Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2004
Abstract
In this Article, Professor Beazley proposes that a Legal Writing revolution is the next revolution in legal education, and that the revolution is not just coming, it has begun. She offers first steps for law school faculty to take in furtherance of this revolution. Professor Beazley argues that the pioneers of this new revolution are Legal Writing faculty. Section I of this Article examines some ways that the law school culture that segregates Legal Writing faculty has both promoted their opportunities to develop innovative pedagogies and inhibited their ability to share those pedagogies with other faculty. Section II explains certain aspects of cognitive apprenticeship theory, and of composition and writing process theory, that are relevant to the casebook classroom. Section III identifies teaching methods that Legal Writing faculty have used to teach students how to think like lawyers by exploring and exposing the thinking behind the decisions of both legal writers and legal readers. Section IV identifies certain teaching methods that exploit the educational benefits supported by these theories and that may be particularly well-suited to adaptation by casebook professors with minimal expenditures of time. Revolutions often begin with small steps, and small steps sometimes lead to giant strides.
Publication Citation
10 Legal Writing 23 (2004).
Recommended Citation
Beazley, Mary Beth, "Better Writing, Better Thinking: Using Legal Writing Pedagogy in the "Casebook" Classroom (Without Grading Papers)" (2004). Scholarly Works. 1070.
https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/facpub/1070