Program Information
High Quality Feedback
Fusion of Writing and Oral Skills
A Continuing Partnership with Practice
High Quality Feedback
Students submit approximately ten writing assignments each semester. These vary in length and difficulty, and students receive feedback such as oral critiques, peer edits, in-class workshops, and extensive review by LP faculty. Early assignments carry less weight so students can learn by experimenting, and receive feedback on their analysis that is focused on improving the work product.
After students have participated in several low pressure/high value assignments and reviews, they prepare both initial and revised versions of major assignments. To help with revisions, LP professors provide comments on content, organization, style and mechanics. Each major assignment also includes an overall assessment so students can gain perspective on their work and prioritize what they can do to improve.
The program incorporates at least two individual or small group conferences each semester, both before assignments are due and between revisions when students are focused on putting the critique to immediate use.
Oral communication is often as critical to an attorney’s practice as written communication. Each semester, LP students are provided with opportunities to discuss and present their analysis orally, including:
- A one-on-one oral report to an experienced practitioner
- A practice oral argument
- A final oral argument before a panel of practicing attorneys and judges in the courtrooms of the Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals, the Colorado Supreme Court, and the Colorado Court of Appeals.
Fusion of Writing and Oral Skills
The timing of most oral assignments in LP is unique; the initial oral assignment takes place between an original writing assignment and the rewrite. Because of this timing, the LP oral assignments not only serve to hone students’ oral skills, they also assist in sharpening students’ legal analysis. The exercise of preparing for questions and orally discussing their reasoning deepens students’ understanding of the assignment and enriches the quality of their revisions.
A Continuing Partnership with the Practice
DU Sturm College of Law has a tradition of working hand-in-hand with judges and practicing attorneys who provide a continuous connection to the real-world practice of law that students are preparing to join. The law school was once housed above Mapelli’s Meat Market in Civic Center, just steps away from Colorado’s capital dome, downtown Denver law firms, and federal and state courtrooms. The synergy created by the law school’s proximity to local government, law firms, and the courts fueled innovation in DU Sturm College of Law’s teaching programs. DU Sturm College of Law founded the first student law clinic in the country over 100 years ago, and the LP Program continues that spirit of innovation.
- Practitioners
For over thirty years, practitioners have worked directly with LP classes as “Senior Partners” in a law firm model. These practitioners provide concrete advice to students about skills and ethical concerns as well as about legal research and legal writing.
- Mentors
One of the most recent LP innovations is the introduction of a mentoring model. Instead of having one practitioner per class, LP is now moving toward a formally structured program of one practitioner (attorney or judge) per student. In the 2007-2008 academic year, a pilot program provided mentors for half of the first-year students, moving toward the goal of providing a mentor for all entering law students.
- Judges
Sitting judges also participate actively in the LP program, providing an integral link between the skills training that students receive and the work of the most prominent figures in the legal community who will evaluate the quality of those skills in the students’ practices. Judges who volunteer to work with LP students hail from almost every type of court.
- Judges’ Day
Judges’ Day honors members of the judiciary from across the Rocky Mountain region and provides students with the opportunity to interact with judges at the law school. Each year since 2000, over 50 judges from the federal, state, and local courts have participated in the LP Program as lecturers, student argument judges, and participants in Judges’ Day.
The first event each Judges’ Day is a luncheon bringing together small groups of students with federal and state court judges. Next, judges present a program for students and practitioners providing a judge’s perspective on what makes briefs and oral arguments most effective. Then, a panel of the judges’ clerks share insights about working for the courts. Judges’ Day culminates with oral arguments in a pending appeal before appellate judges, and a reception honoring the judiciary that includes a presentation of student writing awards and recognition of long-time LP Program volunteers.
Rich Resources
Students have school-wide resources beyond the LP professors, upper-class teaching assistants, practitioners, and librarians that are the mainstay of LP courses. The Legal Writing Clinic and the Academic Achievement Program are also fundamental to the success of students in the LP Program.
The Lawyering Process Program hosted the 2007 Association of Legal Writing Directors Conference at the Sturm College of Law (June 14-16, 2007).