Legal Writing & Analysis

4.5 units

This skills course introduces students to a variety of concepts related to the practice of law, including: gathering information and working with clients; researching and finding answers to legal questions by locating, reviewing, and synthesizing pertinent authority; performing a predictive legal analysis by employing analogical reasoning techniques; providing effective advice in a structured piece of professional legal writing; negotiating a settlement of a dispute with opposing counsel; working with legal forms and transactional documents; and performing a thorough critique of a third party's legal writing. Students will learn these concepts through a combination of live and asynchronous coursework, and students will also learn how to locate, update, and evaluate varied sources of law through complementary exercises in a major legal research platform. In addition to responding to written prompts in the asynchronous lecture series, students will complete four major assignments in the course: the aforementioned research module; a predictive research memorandum; a transactional document (settlement agreement); and a group presentation of a legal writing critique. The class will be graded on a modified pass/fail basis: HP (3.94), P, LP (2.98), F (2.50).