Academic legal writing : law review articles, student notes, seminar papers, and getting on law review

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Where to find it

Law Library — 2nd Floor Collection (2nd floor)

Call Number
KF250 .V6 2010
Status
Available

Authors, etc.

Names:

Summary

Designed to help law students write and publish articles, this text provides detailed instructions for every aspect of the law school writing, research, and publication process. Topics covered include law review articles and student notes, seminar term papers, how to shift from research to writing, cite-checking others' work, publishing, and publicizing written works. With supporting documents available on http://volokh.com/writing, the book helps law students and everyone else involved in academic legal writing: professors save time and effort communicating basic points to students; law schools satisfy the American Bar Association's second- and third-year writing requirements; and law reviews receive better notes from their staff.

The Fourth Edition adds examples drawn from successful student notes, coupled with detailed explanations of what makes the examples effective, and how they could have been made still more effective. It also elaborates further on how one can research a topic more comprehensively than many students do, both by finding a broader range of examples and applications, and by investigating the key cases more deeply.

Contents

Finding what to write about (the claim) -- Test suites : making prescriptive claims more sound -- Writing the introduction -- Writing the "background" section -- Writing the proof of the claim -- The conclusion, and after the conclusion -- Finishing the first draft, and the zeroth draft -- Tips on researching -- Editing : general principles -- Editing : getting help from your faculty advisor -- Writing : logical problems to watch for -- Writing : paragraph-level problems to watch for -- Writing : sentence/clause problems to watch for -- Writing : word/phrase problems to watch for -- Writing : rhetorical problems to watch for -- Editing : three exercises -- Using evidence correctly -- Writing and researching : timeline and summary -- A sample highly successful student article -- Writing : seminar term papers -- Cite : checking others' articles -- Publishing and publicizing -- Entering writing competitions -- Getting on law review -- Academic ethics.

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