Writing for Law Journals Professor Ursula Weigold AEP Workshop for 1Ls April 2014 Prepare yourself mentally for the competition. You will be tired and fed up after finals.

The traditional case note Introduction Background Analysis Conclusion

For a strong submission I. Have a clear viewpoint or thesis. II. Organize and explain the law. III. Revise and polish your writing.

I. Have a clear viewpoint A. Decide what you think. B. State your thesis in one sentence. C. Modify it as you write and edit.

A. Decide what you think How do your sources expand, limit, or change the law? Do they further the law’s underlying policies? What impact will this rule have? What problems may arise? Is it good or bad? Ask questions about the sources as your read. This is not a data dump or a summary of sources or even just a synthesis. You have to express a point of view. Yes, there must be a synthesis (putting the sources together to form a larger perspective on a point of law), but you must go further. Convey an opinion or point of view about your note case. Don’t overthink—your thesis doesn’t have to be brilliant or unique.

B. State your thesis in one sentence “This ruling subordinates a Native-American tribe’s compelling interests in its children and culture to the local prejudices of state courts.” “This ruling undervalues the best interests of adoptive children to serve outdated federal policies relating to Native-American tribes.”

C. Modify your thesis as you write and edit Don’t be too wedded to your thesis at first. Use the writing process to clarify your thinking.

II. Organize your discussion Remember the goals of each section. Be mindful of the differences between scholarly writing and practitioner writing

II. Organize your discussion Give a roadmap of your key points in your Introduction and follow it. Use topic sentences where appropriate. Use transitions to link previous points to new ones. There are three ways to make your organization obvious and help the unfamiliar reader: A roadmap is simply a one or two sentence overview of what you will cover. Follow the same order in your main section. The first sentence in many paragraphs should probably have a topic sentence. We absorb new information best if it is linked to what we already know.

II. Explain the law Explain the leading case carefully. Connect it to the law’s context or history. Anticipate and answer questions. Take counter-arguments seriously. Again, think of the unfamiliar reader. What questions would she ask? What would she want to know? Also think of someone taking the opposite position, as you did in your brief writing. How would you answer challenges? You don’t have to use all sources in your packet equally. Some may be more important than others.

II. Examples Sample case notes are posted on the Law Review’s website: http://wisconsinlawreview.org/membership- faq Again, think of the unfamiliar reader. What questions would she ask? What would she want to know? Also think of someone taking the opposite position, as you did in your brief writing. How would you answer challenges? You don’t have to use all sources in your packet equally. Some may be more important than others.

III. Revise and polish Check your substance. Check your organization. Check your writing style. Check your mechanics. Check your citation use and form.

Check your style. Edit surplus words. Keep your sentences short. Keep your sentence structure simple. Use ordinary words. Avoid passives and shortcuts. Wordiness – Be brutal with yourself in every sentence. Is every single word necessary? Sacrifice words, not substance. Short and simple – 2 or 3 lines mostly? Avoid more than one short subordinate or intro clause. It’s easier for you to spot problems with your writing if you write short, relatively simple sentences.

Check your mechanics. Check for typos. Check your grammar. Check your punctuation. Use the Redbook or the Texas Manual on Style. Typos - Spell-checker words; single/plural. Grammar– Watch for subject/pronoun disagreement. Punctuation – Mandatory commas (independent clauses with conjunction; intro clauses, series comma).

Check your cite form. Use the Bluebook’s inside cover for examples. (Use the examples for scholarly writing.) If in doubt, look it up! 1. Avoid your previous errors in LR&W. Common errors – spacing, abbreviations, etc. Read through an entire Bluebook section if you’re not sure about the rule or exceptions (e.g., case name abbreviations). Save more time for citation form than you think you’ll need! Read the Bluebook in advance?

Final advice Divide your project into smaller chunks. Start with something easy. Give yourself permission to write a bad first draft. Keep track of your source pages as you write, to avoid having to re-trace your steps later. Leave enough time for revising and polishing.