Scholarly Writing

Most law schools require upper-level students to write a sophisticated legal research paper on a topic of their choice. Students often struggle through the scholarly writing process, from finding a topic to polishing a final paper, and many never fully develop and defend a thesis. The fourth edition of Scholarly Writing: Ideas, Examples, and Execution offers a lifeline to students, guiding them through the process of constructing their legal research papers from start to finish.

With over 30 years combined experience teaching scholarly writing to J.D. and LL.M. students, the authors identify common roadblocks for student writers, and offer advice and techniques for how to successfully overcome these roadblocks. The book's examples span ten areas of law, aiming to reach students with varied interests. Topics include: constitutional law, ethics and technology, patent law, art law, immigration, property rights, arbitration agreements and employment, debt law, juries and verdicts, and government contract law.

Scholarly Writing: Ideas, Examples, and Execution walks students through a five-step process for researching and writing scholarly papers and follows multiple published student papers from idea to final execution to illustrate the principles advocated in the text. This example-based approach sets this book apart from others; the authors not only tell students how to approach their papers, but through annotated excerpts of example papers, they show students how to approach their papers. The book offers new strategies for strengthening a draft paper, including how to use an outline to transition from research to writing. The fourth edition also includes content on generative artificial intelligence.