Writing Requirement Policy

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Writing Requirement Form (pdf fill-in form)

1. As a requirement for graduation, students must complete during their second or third year one rigorous writing experience. Satisfaction of the writing experience must be certified in writing by the appropriate instructor.
2. The rigorous writing experience is satisfied by completion of written work product that evidences:
   1. Good organization according to the recognized conventions for the type of document the student is writing, including, where appropriate, the clear identification of the legal problem to be solved, the determinative and necessary explanatory facts of the situation, the legal rules relied upon, and the application of those rules to the facts;
   2. Proposal of an original hypothesis and/or evaluation of solutions to a legal problem, challenging or critiquing the assumptions and conclusions of others where appropriate;
   3. Full development of a cogent line of reasoning;
   4. Appropriate use of and correct citation to relevant literature and reliable authority in support of ideas;
   5. Mastery of word usage, particularly legal terms of art and the vocabulary of the legal discipline about which the student is writing; and
   6. Mastery of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
   Pursuant to ABA Standard 302(a)(3) and Interpretation 302-1, it is ordinarily expected that the student will write and submit at least one working draft or extensive outline of the work, that the draft will be critiqued by the instructor, that the student will have an opportunity to meet with the instructor for purposes of individualized feedback and instruction, and that, in response to critiques and/or meetings, the student will revise and edit the paper before submitting the final version. There are no specified page requirements for the work, although it should be of sufficient length or depth to wholly fulfill the criteria stated above (for example, a scholarly paper might be expected to be 20-40 double-spaced pages in length, exclusive of footnotes).
3. Students must satisfy the rigorous writing experience in an instructor-supervised writing or drafting project, whether or not undertaken in connection with a regular course. The successful completion of an upper level legal writing course will satisfy the requirements for the rigorous writing experience.

adopted by Faculty Committee January 26, 2007
effective August 20, 2007