Legal Analysis,
Writing, and Research

The Legal, Analysis, Writing, & Research (LAWR) Program is a skills-based innovative program that focuses on the fundamental skills required of all lawyers: researching the law, analyzing legal and factual situations, and communicating that information clearly and concisely.  Students learn these fundamental skills as they play the part of a lawyer working on behalf of a client.

In the LAWR program, students complete a three-semester curriculum, which includes a year-long first-year program, and an additional semester in the students’ second year. Students benefit from small class sizes and intensive and personalized feedback from the full-time experienced LAWR faculty.

First-Year Program (LAWR I and LAWR II)

The first-year curriculum provides a strong foundation in legal analysis, legal research skills,  and in writing clearly and concisely. The first semester focuses on analyzing client matters for a supervisor, and the second semester focuses on representing a client in appellate court, both in the form of a court brief and oral advocacy. Throughout the first-year curriculum, students will be taught the following skills:

• legal analysis and reasoning, including how to synthesize case law
• legal research of cases and statutes
• effective written and oral communication, including
• client interviewing skills
• communicating research results to a supervisor
• self-assessment of one’s own work
• proper attribution of external information

First Semester (LAWR I – 3 credits)

In the first semester, students are introduced to legal analysis, researching the law, and communicating that analysis objectively. Students are taught how to spot legal issues and apply them in several different hypothetical client situations.  Students communicate the information in the form of one or more office memoranda to a supervising attorney. Students receive individualized written and oral feedback from their professors and meet with their professors during the semester for additional one-on-one feedback. In addition, students have the benefit of working with LAWR Teaching Assistants, exceptional upper-level students who have successfully completed the first-year program.

Second Semester (LAWR II – 2 credits)

In the second semester, students continue to build on the skills that they have learned in the first semester, and shift from objective to persuasive writing as they represent a client in an appellate court. Students are again given individualized feedback from their professors and write an appellate brief. The second semester culminates in the 1L oral argument competition.

Second-Year Program (LAWR III – 2 credits)

The second-year program gives students the opportunity to further develop their analytical, writing, and research skills, as well as learn the practical and professional skills that are critical for the practicing lawyer.  During this semester, students represent a client in trial court and obtain the experience of:

• interviewing a client
• drafting essential trial documents, such as a complaint and an answer
• obtaining facts through the process of discovery, including drafting discovery documents and conducting a live deposition with a certified court reporter
• researching and drafting a trial brief
• presenting oral argument