If you want to teach legal writing
If you want to teach legal writing
Here is some advice if you'd like to get into the field of teaching legal writing at a law school.
You'd better have practiced law. Even if law practice is not a prerequisite for becoming a content professor, it usually is for a legal-writing instructor. Three to five years is typical, and there's a slight, unfair bias in favor of litigation over transactional practice experience.
You'd better be willing to critique papers. It's a huge part of the job, and one that some dislike, but all legal-writing teachers spend a lot of time reading and commenting on papers.
You'd better be ready for a labor-intensive job generally. You'll not only read a lot of papers, you'll also do a lot of work researching and preparing writing assignments. You'll have conferences with students. You'll re-work your lectures. You'll read textbooks and articles for nuggets to use in your teaching. You'll probably have to stay current on legal research, too.
You'd better not be angling for tenure. Most legal-writing jobs do not offer tenure, and most cannot be changed into tenure-track jobs. What I'm about to say is not universally true, but it is true at Texas and many other law schools: legal writing is not an entry point for general legal academia.
You'd better be okay with a less-than status. At most law schools, but not all, legal-writing teachers are not part of the professorship ranks. They are instructors or lecturers. They do not get sabbaticals or endowed chairs. They do not vote on all faculty matters. They get paid less than professors.
You'd better know something about legal writing. And I mean more than typical lawyers already know or think they know. Almost all lawyers think they are good writers, but that can't be true, can it? You'd better know more than most.
You'd better be able to handle a classroom of youngsters while teaching a dry topic. You'll need energy, confidence, and knowledge.
You'd better not be just trying to get out of a bad job. If your main motivation is to get out of whatever you're doing, you probably won't succeed in legal writing. Teaching legal writing is too hard, too demanding, and too thankless to sustain you if escaping is your motivation.
You need to be ready for competition. Once upon a time, someone with good credentials, good practice experience, and good writing skills could get a job teaching legal writing. I did. It's much more competitive now because the field of legal writing has become professionalized. If you want to break into legal writing, you'll be up against people who meet the criteria I've listed above and who have--
That's all for now.
Wait a minute. Read Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing, and publish something in it.
Okay. That's all.
_______________
Wayne Schiess
Director of Legal Writing | The University of Texas School of Law | Website | Seminars | Articles | Books: Preparing Legal Documents Nonlawyers Can Read and Understand
| Better Legal Writing
| Writing for the Legal Audience
| The Legal Memo: A Basic Guide
Here is some advice if you'd like to get into the field of teaching legal writing at a law school.
You'd better have practiced law. Even if law practice is not a prerequisite for becoming a content professor, it usually is for a legal-writing instructor. Three to five years is typical, and there's a slight, unfair bias in favor of litigation over transactional practice experience.
You'd better be willing to critique papers. It's a huge part of the job, and one that some dislike, but all legal-writing teachers spend a lot of time reading and commenting on papers.
You'd better be ready for a labor-intensive job generally. You'll not only read a lot of papers, you'll also do a lot of work researching and preparing writing assignments. You'll have conferences with students. You'll re-work your lectures. You'll read textbooks and articles for nuggets to use in your teaching. You'll probably have to stay current on legal research, too.
You'd better not be angling for tenure. Most legal-writing jobs do not offer tenure, and most cannot be changed into tenure-track jobs. What I'm about to say is not universally true, but it is true at Texas and many other law schools: legal writing is not an entry point for general legal academia.
You'd better be okay with a less-than status. At most law schools, but not all, legal-writing teachers are not part of the professorship ranks. They are instructors or lecturers. They do not get sabbaticals or endowed chairs. They do not vote on all faculty matters. They get paid less than professors.
You'd better know something about legal writing. And I mean more than typical lawyers already know or think they know. Almost all lawyers think they are good writers, but that can't be true, can it? You'd better know more than most.
You'd better be able to handle a classroom of youngsters while teaching a dry topic. You'll need energy, confidence, and knowledge.
You'd better not be just trying to get out of a bad job. If your main motivation is to get out of whatever you're doing, you probably won't succeed in legal writing. Teaching legal writing is too hard, too demanding, and too thankless to sustain you if escaping is your motivation.
You need to be ready for competition. Once upon a time, someone with good credentials, good practice experience, and good writing skills could get a job teaching legal writing. I did. It's much more competitive now because the field of legal writing has become professionalized. If you want to break into legal writing, you'll be up against people who meet the criteria I've listed above and who have--
- Law degrees from top schools
- Law review experience
- Judicial clerkship experience
- A track record of publishing in legal writing
That's all for now.
Wait a minute. Read Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing, and publish something in it.
Okay. That's all.
_______________
Wayne Schiess
Director of Legal Writing | The University of Texas School of Law | Website | Seminars | Articles | Books: Preparing Legal Documents Nonlawyers Can Read and Understand
| Better Legal Writing
| Writing for the Legal Audience
| The Legal Memo: A Basic Guide
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