J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University

The required course component of the Rex E. Lee Advocacy Program at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, covers both the fall and winter semesters of the first year of law school. The first course, "Introduction to Legal Research and Writing," is a three-credit graded course that introduces the tools and techniques that are essential to law practice and legal scholarship: legal analysis, research using print sources (with electronic research introduced mid-semester), and objective writing. During fall semester, all students write three predictive office memoranda based on library research and complete a series of legal research quizzes, and a legal research final exam. Students’ final grades are based on their final memorandum (80%) and their legal research exam (20%). Students submit multiple drafts of each memorandum and receive written comments from both their professor and their teaching assistant. They also have the opportunity to hold individual conferences with their professor and his or her teaching assistants. The winter semester course, "Introduction to Advocacy,” is a two-credit, graded course that introduces the techniques of persuasive writing and oral advocacy via an appellate advocacy assignment and addresses additional research skills, particularly the use of full-text computerized databases (Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis). In the winter semester, the scenario from the fall semester's final research memo reappears and is developed into a trial record for use in briefing and arguing an appeal. Students add new research material to the materials found during fall semester's research, prepare an appellate brief, and have the opportunity to present an appellate oral argument. Throughout both semester students utilize technology designed to enrich their learning experience, including an online video to assist in learning to read cases, online citation tutorials, and electronic edits of written work.

A mix of professors teach the Advocacy Program classes. The program director, Kristin Gerdy, is a full-time faculty member with continuing faculty status (BYU’s version of tenure) and associate professor rank. She is on a twelve-month faculty contract and produces scholarship. Professor Gerdy teaches one full section (both the research and writing components) of 25 students in Introduction to Legal Research and Writing and Introduction to Advocacy. In addition, she teaches an upper-division seminar on Advanced Appellate Advocacy and teaches some of the Advanced Legal Research courses. In addition to publishing several scholarly articles, Professor Gerdy has served as a member of the ALWD Moot Court Committee and a member of the ALWD Board of Directors, and is currently President-Elect of ALWD, Chair of the ALWD/LWI Survey Committee, and a member of the LWI Board of Directors. She has also been active in the American Association of Law Libraries and has presented numerous programs at conferences for all three organizations. Five part-time faculty members teach the writing component of the remaining five sections of Introduction to Legal Research and Writing and Introduction to Advocacy. These part-time professors all maintain active law practices. They are on semester-by-semester contracts that can include summer contracts if needed to complete projects viewed as central to the Advocacy program’s needs. The part-time faculty members do not attend faculty meetings nor do they serve on faculty committees (with the exception of the Legal Writing Committee). Each part-time faculty member teaches a section of 25-27 students each semester. In addition to the teaching legal writing faculty, a part-time legal writing specialist with an extensive English teaching background is employed on a semester-by-semester contract to run the Legal Writing Center. Each member of the legal writing faculty has been involved in the national Legal Writing Institute (LWI), and the Director has been heavily involved in both LWI and the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD). All five of the part-time faculty and the legal writing specialist have attended the biannual conference, and several have presented programs at the conferences. Legal research is taught by three members of the library faculty who work closely with their writing counterpart to insure class materials are synchronized and complementary. Finally, the Advocacy program employs nineteen upper-division teaching assistants who review student papers, meet with students, and provide research assistance when new problems are created. The teaching assistants receive six hours of training at the beginning of fall semester and meet regularly with their supervising professor. They work a maximum of ten hours per week and are compensated at the normal law school student rate.

CONTACT: Kristin Gerdy, (801) 422-9022, gerdyk@lawgate.byu.edu

Website: Course Page for Prof. Gerdy’s course: https://www.law2.byu.edu/Class/Fall/545-04f/L545-04.htm (username: law; password: school)