Judicial Decisionmaking

2 Credit Hours

This seminar is designed for students who are planning on clerking after law school and for those interested in studying judicial decisionmaking and opinion-writing. During this intensive Intersession course, we will begin by discussing the theoretical underpinnings of judicial decisionmaking: (1) the impact of judicial philosophy; (2) judicial activism vs. judicial restraint; (3) ethical issues in judging; and (4) judicial temperament. We will then turn to the role of the clerk and the art and craft of opinion writing. Finally, we will examine how judges cultivate their unique voice and style. A panel of former clerks, and perhaps a panel of sitting judges, will round out the experience. This course will yield three important and practical writing projects. First, the students will prepare a bench memorandum for a pending case in the Federal Appellate Clinic. Second, after mooting the Clinic students in their cases (at a mutually agreed time during the semester separate from the Intersession classes), the seminar students will conference as a panel of judges and draft an opinion deciding the case. Finally, one important focus of the course is to actively study a particular judge with an eye towards identifying that judge's decisionmaking approach and writing style, topics that will prepare students for an upcoming clerkship. Students will write a final paper-due by the end of finals-that analyzes a particular judge's judicial philosophy, writing style and other important aspects of the judge's practice. Ideally, the student would study the judge for whom the student will be clerking, but if a student has not yet secured a clerkship or is not intending to clerk, a student may choose any judge. Students will be evaluated based on their preparation for the intensive Intersession courses, their class participation, their role in mooting and conferencing the clinic course, and based on the three written assignments. Students earn 2.0 credits, and this course does not fulfill any upper-level writing requirements.