Legal Writing Tips

Thurgood Marshall School of Law

Texas Southern University

Volume 1, Issue 19
March 27, 2006

A weekly on-line
newsletter about legal
writing to help law
students develop a
professional legal voice

EDITORS
Aiesha Dennis, 2L
Shalonda Lewter, 3L
BeAtrice McFarland, 3L
Donna Kay Simons, 2L

ADVISOR
Professor
Anthony Palasota

PUBLISHER
Center for Legal
Pedagogy

For more information about

the Center or to make
submissions to Legal Writing
Tips, contact Professor
Palasota in Room 235 of the
law school or by e-mail at
apalas@tsulaw.edu or by
telephone at 713-313-1022.

Legal Writing Tips is a weekly on-line newsletter about legal writing that is
designed to help law students develop a professional legal voice by offering
helpful points about grammar, syntax, rhetoric, punctuation, and style; discussing
research about legal writing; and making information available about legal
writing resources.

Some Helpful Texts for Law Students:

Writing a Legal Memo and Pass the Bar!

Writing a Legal Memo by Professor John Bronsteen

In May 2006, Foundation Press is publishing Writing a Legal Memo by Professor
John Bronsteen, from Loyola University Chicago, School of Law.
Writing a Legal Memo is a concise book that is written to be user friendly. Its
goal is to make it easy for students to learn and remember the basic elements of
writing a good legal memo. Whereas other books aim to be comprehensive in
teaching the many skills a lawyer might need, Writing a Legal Memo focuses only
on one type of assignment that many students and lawyers are given: "Find the
answer to this particular legal question, and write a memo explaining that
answer."
Published in paperback, Writing a Legal Memo walks the reader through each
step of completing such an assignment by giving highly specific instructions and
explanations. The book takes the mystery out of memo writing and can be used as
a reference by students and practicing lawyers. The book does what it teaches
students to do in their writing, i.e., makes it easy for the reader to understand and
implement the author's suggestions.
A graduate of Harvard (A.B.) and Yale (J.D.), Professor John Bronsteen clerked
for the Hon. Douglas Ginsberg in D.C. during 2001-2002. Afterwards, Professor
Bronsteen was a Bigelow Fellow at the University of Chicago from 2003-2005.
Since 2005, Professor Bronsteen has taught at Loyola University Chicago, School
of Law, where he teaches Class Actions, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and
Evidence.

Legal Writing Tips

Thurgood Marshall School of Law
Texas Southern University

Pass the Bar! by Professor Riebe and Professor Schwartz

Professor Denise Riebe from Duke University School of Law and Professor Michael Schwartz
from Western State University College of Law have written a timely book Pass the Bar! in
order to help students prepare for the bar.
Riebe and Schwartz wrote their book because [t]he bar exam is firmly entrenched as the
gateway to the legal profession despite criticisms and proposals for alternatives, the bar
exam is a reality our students must face to become licensed professionals. During the past
couple of decades, there has been a trend of increasing the scores required to pass bar exams
and a resulting decrease in bar passage rates. The impact on our students is substantial: career
opportunities, financial stability, a sense of professional achievement, and personal well being
are all at stake.
Published by Carolina Press, Pass the Bar! has been specially designed to help students achieve
bar exam success. Riebe and Schwartz believe that most bar exam failures are preventable and
the result of curable problems (such as insufficient planning, inappropriate study strategies,
insufficient persistence, and insufficient practice and feedback) rather than lack of ability.
Pass the Bar! is intended to help students understand the bar review and bar exam processes,

develop realistic expectations, and create individualized plans for success. The book provides
many checklists, exercises, studying tips, and practice questions and answers. In doing so,
Pass the Bar! reduces what might otherwise be an overwhelming sea of information into userfriendly knowledge and advice.
Pass the Bar! is written in a student-friendly, straightforward, and practical manner so that it
is equally valuable as a self-instructional guide and a small-group resource.
Professor Denise Riebe from Duke University School of Law is a graduate of Wake Forrest.
She teaches Legal Writing, Appellate Practice, and Mediation. Professor Michael Schwartz
from Western State University College of Law is a graduate of Berkeley and California
Hastings. He teaches Contracts, Insurance Law, and Remedies.

Your thoughts about these writing tips are welcomed. Please feel free to respond by email to
the editors by sending an email to Professor Palasota: apalas@tsulaw.edu