Marquette Law School – Page 113 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

New Marquette Lawyer Magazine Looks At Evolution of Important Issues

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:October 7, 2014
Post category:Marquette Law School Public Speakers at Marquette

fall-2014-cover How did we get where we are today? Consider that a central question underlying many of the stories in the Fall 2014 Marquette Lawyer magazine, being mailed this week and now available online.

As Wisconsin’s heated election for governor heads to a conclusion Nov. 4, the cover story of the new magazine provides both rich detail and thoughtful perspective on how Wisconsin, especially the Milwaukee area, became so politically polarized. Craig Gilbert, the Washington Bureau chief of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, spent much of the 2013-14 academic as Marquette Law School’s Sheldon B. Lubar Fellow for Public Policy Research. Gilbert worked closely with Charles Franklin, the Law School’s Professor of Law and Public Policy and director of the Marquette Law School Poll, in developing insightful data that show the changes. Gilbert calls southeastern Wisconsin “the most polarized part of a polarized state in a polarized nation.” Six experts provide perspective on what Gilbert’s findings mean in essays that accompany the piece. You may read it all by clicking here.

Dealing with Law School Stress

Post author:Lisa A. Mazzie
Post published:October 3, 2014
Post category:Legal Education Marquette Law School Public

9e5f2e74ad783851eeb0312f24f2c7d5 It’s a gray, rainy fall-like Friday. The fall is a wonderful season, especially in Wisconsin. But the fall, for law students, brings with it some added stressors: negotiating the fall interview season for 2Ls, keeping up with the increased workload in classes, squeezing in pro bono hours, writing appellate briefs or memos, all while trying to still have a life outside of law school. These stressors can feel overwhelming, especially to the 1Ls who are, as of yet, unfamiliar with the full rhythm of law school.

Some of these stressors are unavoidable. But others can we manage. Or at least we can adjust our expectations so that our responses to those stressors are healthier. See here for law school’s common stressors and how to manage them.

Professor Edwards Speaks to the Marquette Legal Writing Society

Post author:Melissa Love Koenig
Post published:September 18, 2014
Post category:Legal Practice Legal Writing Marquette Law School Public

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.