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Legal Writing Requirement Policy
Prior to graduation each student must complete a substantial piece of legal writing that
demonstrates both proficiency in writing skills and mastery of the subject matter, known as the
“Legal Writing Requirement.” It is strongly recommended that students complete the Legal
Writing Requirement no later than their next to last semester prior to graduation. To satisfy the
Legal Writing Requirement, students must satisfy the rules, requirements, and procedures listed
below.
1.
General Rules
a)
A paper intended to satisfy the Legal Writing Requirement must be substantial, meaning
a length of at least 20 typewritten pages of double-spaced text (at least 4,000 words, not
counting appendices). If in the judgment of the supervising faculty member, two or more
pieces of written work cumulatively are the equivalent of a substantial piece of legal
writing, they may jointly qualify to satisfy the Legal Writing Requirement.
b)
The student’s research and writing for the paper should reflect the student’s own
individual effort. It should be the student’s
original
work. A writing that is in whole or in
part a product of plagiarism does not meet the standards of this requirement, much less
the rules related to Academic Integrity set out in
Regulation II (F),which should be
reviewed by the student at the outset and which governs the student’s conduct. The
student may not receive any assistance on the paper from anyone, unless the supervising
faculty member has given the student express permission. The paper, or substantially the
same paper, must not have been submitted for credit in any previous course. If in
extraordinary circumstances, a student is authorized to submit the same work, or parts of
the same work, in satisfaction of more than one requirement, written consent of all
persons to whom the work is to be submitted must be obtained in advance and be on file
with the Academic Services Office. To assure compliance with the rules related to
academic integrity, and in order to submit a paper to satisfy the Legal Writing
Requirement, each student should be given a copy of this Legal Writing Requirement and
shall certify before undertaking it that the student has read and understood the Legal
Writing Requirement, including the rules relating to Academic Integrity (Regulation II
(F)).
c)
Each student should use The Bluebook, A Uniform Manual for Citation or its equivalent
for all citations.
d)
The student’s paper must demonstrate proficiency in writing skills and a mastery of the
subject matter. In assessing whether the student has succeeded, the following criteria will
be relevant:
i.
the quality of the student’s research;
ii.
the manner in which the student treated and examined open questions;
iii.
the creativity of the student’s ideas or synthesis of those of others;
iv.
the organization of the paper;