Columbia Law School From the SelectedWorks of Hon. Gerald Lebovits Spring 2017 A Primer for 1st-Year Legal-Writing Adjuncts Gerald Lebovits Available at: https://works.bepress.com/gerald_lebovits/309/ Vol. 25 | No. 2 | Spring 2017 In This Issue 94 Clear the Way to Better Writing: Conferencing a Problematic Draft Emily Carter explains how she uses conferences to work with students in the lowest quartile of their writing sections to improve what she identifies as their problematic drafts of writing assignments. 97 A Quick Word About Technology Competence: Implementing a Microsoft Word Training Program Brian Detweiler discusses the development of the University at Buffalo School of Law’s training program initially designed to ensure all 1Ls enter their legal writing classes with the skills to format their assignments correctly. It has since expanded to include instructional videos and practice-related training. 101 The Care and Feeding of Law Student Research Assistants Alyssa Dragnich and Rachel Smith provide some common sense advice concerning the hiring, training, managing, and mentoring of legal research and writing research assistants. 107 Core Values in the Classroom: Preparing Students for the Emotional Challenges of Lawyering Tracy Turner highlights the movement toward incorporating core values into higher education and the potential for core values to increase student self-efficacy and resilience, and describes how she has integrated core values into her course. 114 Thinking on Your Feet: Reflections of a First-Time Online Instructor Ashley Ahlbrand discusses converting a face-to-face legal research course into an asynchronous online format for law students working during the summer. 124 Wresting Pedagogical Victory from the Jaws of Student Defeat: Walker v. Harvard College as an Object Lesson Almas Khan uses a plagiarism incident at Harvard Law School as a cautionary tale, and a multi-faceted pedagogical tool for professors to teach pragmatic and ethical considerations in law school and legal practice, case briefing techniques, legal argument paradigms, procedural issues, and persuasive strategies. 133 Surviving Your 1L Year (Again): A Primer for First-Year Legal-Writing Adjuncts New York State Supreme Court Justice, Professor of Law, and prolific scholar Judge Gerald Lebovits provides his advice, insight, and observations based on years of classroom experience to anyone contemplating a position as an Adjunct Professor of Legal Research and Writing. It is sure to become the definitive work on the subject. 164 Poster: Scholarly, Meet Practice: Developing Sustainable Legal Research Skills Jan Bissett and Beth Applebaum share their poster illustrating credible and affordable legal resources commonly used in both academia and Michigan practice. They emphasize resources that transition from law school to law practice, facilitating the development of sustainable legal research skills. 165 Poster: Research Preferences of Law Students: Print vs. e-Book Mandy Lee and Stacia Stein share their poster indicating University of Illinois College of Law students’ format preferences when conducting legal research. The poster reports data gathered in a study conducted during Spring Semester 2016. Micro Essays: Read some of the most thought-provoking submissions from your colleagues inspired by the prompt “Curriculum Gaps: What topics or skills aren’t being taught but should be? Ideally, who would teach them and when?” 96 Jan Baker 106 Wayne Schiess 113 Ulysses Jaen 123 Michael Pinsof 163 Casandra Laskowski Published by Thomson Reuters as a service to the 92 93 Legal Community. The Board Patrick J. Charles Gonzaga University School of Law Spokane, WA Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Elizabeth A. Edinger, Co-Editor Writing is published in the fall and spring Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law of each year by Thomson Reuters. Washington, D.C. James B. Levy Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL Why Write for Perspectives? In This Issue Kathryn S. Mercer Perspectives is for anyone who teaches legal research or Case Western Reserve University School of Law legal writing—in law schools, libraries, courts, and law Cleveland, Ohio offices. Perspectives articles are short, readable, and explore Suzanne Rowe University of Oregon a broad array of teaching theories, techniques, and tools. Eugene, Oregon The idea can be large or small but if it provides a fresh Helene S. Shapo and creative way to teach or learn about legal research Northwestern University School of Law or legal writing skills, Perspectives editors would like to Chicago, Illinois publish it. Writing for Perspectives allows you to add to Craig T. Smith your resume and get published quickly while reaching the UNC School of Law Chapel Hill, North Carolina people who share your passion for this area of the law. Amy R. Stein Perspectives appears twice yearly. Articles are typically Hofstra University between 1,500 to 7,000 words, lightly footnoted, Hempstead, NY and highly readable. They may focus on curricular Helen M. Walker Burr & Forman LLP design, goals, teaching methods, assessments, etc. Birmingham, AL Author Guidelines Jackie Woodside, Co-Editor UC Irvine School of Law Irvine, California New in this Volume, and Another Micro Essay Challenge for v. 26! In 100 words or less, we want to hear what you (and your students, law clerks, or attorneys) have to say about our next micro essay prompt: Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Editors, the @ “Best Database?: What is your deserted Editorial Board, or Thomson Reuters. island database, legal or nonlegal?” Authors are encouraged to submit brief articles on subjects relevant to the teaching of legal research and Be honest; be creative; let these words provoke or inspire writing. The Perspectives Author’s Guide and you! Don't hold back - we will publish essays anonymously Style Sheet are posted at http://info.legalsolutions. thomsonreuters.com/signup/newsletters/perspectives/ if you ask! The best selections will appear in our Fall issue, perstyle.aspx. Manuscripts, comments, and and submissions are welcome through October 1. correspondence should be sent to: Elizabeth Edinger, Director of the Law Library and Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Catholic University of America Law Library, 3600 John McCormack Rd., N.E., Washington, DC 20064. Email: [email protected] http://info.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/ signup/newsletters/9.aspx Published by Thomson Reuters as a service to the Legal Community. 92 93 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing | Vol. 25 | No. 2 | Spring 2017 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing | Vol. 25 | No. 2 | Spring 2017 132 133 Cite as: Hon. Gerald Lebovits, Surviving Your 1L Year (Again): A Primer for First-Year Legal-Writing Adjuncts, 25 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Res. & Writing 133 (2017). Surviving Your 1L Year (Again): A Primer for First-Year Legal-Writing Adjuncts By Hon. Gerald Lebovits And first-year legal-writing students are the Justice Lebovits is an Acting Justice, New York State roughest and most rewarding crowd in law 4 Supreme Court, New York County, and Adjunct school. Especially for adjunct professors. Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, Fordham To rephrase the old saying, those who teach University School of Law, and New York University can’t do, and those who teach teachers can’t School of Law in New York, N.Y. teach. Nonetheless, this article—from someone who violates his own recommendations too I. Introduction often—is designed to teach teachers: prospective, Legal writing is the hardest and most new, and experienced first-year legal-writing important legal art and skill to master.1 First- adjuncts5—lawyers who both do6 and teach.7 year legal writing is the toughest and most critical law-school course to teach2 or take.3 in our legal writing classes, although typically bright and hard-working, struggle to effectively grasp the fundamental skills of legal analysis and legal writing. This struggle manifests itself especially clearly during the a Justice Lebovits thanks his law clerk, Alexandra Standish, first few weeks of legal writing instruction and often leads to a high and his judicial fellow, Danielle Ravich, for their research help and frustration level that tends to persist throughout the first year of legal Prof. James B. Levy for encouraging him to write this article. He writing (and indeed may never be overcome).”). also thanks his writing-program supervisors, present and past: Susan Chung, Philip M. Genty, I. Cathy Glaser, Mary Holland, Toni 4 Many law schools have one honorific for all adjuncts: adjunct Jaeger-Fine, Jethro K. Lieberman, Robert A. Ruescher, Ellen Ryerson, professor of law. Other schools have different ones: adjunct instructor, Andrew J. Simons, Ilene Strauss, and Rachel Vorspan. adjunct lecturer, adjunct assistant professor, adjunct associate professor, adjunct professor, distinguished adjunct professor, and adjunct 1 See, e.g., George D. Gopen, The State of Legal Writing: professor emeritus. Res Ipsa Loquitur, 86 Mich. L. Rev. 333 (1987); Ilhyung Lee, The Rookie Season, 39 Santa Clara L. Rev. 473, 478-79 (1999) (“For 5 According to 2015 statistics (the most current available) from the a beginning law student, few things could be more important than Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) and the Legal Writing mastering the tasks of identifying the precise legal issue, ascertaining Institute (LWI) Survey Committee, which compiled