Law School Hosts Regional Writing Conference

attachment.ashx (29)This weekend, from Friday evening through Saturday, the Law School hosted the Central Region Legal Writing Conference, welcoming more than 100 attendees, not only from the central United States but from all over the country.  The theme was “Climate Change:  Alternative Sources of Energy in Legal Writing,” and those who attended seemed energized by the interesting speakers and lively discussion among faculty who teach research and writing skills.

Professor Alison Julien took the lead in organizing this conference, and several participants (including Mark Wojcik at the Legal Writing Prof Blog) remarked upon how well the event was organized and run.  The biggest testament to its success, I think, is that conference participants have encouraged Marquette to serve as the host school again.

The conference featured a diverse range of interesting topics, and though I was unable to attend every session, the six I attended are representative:  Collaboration in Teaching and Scholarship; Update on Interdisciplinary Skills Scholarship (presented by our visiting Boden Professor of Legal Writing, Michael Smith); The Six Things You Can Do in a Contract; Assigning Clients in Persuasive Writing Assignments; Using Literature to Teach Theme Development in Persuasive Writing, and How to Identify and Counter Logical Fallacies (presented by Prof. Melissa Greipp).  The sessions were informative and thought-provoking, and I left the conference thinking of ways I can improve my teaching and engage in scholarship.

Many thanks to everyone who made the event a success, including, especially, Dean Kearney, Prof. Julien, Sharon Hill, Beverly Franklin, Carol Dufek, and many student volunteers.

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Questions of Professionalism

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I’ve been thinking about professionalism lately.  Two discussions in the past week or so have stuck with me.

The first discussion appeared in the Law Librarian Blog (thank you, Professor O’Brien, for forwarding it.)  In Florida, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Presnell issued an order denying a plaintiff’s motion for voluntary dismissal for

Failing to comply with Local Rule 3.01(g), for failing to secure a stipulation of dismissal from Defendant pursuant to FED. R. CIV. 41 (a)(ii), and for otherwise being riddled with unprofessional grammatical and typographical errors that nearly render the entire Motion incomprehensible.

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It’s National Punctuation Day

SemicolonToday is National Punctuation Day.  Yes, there really is such a day (it’s the sixth annual one, actually), and grammar geeks like me are celebrating.  There’s even a national baking contest where contestants are supposed to bake something in the shape of a punctuation mark.

Lynne Truss, the author of the best-selling book Eats, Shoots & Leaves:  The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, says that “[P]unctuation is a courtesy designed to help readers understand a story without stumbling.”  It’s a courtesy that applies not only to stories, of course, but to any written product – letters, articles, memos, briefs, and emails.  Punctuation clarifies the writer’s meaning.  Take these seven words:  A woman without her man is nothing.  There are two very different readings of this sentence, depending on how it is punctuated.  It could be:  A woman, without her man, is nothing.  Or it could be:  A woman:  without her, man is nothing.  What a difference punctuation makes!

What’s your favorite punctuation mark?

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