| Table of Contents |
| | Acknowledgments | xi |
| ch. 1 | Introduction | 3 |
| A. | Who Will Benefit from This Book? | 3 |
| B. | Why a Book for Legal-Writing Professors? | 3 |
| C. | Models for Legal-Writing Programs | 5 |
| D. | Finding a Teaching Style | 5 |
| ch. 2 | Preparing to Teach | 7 |
| A. | Managing Expectations | 7 |
| 1. | Program Expectations | 7 |
| a. | Expectations for the Course | 8 |
| b. | Expectations for Legal-Writing Professors | 9 |
| 2. | Institutional Expectations | 10 |
| 3. | Student Expectations | 11 |
| B. | Setting Course Goals and Learning Outcomes | 13 |
| C. | Setting Course Rules and Policies | 15 |
| D. | Choosing Textbooks and Materials | 16 |
| E. | Creating the Syllabus | 17 |
| 1. | Topics | 18 |
| a. | Sources of Law | 18 |
| b. | Structure of the Legal System | 18 |
| c. | Stare Decisis and Use of Authority | 19 |
| d. | Legal Analysis and Reasoning | 19 |
| e. | Legal Research Sources and Strategies | 20 |
| f. | Legal Writing | 21 |
| g. | Citation Form | 21 |
| h. | Editing Legal Writing | 22 |
| i. | Oral Presentation and Argument Skills | 23 |
| j. | Professionalism | 23 |
| k. | Advanced Lawyering Skills | 24 |
| 2. | Depth of Coverage and Pacing | 24 |
| 3. | Visual Presentation | 26 |
| F. | Creating and Adapting Assignments | 26 |
| G. | Preparing for Class | 27 |
| 1. | Preparing Outlines and Class Notes | 27 |
| 2. | Preparing and Using Sample Documents and Handouts | 29 |
| 3. | Expecting the Unexpected | 30 |
| H. | Preparing for Challenging Students | 30 |
| I. | Barriers to Learning | 31 |
| | Additional Resources | 32 |
| ch. 3 | In-Class Teaching | 37 |
| A. | Early Classes | 38 |
| 1. | Setting a Professional Tone | 38 |
| 2. | Creating a Safe and Effective Learning Environment | 40 |
| a. | Establishing a Collaborative Classroom | 40 |
| b. | Inspiring Students to Learn | 41 |
| c. | Handling "Difficult" Students | 41 |
| 3. | Communicating Course Policies and Goals | 42 |
| 4. | Establishing Expectations | 44 |
| B. | Teaching Methods | 45 |
| 1. | Lecture | 45 |
| 2. | Questions and Answers | 46 |
| 3. | Simulations and Demonstrations | 48 |
| 4. | Small-Group Exercises | 50 |
| C. | Technology in the Classroom | 51 |
| 1. | Pedagogical Goals | 51 |
| 2. | Disaster Planning | 52 |
| 3. | Individual Technological Tools | 53 |
| a. | PowerPoint | 53 |
| b. | The Internet | 54 |
| c. | Clickers | 55 |
| D. | Managing Class Time | 56 |
| | Additional Resources | 58 |
| ch. 4 | Out-of-Class Teaching | 59 |
| A. | Office Hours | 59 |
| B. | One-on-One Conferences with Students | 61 |
| 1. | Timing | 61 |
| 2. | Structure | 63 |
| 3. | Difficult Conversations | 65 |
| C. | Oral-Presentation Skills | 65 |
| 1. | Speaking Skills | 66 |
| 2. | Oral Presentations to Supervisors | 66 |
| 3. | Court Presentations | 70 |
| D. | Technology Outside of the Classroom | 72 |
| 1. | Course Pages | 72 |
| 2. | Podcasts, Vodcasts, and Recorded PowerPoints | 73 |
| a. | Benefits | 73 |
| b. | Preparation | 74 |
| | Additional Resources | 75 |
| ch. 5 | Techniques for Teaching Specific Subjects and Assignments | 77 |
| A. | Introduction to the Legal System | 77 |
| B. | Legal Writing | 79 |
| 1. | What to Teach | 79 |
| 2. | How to Teach | 80 |
| a. | Objective Memoranda | 81 |
| b. | Persuasive Assignments | 84 |
| c. | Other Writing Assignments | 84 |
| d. | Additional Considerations | 85 |
| e. | Sample Goals for Memoranda | 88 |
| C. | Professionalism | 90 |
| 1. | Expectations | 91 |
| 2. | Modeling and Practice Opportunities | 91 |
| 3. | Evaluation | 92 |
| D. | Legal Research | 93 |
| 1. | Research Context: The Nature and Hierarchy of Legal Sources | 93 |
| 2. | Finding and Accessing Sources in Different Media | 94 |
| a. | Conducting Research in Books | 94 |
| b. | Conducting Research with Commercial, Fee-Based Services | 96 |
| c. | Conducting Research with Free Internet Sources | 98 |
| 3. | Strategic Thinking in the Research Process | 99 |
| 4. | Methods for Teaching Legal Research | 100 |
| 5. | Collaborating with Others to Teach Research Skills | 101 |
| E. | Citation Form | 102 |
| F. | Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiation Skills | 104 |
| 1. | Interviewing and Counseling Skills | 104 |
| a. | Theory and Observation | 105 |
| b. | Practice Opportunities | 105 |
| c. | Assessment | 108 |
| 2. | Negotiation Skills | 109 |
| a. | Understanding Negotiation Theory | 110 |
| b. | Role-Play Exercises | 110 |
| c. | Feedback and Debriefing | 111 |
| d. | Overall Review of Negotiation Experience | 111 |
| | Additional Resources | 112 |
| ch. 6 | Evaluating Student Work | 115 |
| A. | Providing Feedback | 115 |
| 1. | Ensuring Pedagogically Sound Feedback | 116 |
| a. | Designing Feedback to Accomplish Course and Assignment Goals | 116 |
| b. | Using an Encouraging Tone | 117 |
| c. | Including Positive Reinforcement | 118 |
| d. | Remembering Your Student Audience | 118 |
| e. | Emphasizing the Reader and Listener | 121 |
| f. | Requiring Students to Actively Process and Use Feedback | 121 |
| 2. | Content of Feedback | 122 |
| a. | Prioritizing Between Substantive and Technical Comments | 122 |
| b. | Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses | 123 |
| 3. | Common Methods of Feedback | 131 |
| a. | Written Work | 131 |
| b. | Oral Presentations | 138 |
| c. | Research Skills | 140 |
| 4. | Timing of Feedback | 141 |
| 5. | Managing the Workload | 141 |
| 6. | Student Complaints | 143 |
| a. | Minimizing Complaints | 143 |
| b. | Meeting with Disgruntled Students | 144 |
| B. | Determining the Grade | 145 |
| 1. | Weighting Assignments | 146 |
| 2. | Rubrics and Checklists | 146 |
| 3. | Ranking Papers and Students | 147 |
| 4. | Recognizing or Rewarding Effort | 147 |
| 5. | Third-Party Assistance in Evaluation | 148 |
| 6. | Changing Grades | 148 |
| ch. 7 | Using Teaching Assistants in the Legal-Writing Course | 151 |
| A. | The Roles of Teaching Assistants | 151 |
| 1. | Assisting in Class Preparation and Teaching | 152 |
| a. | Class Preparation | 152 |
| b. | In-Class Activities | 153 |
| c. | Out-of-Class Activities | 154 |
| 2. | Mentoring Students and Serving as a Role Model | 158 |
| B. | The Benefits of Using Teaching Assistants | 159 |
| 1. | The Benefits to Professors | 159 |
| 2. | The Benefits to First-Year Students | 160 |
| 3. | The Benefits to Teaching Assistants | 161 |
| 4. | The Benefits to the Law School | 161 |
| C. | Selecting and Hiring Teaching Assistants | 162 |
| 1. | Necessary Qualities | 162 |
| a. | Academic Performance | 163 |
| b. | Availability | 163 |
| c. | Personality | 164 |
| d. | Other Considerations | 164 |
| 2. | Setting Priorities | 165 |
| 3. | Number of Teaching Assistants | 166 |
| 4. | The Application Process | 166 |
| a. | Encouraging Applications | 166 |
| b. | Evaluating Applications | 167 |
| c. | Extending Offers and Announcing Decisions | 168 |
| D. | Training Teaching Assistants | 168 |
| 1. | Training by the Individual Professor---Initial | 169 |
| 2. | Training by the Individual Professor---Ongoing | 169 |
| 3. | Training by the Program | 170 |
| a. | Discussing Teaching Assistants' Roles as Teachers Rather than Students | 170 |
| b. | Alerting Teaching Assistants to their Advisory Role | 171 |
| c. | Establishing Responsibilities of and Expectations for Teaching Assistants | 171 |
| d. | Reviewing School- and Program-Wide Policies | 171 |
| e. | Training Teaching Assistants to Draw Professional Boundaries | 171 |
| f. | Training Teaching Assistants to Confer with Students | 172 |
| g. | Training Teaching Assistants to Work with Difficult Students | 173 |
| E. | Setting Policies for Teaching Assistants | 174 |
| 1. | Interacting with Students | 174 |
| a. | Before Assignment Deadlines---Office Conferences | 174 |
| b. | After Assignment Deadlines---Critiques | 174 |
| 2. | Classroom Participation | 175 |
| 3. | Professionalism and Confidentiality | 175 |
| F. | Supervising and Evaluating Teaching Assistants | 176 |
| 1. | Supervision | 176 |
| a. | Timeliness | 177 |
| b. | Mistakes | 177 |
| c. | Personal Difficulties | 177 |
| d. | Ongoing Communication | 178 |
| 2. | Evaluation | 178 |
| G. | Evaluating Teaching-Assistant Programs | 179 |
| | Additional Resources | 179 |
| ch. 8 | Professional Development | 183 |
| A. | Self-Assessment | 183 |
| B. | Performance Reviews | 184 |
| C. | Observing Classes | 185 |
| D. | Student Evaluations and Feedback | 186 |
| E. | Faculty- and Program-Wide Meetings and Workshops | 188 |
| F. | School Service | 188 |
| G. | Scholarship | 189 |
| H. | Professional Organizations and Alumni Contacts | 191 |
| I. | Professional Conferences | 191 |
| J. | Law Practice | 192 |
| | Additional Resources | 192 |
| | Index | 193 |
