What You Will Find on This Page:
On this page you will find information about the following conference-related subjects, in the following order, by scrolling down the page:
Upcoming International Conferences
Upcoming Regional Conferences
Other Upcoming Conferences
Access to Virtual Legal Writing Conferences / Archives
Recently Held Conferences (2011-10)
If you are involved in planning or publicizing an upcoming legal writing conference, or if you have updated information concerning any conference currently appearing on this page, please contact the Legal Writing Institute website committee by emailing Dan Real.
Upcoming International Conferences:
March 12-14, 2012: Seventh Global Legal Skills Conference.
The Seventh Global Legal Skills Conference will be held in San Jose, Coast Rica from Monday, March 12, through Wednesday, March 14, 2012. The plans so far are tentative and subject to change, and more details will follow as plans are finalized.
The conference is being planned to allow time before, during, and after the conference for participants to enjoy beautiful Costa Rica. The first day of the conference will likely be held at the Costa Rica Bar Association, include sessions open to Costa Rican lawyers, law students, and general public, and be followed by a plenary session to open the conference. The second day of the conference will likely include free time to visit local attractions, followed by sessions at the University of Costa Rica Law School that will include a student-focused track of programs. The third day of the conference will likely be held at the conference hotel to accommodate people wishing to leave to return home or to visit other parts of the country after the presentations.
More details will follow. Questions can be directed to Mark Wojcik at the John Marshall Law School.
Upcoming Regional Conferences:
December 16, 2011: New England Consortium of Legal Writing Teachers Regional Conference, "Creating Practice-Ready Assignments and Exercises."
The University of New Hampshire School of Law in Concord will host the NECLWT Regional Conference. This year's conference is titled, "Creating Practice-Ready Assignments and Exercises." For information regarding submitting a proposal and registering, visit the conference website.
For additional information, contact Amy Vorenberg.
March 9-10, 2012: Second Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference.
The Georgetown University Law Center will host the Second Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference, to be held on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday, March 9-10, 2012. Out of town participants are welcome; we are arranging a conference rate at a local hotel close to the law school and major public transportation options. There will be no conference fee.
The deadline to submit proposals is October 30, 2011. To submit a proposal please fill out the short Proposal Submission Form and email it to: capitallegalwriting@gmail.com.
More information about general conference registration, speakers, and conference hotel options will be made available in the coming weeks. Hope to see you in March!
The Planning Committee includes, among others, Kristen Tiscione (chair), Sonya Bonneau, Michael Cedrone, Vicki Girard, Sarah Laubach, Sue McMahon, Julie Ross, and Rima Sirota. If you have any questions, please contact the committee at: capitallegalwriting@gmail.com.
March 23-24, 2012: 2012 Rocky Mountain Regional Legal Writing Conference.
The 2012 Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference will be held on Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24, 2012, at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in Tempe. As in previous years, there will be no registration fee for this conference.
The call for proposals was posted on the LWI Listserv on September 28. The deadline for proposals is November 10, and proposals should be sent to Chad Noreuil and/or Susie Salmon.
Additional conference details and the conference website will be available soon. In the meantime, questions can be directed to the conference co-chairs, Kim Holst or Carrie Sperling.
June 23, 2012: Third Annual Empire State Legal Writing Conference.
The Third Annual Empire State Legal Writing Conference will be held on Saturday, June 23, 2012, at the University of Buffalo Law School in Buffalo, New York.
Last year's conference at St. John's University School of Law featured over 50 presenters from around the country, with a focus on creative teaching ideas that attendees could implement immediately. The Call for Proposals for this year's conference will be posted in early November. Additional details and a link to the conference website will be posted when available.
The Buffalo area is beautiful in June and the organizers are planning to arrange an optional excursion to Niagara Falls for those who are interested. The conference program committee includes Stephen Paskey (Buffalo), Robin Boyle (St. John's), Ian Gallacher (Syracuse), John Mollencamp (Cornell), Ann Nowak (Touro), Amy R. Stein (Hofstra), and Marilyn Walter (Brooklyn). If you have any questions, please contact Stephen Paskey.
The Call for Proposals is available at the conference website. The deadline for submitting proposals is Thursday, January 12, 2012. Proposals should be sent to Stephen Paskey with a copy sent to empirestatelw@gmail.com.
Please stay tuned for further details.
August 10-11, 2012: 2012 Western Regional Conference.
The University of Oregon School of Law will be hosting the 2012 Western Regional Conference in August 2012. More information will be forthcoming soon about presenting and attending.
Other Upcoming Conferences/Workshops:
December 2, 2011: LWI One-Day Workshops.
The Legal Writing Institute will hold one-day workshops at various locations around the country on Friday, December 2, 2011. Locations for these workshops will include law schools in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, as well as Washington D.C/Northern Virginia.
The current list of locations includes:
California: Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
Florida: University of Miami
Georgia: Atlanta's John Marshall Law School
Illinois: Chicago-Kent College of Law
Massachusetts: Northeastern University School of Law, Boston
Minnesota: Hamline University School of Law
Missouri: University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
New York: Brooklyn Law School
North Carolina: Campbell University Wiggins School of Law, Raleigh
Pennsylvania: Temple University Beasley School of Law, Philadelphia
Tennessee: University of Memphis Humphreys School of Law
Washington D.C./Northern Virginia: George Mason School of Law
The topics included in the workshops will include teaching legal writing; teaching persuasive writing, appellate advocacy, and moot court; legal research update; and other innovations.
The workshops have, in the past, proven a great opportunity for legal writing faculty around the country to meet and share ideas and a great opportunity for adjunct faculty who are often unable to travel to gain some valuable experience and insight. The one-day workshops are a fundraiser for the LWI, and attendees are asked to pay a $100 registration fee, which will be donated to the LWI to enable it to continue its many fine and important programs. As in past years, scholarships will be available for persons who cannot pay the registration fee.
For more information, see this post on the Legal Writing Prof Blog. If you have questions or are interested in volunteering to be a presenter at one of the locations, contact Mark Wojcik. Information about registering to attend these sessions will be coming soon and will be updated here when available.
December 15-16, 2011: Legal Persuasion: An Advanced Workshop.
The William S. Boyd School of Law is proud to host this workshop in legal persuasion in December 2011. The workshop will bring together practicing attorneys, trial consultants, and academics from across the country to participate in an intensive workshop devoted to discussing contemporary insights into all forms of legal persuasion. The workshop will provide an opportunity to learn about the latest developments in all facets of legal persuasion: negotiation, written and oral advocacy, and visual persuasion. Enrollment will be limited to create a dynamic and interactive learning environment.
You may apply to register for this event by visiting the workshop website. The application process is designed to assure a good mix of participants, including judges, lawyers, academics, and consultants. The organizers anticipate that the event will be noteworthy for the conversations outside the formal workshops.
If you have any questions, email UNLV Associate Dean Jay Mootz.
Access to Virtual Legal Writing Conferences/Archives:
Stetson University College of Law has begun conducting "Legal Writing Conference Webinars." Previously held webinars are now available for replay to members of non-profit, government, and educational institutions in Stetson's online Advocacy Resource Center.
To access the Advocacy Resource Center, go to Stetson's homepage and choose "Advocacy" from the "Centers" pull-down menu. From there, click on the "Advocacy Resource Center" link and register. Once you have registered, you may enter the Advocacy Resource Center by logging in on the right side of the page. You will find the webinars under the link, "Project for Excellence in Legal Communication: Virtual Legal Writing Webinars."
Recently Held Conferences (2011):
September 16-17, 2011: 7th Biennial Central States Legal Writing Conference.
The John Marshall Law School in Chicago hosted the 7th Biennial Central States Legal Writing Conference on Friday, September 16, and Saturday, September 17, 2011. The conference featured over 75 presenters.
You can find the schedule and all conference information at the conference website. Contact Anthony Niedwiecki with any questions.
August 26-27, 2011: 2011 Western Regional Legal Writing Conference.
The University of San Francisco School of Law hosted the 2011 Western Regional Legal Writing Conference, "How to Hit the Ground Writing: Meeting the Expectations of the Changing Legal Market." During the conference, participants explored legal employers' expectations of research and writing for first-year lawyers given the changing legal market and presenters showcased how legal writing professors are helping their students meet those expectations.
Professor Emeritus Richard Wydick of the UC Davis School of Law, author of Plain English for Lawyers, and the 2005 Golden Pen Award recipient, opened the conference on Friday afternoon with his talk, "Ambiguity." Panels of legal employers and presentations from legal research and writing faculty followed. The employer panels discussed the research and writing skills of their first-year lawyers, focusing on how their expectations are changing and whether first-year lawyers are meeting those expectations. Presentations from legal research and writing faculty focused on innovative teaching ideas that demonstrate how legal writing professors can prepare their students to meet employers' changing expectations.
More information is available at the conference website, here. E-mail any questions to Grace Hum, Amy Flynn, or Eugene Kim.
July 8-10, 2011: Third Biennial International Applied Storytelling Conference.
LWI and CLEA co-sponsored the third biennial International Applied Storytelling Conference, July 8-10, 2011 at University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. The conference registration site can be found here. A bibliography of articles from the first two conferences can be found here.
June 10, 2011: New England Consortium of Legal Writing Teachers (NECLWT).
Roger Williams University hosted the latest conference of NECLWT on Friday, June 10, 2011. The conference, titled "Three to Get Ready: Three Different Perspectives on Getting Students 'Practice Ready,'" featured both recent graduates and legal writing professionals on three panels. The first panel featured recent graduates discussing what it means to be "practice ready" from their perspective and included members from both private practice in firms and government employment. The second panel featured recent graduates who had elected to hang their own shingle discussing legal practice skills they found essential. The final panel included legal writing professors discussing how they've shaken things up in the classsroom. The panels included discussion of both what participants felt they had learned and found most useful in law school, as well as what they felt they would have liked to have learned more about.
More information is available at the conference website.
May 13, 2011: Second Annual Empire State Legal Writing Conference.
St. John's University School of Law hosted the Second Annual Empire State Legal Writing Conference on Friday, May 13, 2011. The keynote speaker, Professor Tina Stark, illuminated key points in teaching transactional drafting. The conference featured over 50 presenters from around the country. Various themes were intertwined throughout the day, such as the following: ethics, professionalism, and plagiarism; reaching today's millenials; grading efficiently; perspectives from the bench, bar, and clinical programs; experiential techniques; polishing drafts; oral presentations; lessions from international law; and current-day email memos.
The conference website, with more details, is available here.
There was also an ALWD Scholars' Forum on Thursday, May 12. Lisa Eichhorn and Marilyn Walter provided critique during the workshop, in addition to St. John's Robin Boyle.
May 5-7, 2011: Global Legal Skills Conference.
The most recent Global Legal Skills Conference was held in Chicago, IL (at the John Marshall Law School) in May 2011. This was the Sixth Global Legal Skills Conference.
April 15-16, 2011: Southeast Regional Legal Writing Conference.
Mercer University School of Law hosted the 2011 Southeast Regional Legal Writing Conference in April 2011.
For questions or more information, please contact any of the following at Mercer: David Ritchie (ritchie_d@law.mercer.edu); Jennifer Sheppard (sheppard_jl@law.mercer.edu); Karen Sneddon (sneddon_kj@law.mercer.edu); or Sue Painter-Thorne (painter_s@law.mercer.edu).
February 25-26, 2011: Capital Area Legal Writing Conference
The George Washington University Law School hosted the First Annual Capital Area Legal Writing Conference, held on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday, February 25-26, 2011.
The conference explored a wide range of topics related to teaching legal research and writing, and featured 65 presenters from over 25 law schools in 20 States. It was sponsored in part by Lexis, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, Westlaw, and Carolina Academic Press.
Dr. George D. Gopen, Professor of the Practice of Rhetoric at Duke University, and the 2011 recipient of the Legal Writing Institute’s Golden Pen Award, delivered the Keynote Address. In addition, a plenary session featured Professor Teresa Godwin Phelps of American University’s Washington College of Law, and winner of the 2009 Terri LeClercq Courage Award.
A complete agenda of the conference listing all presenters is available here.
The Planning Committee included, among others, Karen Thornton (co-chair), Iselin Gambert (co-chair), Christy DeSanctis, and Jessica Clark. If you have any questions, please contact the committee at: capitallegalwriting@gmail.com.
March 5, 2011: Second Colonial Frontier Legal Writing Conference.
Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, PA, hosted the Second Colonial Frontier Legal Writing Conference in March 2011. The theme of the conference was "The Arc of Advanced Legal Writing: From Theory through Teaching to Practice."
There were six presentations. The three lead presentations were from nationally-renowned scholars of advanced legal writing: Michael Smith (Wyoming), Elizabeth Fajans (Brooklyn) and Mary Ray (Wisconsin). They were followed by Sheila Miller (Dayton), Susan Wawrose (Dayton), Victoria VanZandt (Dayton) and Johanna Oreskovid (Buffalo), who spoke about surveys of the bench and bar, reporting on the advanced writing skills that lawyers and judges believe new attorneys should have. Then Julia Glencer (Duquesne), Erin Karsman (Duquesne), and Tara Willke (Duquesne) spoke about the team-taught advanced legal writing "law firm simulation" course they created, supported by an ALWD Research Grant. The closing session was a panel of law firm partners addressing how law firms can be agents of curricular change, encouraging law schools to implement advanced legal writing courses.
The Duquesne Law Review will be publishing a Proceedings Issue containing articles reflecting the presentations. CLE credit will be available for attendees. Aspen Law and Business will be the prime sponsor for the event.
For more information please visit the conference website for last year's conference.
March 25-26, 2011: Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference.
UNLV hosted the 11th Annual Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference in March 2011.
Recently Held Conferences (2010):
December 10, 2010: New England Legal Writing Conference
Boston College Law School hosted the 2010 New England Legal Writing Conference. The topic for the conference was, "What Legal Employers Want . . . and Really Need." The conference featured a panel on the writing skills legal employers (large firms, medium firms, small firms, government, public interest, etc.) see as essential in lawyers entering law practice, followed by breakout sessions on questions raised by the panel. The "Really Need" portion of the program title was designed to capture the question of whether "practice ready" is something law schools can, or should, achieve or whether, given what we know about how professional knowledge is acquired, "practice ready" may be unrealistic.
May 14, 2010: First Annual Empire State Legal Writing Conference.
Hofstra Law School in Hempstead, New York, was the location for the first annual Empire State Legal Writing Conference, held on May 14, 2010. The Conference was a one-day event, timed in such a way that people in the greater NYC area could easily travel to the Law School and back on the conference day. Out of town participants were welcome, and there was a conference rate at a local hotel, as well as transportation to the Law School. The Planning Committee included Robin Boyle, St. John's; Ian Gallacher, Syracuse; Tracy McGaugh, Touro; John Mollenkamp, Cornell; and Marilyn Walter, Brooklyn, as well as Amy Stein, Scott Colesanti, Susan Joffe and Frank Gulino from Hofstra. Richard Neumann also offered his expert assistance.
March 19-20, 2010: Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference.
The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in Tucson hosted the ninth annual Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference. The conference was held on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday, March 19-20, 2010, at the University of Arizona Rogers College of Law.
There was no conference fee and most, if not all, meals were provided to participants free of charge.
For more information, please contact the conference chair, Professor Suzanne Rabe, at rabe@law.arizona.edu or (520) 626-2426. Program co-chairs were Professor Rebecca Scharf (rebecca.scharf@unlv.edu) and Professor Stacey Dowdell (stacey.dowdell@asu.edu).
February 25-27, 2010: Global Legal Skills Conference V.
Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey hosted the Global Legal Skills Conference V in February 2010. The call for proposals and further details are available at the conference website here.
If you are involved in planning or publicizing an upcoming legal writing conference, or if you have updated information concerning any conference currently appearing on this page, please contact the Legal Writing Institute website committee by emailing Dan Real.
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