conference, I organized a preconference Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) Scholars Forum. It allowed a small group of legal writing scholars to exchange in-depth feedback on their works-in-progress Friday morning, before the conference programming began. The Scholars Forum was supported by a grant I obtained from ALWD.
At the conference, I presented on my forthcoming article, The Pedagogy of Legal Synthesis, 64 Duquesne Law Review (forthcoming 2026). I also facilitated a breakout session for local attendees from capital area law schools to discuss continuing the conference in future years. Enthusiasm was high, and I’m confident that another law school will take up the torch and host the conference again next year.
Here is Catholic Law’s write-up of the event:
Catholic Law Revives the Capital Area Legal Writing Conference: A Celebration of Innovation and Collaboration in Legal Education
June 5, 2025
Catholic Law proudly hosted the 2025 Capital Area Legal Writing Conference on Friday, May 30, and Saturday, May 31. Legal writing faculty from 45 law schools across the DC area and the nation gathered on our picturesque campus in the heart of the nation’s capital to share teaching and research ideas and connect with peers.
The conference opened with a warm welcome from the conference’s organizer and chair Stephen Mortellaro, Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of Artificial Intelligence Academic Integration at Catholic Law. Professor Mortellaro outlined the conference schedule, shared insights into its history, and expressed gratitude to Dean Stephen C. Payne for his invaluable support in hosting the event. The conference encompassed 40 presentations by legal writing faculty on topics including artificial intelligence, the NextGen Bar, professional identity formation, legal storytelling, designing innovative legal writing assignments, teaching legal synthesis, and more.
“Bringing together the legal writing community at Catholic Law has been an honor. The conference fostered intellectual exchanges that will influence legal writing scholarship and pedagogy for years to come,” said Professor Mortellaro.
“The Capital Area Legal Writing Conference has not been held for several years. We appreciate Professor Mortellaro’s leadership and vision to restart this regional conference and Catholic Law’s generous support of this effort,” said Sherri Keene, a conference presenter and Professor of Law, Legal Practice at Georgetown University Law Center. “Professor Mortellaro not only put together an outstanding conference that drew presenters and attendees from across the country, he offered a space to discuss new teaching innovations and scholarship relevant to the field. I learned so much from every presentation I attended. The conference was excellent and so well executed.”
The morning of May 30, Catholic Law also welcomed legal writing scholars to participate in a preconference Scholars Forum sponsored by the Association of Legal Writing Directors. Participants presented on their scholarly works-in-progress and received in-depth feedback from a small group of legal writing scholars.
First established in 2011 at The George Washington University Law School, the Capital Area Legal Writing Conference has become a cornerstone for collaboration and innovation in legal education. Over the years, it has been hosted by prestigious institutions including Georgetown University Law Center, American University Washington College of Law, University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, Howard University School of Law, William & Mary Law School, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, and Regent University School of Law. The conference was last held in 2017, and this year, Catholic Law was honored to revive and continue this tradition.
Click here to view the conference program.