The Role of Legal Writing Faculty in an Integrated Curriculum: Reporter's Notes on "the Integration of Theory, Doctrine, and Practice in Legal Education"
Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors, Vol. 1, 2002
5 Pages Posted: 3 Aug 2006
Abstract
This article examines the role that members of the Legal Research and Writing (LRW) faculty should have in an integrated curriculum. Specifically, this article discusses the need for LRW faculty to broaden their pedagogical horizons by teaching more doctrine and theory, and the need of law schools to recognize the value of LRW-related expertise. Teaching advanced legal writing courses and courses outside the LRW curriculum exposes the faculty to new thinking regarding theory and doctrine. By expanding their teaching areas, LRW faculty may also be able to overcome the "us versus them" mentality that has often characterized their real and perceived relationships to colleagues who teach primarily doctrine and theory. Furthermore, members of the LRW faculty are experts in the pedagogy of legal analysis, research and writing and law schools need to give the LRW faculty a corresponding amount of authority regarding the planning and teaching of courses within an integrated curriculum.
Keywords: legal writing, integrated curriculum, writing, faculty, education
JEL Classification: K00
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation