The Past, Presence, and Future of Legal Writing Scholarship: Rhetoric, Voice, and Community

Journal of Legal Writing, Vol. 16, p. 521, 2010

UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-13

44 Pages Posted: 3 May 2010 Last revised: 30 Jul 2010

See all articles by Linda L. Berger

Linda L. Berger

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law

Linda H. Edwards

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law

Terrill Pollman

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law

Date Written: April 28, 2010

Abstract

This article welcomes a new generation of legal writing scholars. In the first generation, legal writing professors debated whether they should be engaged in legal scholarship at all. In the second generation, assuming that they should be engaged in scholarship, legal writing professors discerned and defined different genres of and topics for the scholarship in which some or all of us were or should be engaged.

In this article, we map the contours of a third generation of legal writing scholarship -- one that integrates the elements of our professional lives and allows us to engage more effectively with our professional communities, both in legal education and in law practice. The core of such study and practice is rhetoric, and in particular, the rhetorical concept that meaning is constructed out of the interaction of reader and writer, text and context. The study and practice of law as rhetoric is a thread that can run through the fabric of a professional life, weaving together the legal writing professor's work in scholarship, teaching, and professional service.

Suggested Citation

Berger, Linda L. and Edwards, Linda H. and Pollman, Terrill, The Past, Presence, and Future of Legal Writing Scholarship: Rhetoric, Voice, and Community (April 28, 2010). Journal of Legal Writing, Vol. 16, p. 521, 2010, UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-13, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1597134

Linda L. Berger (Contact Author)

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law ( email )

4505 South Maryland Parkway
Box 451003
Las Vegas, NV 89154
United States

Linda H. Edwards

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law ( email )

4505 South Maryland Parkway
Box 451003
Las Vegas, NV 89154
United States

Terrill Pollman

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law ( email )

4505 South Maryland Parkway
Box 451003
Las Vegas, NV 89154
United States

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