Arizona State University College of Law

Arizona State University’s Writing Program benefits from both a strong writing faculty and a solid curriculum. In terms of faculty:

· The faculty are eligible for full job protection beyond 405(c)(3) status and consists of seven academic professional full-time legal writing professors, including:
o a director who has been awarded this tenure equivalent (currently on sabbatical for the academic year) who has been at ASU 7 years,
o four other faculty, all on track, who have been at ASU 3-4 years, and
o two visitors (one to cover the sabbatical and one to cover an unexpectedly large class; visitors are not yet on track)
· All writing professors (other than visitors) serve on and/or chair committees and vote on all matters other than hiring and promotion of doctrinal faculty
· All writing professors have substantial law practice experience
· All writing professors have publications, many on legal writing topics; most present at conferences; ASU hosted a regional legal writing conference in 2002; writing professors also serve on national legal writing boards
· Writing faculty are eligible for sabbaticals, summer teaching, research grants, and research assistants on the same basis as doctrinal faculty
· Student teacher ratios average between 35:1 and 40:1, with classroom ratios of 20:1 or less in the first semester

In terms of curriculum:

· ASU’s program requires two semesters, which include:
o Print and computer-assisted research
o objective memos and letters
o persuasive writing
o oral arguments (with the final arguments judged by all five sitting Arizona Supreme Court Justices, at the Supreme Court, last year)
o mandatory conferences
o rewrites on all major assignments
· All required program components and upper-level elective writing courses are taught by full-time writing faculty
· Upper-level offerings include Legal Drafting, Intensive Legal Research and Writing, Advanced Legal Research (taught each semester by the law library’s director and associate director), Advanced Legal Writing, and Appellate Advocacy

For more information, please contact the program’s director, Judy Stinson, at judith.stinson@asu.edu or Kirsten Davis, the Acting Director, at kirsten.davis@asu.edu