By: Prof. Stevie Leahy As a legal writing professor, I often remind my students that their legal writing journey does not end after their last LPS (Legal Practice Skills) or upper-level writing class. In fact, writing in the legal field is a longitudinal practice that, for proficiency, requires continual self-reflection. Our skills continue to grow… Continue Reading Deadline Stress: Navigating Legal Writing in School and Beyond
Author: kvinson
Clickwrap Agreements and Designing the Future of Contracts
By: Adam Eckart Legal Writing Matters Blog During the summer of 2024, I caught an Uber to Boston Logan Airport to fly to a conference in Indianapolis. Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity software used by Microsoft to support technology used in banking, broadcasting, and airline industries, crashed that morning—leaving me and thousands of other travelers throughout… Continue Reading Clickwrap Agreements and Designing the Future of Contracts
Embracing Innovation: Shaping the Future of Law
By Kathy Vinson The legal landscape is continuously evolving, and it’s more important than ever to stay ahead of the curve to actively shape the future of law through innovation and strategic leadership. At the All Rise | Uniting to Advance Women and the Future of Law | 2024 Forum at Suffolk University Law School,… Continue Reading Embracing Innovation: Shaping the Future of Law
Top Three Tips for Effective Communication at a Law Firm
By: Bailey Bartel Top Three Tips for Effective Communication at a Law Firm Communication is important in every profession but particularly in the legal field. The abilities to speak and write effectively are some of the most important skills a lawyer can possess. Law school teaches foundational communication skills, like how to compose yourself in… Continue Reading Top Three Tips for Effective Communication at a Law Firm
The Ethics of Generative AI – More of the Same?
By: Laura Hennessey As generative AI has taken the world by storm, its role in the legal profession has only just begun to take shape. Initial skepticism and words of warning have given way to a tentative embrace of the new technology in legal research and writing. With the advent of legal-specific generative AI tools,… Continue Reading The Ethics of Generative AI – More of the Same?
A Private (Contract) Right: Drafting in Today’s Legal Landscape
By: Adam Eckart Legal Writing Matters Blog Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of being invited to participate in a Discussion Group at the 2024 Biennial Conference of the Legal Writing Institute on the topic of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”) in higher education. While much of the discussion focused on ways to a)… Continue Reading A Private (Contract) Right: Drafting in Today’s Legal Landscape
The Blank Page: Write On to Break Through Writer’s Block for Legal Writing Success
By: Kathy Vinson Writer’s block—a formidable foe faced by all writers, from seasoned novelists to novice law students—inevitably strikes when the words seem to elude you, when the cursor blinks mockingly on an empty page, and when the weight of deadlines bears down heavily upon your shoulders. At its core, writer’s block stems from a… Continue Reading The Blank Page: Write On to Break Through Writer’s Block for Legal Writing Success
Charting the (New) Course: Generative AI For Lawyers
by: Colin Black & Dyane O’Leary 1/8/2023. “ChatGPT is taking the world by storm. Let’s play around and figure out what all the fuss is about.” 7/8/2023. “We need policies for ChatGPT. Let’s share new syllabus language and brainstorm curricular changes.” 1/8/2024. “Good morning students. Welcome to our first ever course about Generative AI. Let’s… Continue Reading Charting the (New) Course: Generative AI For Lawyers
The Future of Transactional Skills Today
By: Adam Eckart Law school courses geared towards transactional attorneys have long centered on contract drafting. Yet, students preparing for transactional practice today will not be prepared to enter practice unless transactional skills classes and legal writing classes help prepare students for the variety of skills that are required of today’s transactional attorney. Today’s transactional… Continue Reading The Future of Transactional Skills Today
AI: It’s Just a Shiny New Hammer in Your Legal Toolkit
By: Colin M. Black Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), or what we also know as large language models or generative AI, is no longer a futuristic concept. It’s here. This sophisticated technology, capable of producing human-like text with seemingly human-like analysis, is fast becoming a ubiquitous tool in academia and the legal profession. However, GenAI’s capabilities… Continue Reading AI: It’s Just a Shiny New Hammer in Your Legal Toolkit
Dashboard Legal – How Law Students Can Learn to Effectively Collaborate with Others
By: Megan R. Fistori & Gianna C. Marchetti The best lawyers must be willing to work collaboratively, irrespective of who they represent. In actuality, we all are constantly exchanging ideas; whether a student or a professional in the workplace, no one writes or works completely independently. When most recently did you confer with a fellow… Continue Reading Dashboard Legal – How Law Students Can Learn to Effectively Collaborate with Others
Embrace feedback to improve your legal writing
By Andrew Stark One of the most common questions that I receive from students after they receive their graded work product containing my comments and edits is “what can I do to improve my writing?” My answer is always the same: pay attention to and embrace the feedback you receive from others (like your professor)… Continue Reading Embrace feedback to improve your legal writing
Securing Your Skills
By: Dyane O’Leary Every lawyer wants their work product to be excellent, complete, and accurate. But what about it also being secure? Lawyers of past generations thought of security as lock-and-key file cabinets and careful out-of-sight placement of legal pads with confidential work product around a conference table. Tomorrow’s lawyers may still think about those… Continue Reading Securing Your Skills
Lead the Way: How Leadership Courses in Law Schools Can Satisfy ABA Standard 303
by Kathleen Elliott Vinson As law schools grapple with ways to comply with revised American Bar Association (“ABA”) Standard on Legal Education 303, they should consider how leadership courses can satisfy the new requirements. Indeed, there is common ground and connections between Standard 303 and leadership courses as the competencies that are the focus of… Continue Reading Lead the Way: How Leadership Courses in Law Schools Can Satisfy ABA Standard 303
Just Look Up!
By Professor Kathleen Elliott Vinson “Just look up” was the grass-roots campaign of two astronomers in the Netflix movie, Don’t Look Up, warning everyone about a comet hurtling toward Earth that would destroy human civilization. They were stunned by society’s disbelief, complacency, self-absorption, and indifference to their warning of an impending apocalyptic danger. The movie… Continue Reading Just Look Up!