Professor Edwards Speaks to the Marquette Legal Writing Society

Yesterday, Professor Linda Edwards, the Robert F. Boden Visiting Professor of Law, spoke to the Marquette Legal Writing Society about her work and interest in legal writing.

This semester Professor Edwards is teaching a course on the great briefs.  Each week students study a brief to determine what made the brief successful—what made it sing, as she said.  Among her favorite briefs are the petitioner’s briefs in Miranda v. Arizona and in Bowers v. Hardwick.  Professor Edwards recommended reading and studying good briefs as a way for an advocate to advance his or her own persuasive writing. Aside from the briefs she mentions in her book Readings in Persuasion: Briefs that Changed the World, she recommended reading anything written by the Solicitor General’s office and anything written by any of the Supreme Court justices as examples of great legal writing.

Professor Edwards also noted that really good briefs speak to the reader and that a legal writer’s own voice should come through the brief.  While structure is important, she said, formulaic writing of briefs is not effective.  She cautioned against doggedly following a set of received “rules” rather than crafting a document for a particular reader or situation.  Good legal writing doesn’t have to sound lifeless or mechanical, she said.

The mission of the Marquette Legal Writing Society is to foster discussion about legal writing.  Elizabeth Oestreich is the president of this year’s organization.

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New Marquette Law School Poll Puts Enthusiasm of Voters in Spotlight

How important is enthusiasm among voters in determining the outcome of an election? Very, and the closer the election, the more important enthusiasm usually is because it indicates who will actually turn out to vote.

So how important are the “enthusiasm” results in the Marquette Law School Poll released Wednesday? That remains to be seen, starting with keeping an eye on the remaining rounds of polls that will be released before the Nov. 4 election.

But it is a sure bet that people working in the campaigns of Republican Gov. Scott Walker and his Democratic challenger, Mary Burke, are paying close attention to the new results. While the poll showed that the race for governor remains essentially tied, there was an uptick in how enthusiastic Walker supporters are and in the percentage of people who identified themselves as Republicans.

Overall, the poll found that Walker and Burke are tied at 46% each among registered voters. Among those considered likely voters (people who said they are registered and are certain to vote), Walker was supported by 49% and Burke 46%. In both cases, the outcomes were within the poll’s margins of error.

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Congratulations to AWL Scholarship Winners Cavey and LaFond

lafondPhotographerOn Tuesday, September 16, 2014, the Milwaukee Association for Women Lawyers (AWL) Foundation honored two Marquette University Law School students with scholarships.

Britteny LaFond, 3L (pictured at left), received the AWL Foundation scholarship. The AWL Foundation Scholarship is awarded to a woman who has exhibited service to others, diversity, compelling financial need, academic achievement, unique life experiences (such as overcoming obstacles to attend or continue law school), and advancement of women in the profession. LaFond grew up in a small Wisconsin town, never, in her words, seeing firsthand some of the difficulties that people face, like poverty and homelessness. Since being in law school, LaFond has spent many hours volunteeringat: the Milwaukee Justice Center’s Family Forms Assistance Clinic, the Domestic Violence Injunction Project, and the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic. LaFond completed a judicial internship with Judge Pocan in Milwaukee County and an internship with the Legal Aid Society (Guardian ad Litem division). She is also presently interning at the state public defender’s office with a year-long clinical placement. LaFond is an auction chair for the Public Interest Law Society, a member of the Pro Bono Society, as well as secretary of the Criminal Law Society.

Kelly Cavey (pictured at right) received the AWL Foundation’s Virginia A. Pomeroy scholarship. This scholarship honors the late Virginia A. Pomeroy, a former deputy state public defender and a past president of AWL. In addition to meeting the same criteria as for the AWL Foundation scholarship, the winner of this scholarship must also exhibit what the AWL Foundation calls “a special emphasis, through experience, employment, class work or clinical programs” in one of several particular areas: appellate practice, civil rights law, public interest law, public policy, public service, or service to the vulnerable or disadvantaged. Cavey, a part-time student now in her final year of law school, was for five years a juvenile corrections officer. She now works full-time with the state public defender’s office as support staff while she is finishing her law school. She is a member of the Marquette Law Review, the Pro Bono Society, AWL, and has often made the Dean’s List. Cavey was an intern at the U.S. Department of Justice this past summer (2014) and an intern with the U.S. Navy JAG Corps during the summer of 2012.

Congratulations to both women for outstanding service and for their representation of Marquette University Law School.

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