University of San Francisco

The Legal Research, Writing and Analysis Program at the University of San Francisco is one of the most rigorous and demanding in the state of California, if not the country. It is a two-semester, five-credit hour program directed by a tenured, full-time faculty member. The instructors, most of whom teach two sections, have practiced law for several years. The instructors are hired on one-year renewable contracts. The ratio of teacher to students never surpasses 1- 22, and this year (2004-05) is as low as 1-18 in several of the sections. The course is structured on a building-block philosophy and all the instructors teach the same material. The Director and the instructors meet weekly to prepare the upcoming week’s lesson plan. The grading is by letter grade and uses the same scale as that used by the first-year substantive courses.

In the fall semester, the program focuses on teaching legal writing and analysis in an objective setting. Students are required to draft a minimum of eight assignments, ranging in complexity from a simple research and analysis assignment to a complex memorandum of law. All the assignments are fully critiqued by the instructors. Students must meet strict standards and guidelines in drafting their assignments and follow the program’s “court rules” on citation and format. In the spring semester, the emphasis is on research skills and persuasive writing. Students are assigned significantly longer and more sophisticated documents including two complex points and authorities, also known as briefs in support of motions. A recently-hired instructor, who had been on law review at her top-tier school, commented that she wished she had had such a fine writing program at her law school.

Contact: Honigsbergp@usfca.edu
Peter Jan Honigsberg
Professor and Director, LRW&A Program