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Advanced Legal Writing - Employment Agreements and Disputes
Prof. Lisa H. Healy,
3 credits day; 3 credits evening. In this course, students will learn advanced research skills,
persuasive and objective writing techniques and transactional drafting by following an
employment law case through a variety of stages. The goal of this course is to provide students
an experience similar to that which they would get working as an in-house employment attorney,
while providing specific instruction to help them improve their research and writing skills.
Students will draft a variety of documents such as employee policies, a non-compete agreement,
demand letters, risk/benefit litigation memos for the client and a litigation-based brief. An
employment attorney who has both in-house and law firm employment law experience will guest
lecture. The course will be taught using lecture, simulations, student collaboration and student
participation. While class participation is not graded on its own, 10% of the student‘s grade is
based on ―Professionalism,‖ which includes the quality of class participation and preparation.
There is no final exam in the class; 85% of the student‘s grade is comprised of three main writing
assignments. The class may differ from other advanced legal writing classes in that it uses the
employment law context to focus on both litigation-based and non-litigation document drafting,
and that it will have significant input from an employment attorney who currently works full
time as in-house employment counsel for a major Massachusetts-based company.
In this course, students will learn advanced legal research skills, persuasive and objective writing
techniques and transactional drafting by following an employment law case through a variety of
stages. Students will draft a variety of documents such as employee policies, a non-compete
agreement, demand letters, risk/benefit litigation memos for the client and a litigation-based
brief. An employment attorney who has both in-house and law firm employment law experience
will guest lecture. The goal of this course is to provide students an experience similar to that
which they would get working as an in-house employment attorney, while providing specific
instruction to help them improve their research and writing skills. STANDARDS FOR
ADVANCED LEGAL WRITING COURSES The faculty has voted to encourage all students to
take an advanced legal writing course during their upper-class years at the Law School.
Advanced legal writing courses are courses that meet the standards set forth below. Ordinarily,
an advanced legal writing course will satisfy the Upper Level Skills Requirement. See Law
Suffolk University Law School website, www.law.suffolk.edu/academic/jd/skills/cfm. If so
designated, it may also be used to meet the Upper Level Legal Writing Requirement. See Law
School Academic Rules and Regulations 2H. 1. Advanced legal writing courses include a
significant writing component. This will include at least three practice-oriented writing
assignments--such as a legal memo or brief, writing exercises, a draft of a transactional
document, or an opinion letter based on an analysis of appropriate legal materials such as cases
and statutes. 2. The three writing assignments will total at least fifteen pages of written work or
twenty pages if the course is designated as one that can be used to meet the Upper Level Legal
Writing Requirement. The written work shall be completed independently by each student in the
course. 3. Students will receive extensive written feedback, on each major writing assignment,
covering the substance, analysis, and writing issues reflected in the student‘s work. 4. Students
will receive the opportunity to re-write one of the assignments, which may increase their final
grade for the entire assignment. 5. The professor will have an individual writing conference with
each student on at least one of the three writing assignments. 6. The professor will discuss a