WRITING AND RESEARCH
"I Write Good. Why Do I Need To Work On These Skills?"
A lawyer's ability to convey information in a clear and concise manner is an invaluable skill in any field of law. At the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law a teaching imperative is improving the writing and research skills of all law students. This process begins in 1L and continues until the end of your final year. There are many opportunities to improve your own skills as shown below:
LEGAL WRITING ACADEMY
The Legal Writing Academy is dedicated to improving legal writing anywhere. The University of Ottawa Legal Writing Academy integrates practical writing instruction throughout all three years of legal study. Students gain experience with real-life writing demands through credited writing courses within the formal curriculum, module units integrated into first year and upper-year substantive courses, a workshop series open to all students, and peer-mentoring sessions. Academy professors include the founders and experienced lawyers with a passion for writing and writing pedagogy.
Experiential learning drives every component of the Academy. We use real life writing assignments, combined with personalized and frequent feedback and mentoring, and presentations by practitioner-experts. We emphasize student self-reflection, goal setting, and life-long learning strategies.
Our students live the practical experience of thinking like a lawyer, writing with purpose, writing to the audience, and writing precisely and concisely.
www.Pointfirstwriting.com is our interactive online learning resource on specialized legal writing topics.
LEGAL WRITING ACADEMY PORTFOILIO AND LEADERSHIP COURSE
Legal Writing Academy Portfolio and Leadership is a three-credit course for twelve upper year students with excellent writing and interpersonal skills. The course is given in English only and by application only (CML 4113).
Students will produce three high-quality pieces of legal writing to showcase to future employers. Students who demonstrate outstanding writing and interpersonal skills will be eligible to become paid Legal Writing Academy Peer Mentors during the academic year.
DEAN'S RESEARCH AND WRITING FELLOWS
The Dean’s Research and Writing Fellows Program is a unique and challenging opportunity open to top achieving upper year students with keen writing skills and demonstrated leadership abilities. Successful applicants must have excellent research and communication skills and superior academic achievement. Dean’s Fellows work with a lawyer-mentor on an advanced and realistic research problem, and receive intensive writing instruction from program director, Professor Melanie Mallet. Dean’s Fellows learn new, more efficient research skills and produce a high quality written work that showcases their writing skills. Fellows will lead small tutorial sessions of the first year course, Principles of Legal Research, CML 1101.
Students spend class time working on advanced research and writing modules. Students will be evaluated on a series of short assignments which track the progress of their research assignments, and which demonstrate their writing skills. The majority of the students’ marks will be based on their final research memos, assessed on the basis of substantive feedback from their mentors, the depth of research undertaken, and the quality of their writing. Students will receive extensive, diagnostic feedback on their writing in the short assignments leading to the final memo, and on their final memos. Fellows also spend class time preparing to lead legal research tutorials and mentor first year students.
WRITING CAFE
Hosted by the Legal Writing Academy, learn to improve your legal writing skills in an informal environment, in one-on-one or group sessions, Learn how to read cases like an expert or self-edit. Meet with peer mentors to review your previous work and identify strenghts and weaknesses.
Click the "Point First logo" to check out their facebook group to know when events are being hosted.
Our primary goals are to:
Expose our members and interested students to areas of law where technology plays a dominant role in its future evolution.
Provide students with resources to prepare them in their pursuit of a career in law with a technology focus
Raise awareness regarding social, ethical or legal violations surrounding the use or control of technology in our modern society, whether it is local, national or global.
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Welcome to the LTSS!
The LTSS is comprised of a community of students with a common interest in law and technology-related issues, such as intellectual property, telecommunications and broadcasting, pharmaceuticals, privacy law, biotechnology and more.
LTSS Membership is open to all full-time and part-time students in any program at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law.