UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO SCHOOL OF LAW

The University of Colorado School of Law provides a strong legal writing experience, in which students do extensive writing and rewriting under the direction of excellent faculty who provide comprehensive feedback and extensive one-on-one guidance. First-year students take two credit hours of Legal Writing during the fall semester, and two credit hours of Appellate Court Advocacy during the spring semester. Each course is graded, and meets twice each week. The student/faculty ratio is about 1/40, with each faculty member teaching two sections of about twenty students each. Legal Writing teaches predictive analysis and writing. In addition to other, shorter assignments, students prepare at least one closed-universe memorandum and one open-universe research memorandum, each of which is substantially rewritten after the professor provides extensive feedback and meets with each student. Appellate Court Advocacy teaches persuasive analysis and writing. Students work on a single problem for the semester, and prepare a trial court brief and an appellate brief, which is an extended rewrite of the trial brief. The spring semester closes with each student performing an appellate oral argument before a panel consisting of the professor and two practitioners. Research teaching is integrated into the course each semester, and is taught by law library faculty members, each of whom holds both juris doctor and library degrees. The legal writing faculty provides ample individual guidance for each student, with mandatory and optional conferences during both the fall and spring semesters. We make the most of our four-credit-hour requirement, and our students realize fine progress during the year. After the first year, students must take a seminar that requires a scholarly paper, and may take upper-level writing courses and clinics. Upper-level doctrinal courses may also require writing projects at the option of the professor.

The legal writing program is co-directed by legal writing professionals, employed on renewable three-year contracts. The co-directors set the curriculum’s essential content, but the program is collaborative, and each professor has substantial freedom to teach his or her course. Including the co-directors, there are four legal writing faculty members, each of whom teaches full time, and holds the title “Legal Writing Professor.” Each is hired initially on a one-year contract, and, if reappointed, then continues on a three-year contract that is indefinitely renewable. The co-directors share one vote in faculty meetings on all matters except hiring, promotion, and tenure. All legal writing professors serve and vote on faculty committees. And each receives faculty development funds, research assistants, and is eligible for research stipends just like tenure-track faculty. If they desire, legal writing professors can also design and teach courses and seminars outside the legal writing curriculum, for which they receive extra compensation.

For additional information, please contact Todd M. Stafford, Co-Director, Legal Writing Program, at todd.stafford@colorado.edu.