Speaking on Supporting New Legal Writing Professors at the LWI New Teacher Training Bootcamp

I had the privilege of speaking yesterday on a panel supporting New Legal Writing Professors at the Legal Writing Institute’s (LWI) New Teacher Training Bootcamp. I was thrilled to join colleagues from other law schools and offer advice for new members of the profession who teach legal writing to first-year law students. My advice included:

Be authentic. Your teaching persona is important, and if you don’t consciously define it for yourself, students will define it for you. Be intentional in determining how funny/serious, formal/informal, and personal/impersonal you wish to be. Whatever you decide, make sure it’s true to yourself. If you aren’t naturally like Prof. Kingsfield from the Paper Chase, don’t try to be like him! Others can smell BS a mile away. Connecting with your students in a way that motivates them to succeed is critical. The first step toward connecting with your students is simple: be authentic.

Be transparent. Hiding the ball does not work in the first-year legal writing course. Students are generally coming in with little to no experience in legal writing. They need all the support they can get from you. That doesn’t mean you tell them specifically what arguments to make on memo and brief assignments, but you should be as transparent as possible about your expectations. Use detailed rubrics and checklists, and share them before assignment deadlines. Aim to be clear, explicit, and specific in your instruction. The challenge students should face is reaching your expectations, not figuring out what your expectations are.

Know that you will make mistakes—and recover from them. Don’t be afraid to seek help! The path to becoming an experienced legal writing professor is a journey. The first year is the hardest and when you’ll make the most mistakes; the second year, you fix what didn’t work the first year; the third year and beyond, you perfect your teaching. Don’t be afraid to ask for help along the way! Or to consult the works of great legal writing professors who came before you. After my first year, one area I wanted to improve was my feedback skills. So that summer, I searched for publications on how to give effective feedback on first-year legal writing assignments. Lo and behold, I found a fantastic resource that compiled articles on this very topic: the LWI Monograph on The Art of Critique Written Work. The wisdom contained in these articles helped me transform the way I comment on student work for the better.

Mistakes are inevitable as a newcomer (and sometimes as an oldcomer too!), but you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, and you aren’t alone. Seek out mentors and resources, stick with what works and throw out what doesn’t, and you’ll be on the road to becoming an excellent legal writing professor.