Crisis Brewing in the Legal World

I see a crisis brewing in the legal world:

The JDs coming from law school do not know how to write.

🔹 Yes, law schools are too academic + unfocused on the practical skills needed.

🔹 But legal-writing professors face a mounting challenge:

The students coming out of college do not know how to write, either (at least not anywhere near as well as they used to).

🔽

I see this from a unique vantage point:

— I work with students on their personal statements and other application essays.

— I then see their 1L memos and briefs after they’ve been graded.

👉 I can tell you that the grammar, usage, syntax, and punctuation skills of most incoming law students are shockingly subpar, and the pandemic only made things worse.

All this means that legal-writing profs must spend a ton of time teaching + correcting basic things that have nothing to do with the LEGAL part of legal writing.

In essence, these profs start working with students at a level that is PRE-1L.

It is thus not surprising that the final product upon graduation is writing quality that’s PRE-JD.

⬇️

OK, enough problem lawmenting.

Let’s work to FIX THIS PROBLEM!

Here’s my attempt insert a large dent in it:

📕 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟏𝐋: 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 📕

▪️ Parts I & II bridge the writing gap from college to law school. Also featured are intense nurture, exam-writing guidance, and reference checklists to help 1Ls with all first-semester stressors.

 —These parts are for pre-law students and current 1Ls, and they should serve as an invaluable resource throughout the 1L year.

▪️ Part III serves as an advanced legal-writing textbook.

In it, I share research and legal-writing tips that I, myself, only picked up after law school—during 20 years in the trenches of BigLaw litigation.

 —This is the part of the book that will teach 2Ls, 3Ls, and new associates the most, and I highly recommend the book to all of them for this purpose.

▪️ Finally, Part IV offers tips for ALL law students on resumes, cover letters, job interviews, and writing samples.

 —This part should also be universally valuable.

❤️ Let’s attack the legal-writing downslide together. ❤️

You can pick up the book for yourself, your student, your library, or your firm to help.

It is available here: https://lnkd.in/gJHmkWKs

Our industry is counting on us.

Fondly,

💌 Amanda

🙏🏻 Want to add support w/o getting the book?

You can comment below to help spread the word. 🙏🏻

#Dear1L