UW Law School underscores importance of legal writing

A strong emphasis on legal writing, a change in grading policy and examination of real-world legal problems are all part of a drive to put the UW Law School in the forefront of a movement to improve the communication skills of aspiring lawyers.

“We are working hard to craft what we hope will be one of the best writing programs in the country. The Law School is taking it seriously, and moving forward at a fast clip,” says Susan Steingass, director of the school’s Communication and Advocacy Program. One of the first signs of that was last year’s hiring of Steingass, a former Dane County Circuit Court judge and president of the State Bar of Wisconsin. But there have been others in the school’s effort to become a national leader in teaching legal writing.

One of the most significant changes was in how legal writing courses are graded in a school whose students keep a hawk-like eye on their grade average. Prior to this semester, all law courses were graded on a numeric score – except legal writing, which was graded with a letter grade that was not figured into that all-important numeric average. But last fall, Law School faculty approved a change that requires legal writing classes to be graded numerically and included in a student’s average. That change took effect this semester.

“Legal writing has been the poor stepsister locked in the closet for years, and the old grading system symbolized a second-class citizenship for legal writing,” Steingass says. “This is not a symbolic change, but a substantial one. It sends a loud message about the relative importance of legal writing.”

The campaign to strengthen both legal writing and oral communication grew out of a Law School study showed that both graduates and employers identified communication skills as among the most important that a lawyer could bring to the job.

In that 2000 study, graduates suggested placing more emphasis on legal writing in the school’s curriculum. And, 95 percent of employers surveyed said legal research and writing courses are needed as part of a Law School education.

The school’s strategic plan, approved by the faculty last fall, also places a priority on oral and written communication, and on using more real-world learning experiences. For example, Steingass says one of the first exercises in the first-year legal writing class was a walk down State Street armed with the city’s skateboard ordinance. Students were asked to find violations.

“They found that the law is hardly clear. The skateboarding ordinance says you can’t skateboard ‘in proximity to’ stores and walks. What does that mean?” Steingass says. “Legal analysis is facts and law. When they come here, students think they will learn the law. Really what you learn is how to apply the law to the facts.”

Law School Dean Kenneth B. Davis, Jr. says the school’s emphasis on legal writing will provide a stronger professional base for graduates that will serve them throughout their careers.

“Because words are at the foundation of our work, sharp, focused legal writing is a powerful skill and we are committed to providing our graduates the right tools to succeed in practice,” Davis says.

Steingass says efforts are being made to underscore the importance of legal writing across the curriculum and in possible new offerings.

“The only way you learn writing is by writing,” she says. “We’re doing more in-class writing, and I am hoping, in the very near future, to extend legal writing beyond the first-year required course to upper-class requirements.”

The school has increased upper-class elective writing offerings and this semester, for the first time, is offering a class in appellate legal writing, a key skill since most cases on appeal are decided primarily on written briefs.

“It’s rare that oral argument turns the worm when you get to the appeals courts – it’s the briefs. These are critical skills,” says Steingass, who also hopes to add a course in scholarly legal writing next year.

Steingass is planning to meet this spring with faculty, representatives of the State Bar of Wisconsin and practicing attorneys to brainstorm new avenues the Law School can pursue to strengthen the program. She credits former acting director Mary Bernard Ray, and past directors Aviva Kaiser and Mary Ann Polewski – all of whom are still involved – for helping to build the program.

Many law students, Steingass says, come to the first-year course believing they know how to write, and many do – but not for legal purposes. That requires a sometimes-dramatic change of attitude. “They are not lecture courses, but rather attempts to engage the students and work with them with extensive comments on their work and then a required rewrite,” Steingass says. “Part of what we’re trying to do is teach students how to teach themselves, and how to have the distance to perceive what’s wrong.”