Must-have Aid to Success with Legal Writing

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	• Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, Seminar Papers, and Getting on Law Review Eugene Volokh Foundation Press, 2007 - 323 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Must-have Aid to Success with Legal Writing

Professor Volokh's book has been invaluable to me as a writing guide. Relying on the guidance of this book, another student and I co-wrote a 2nd year independent study paper which received a high grade. Then we used his strategies to submit our work for publication offers--and received multiple offers! Prof. Volokh's tips and pointers are exactly the information no one else seems to teach you--particularly how to strategize sending out your work. Note that even his own writing style serves to inform readers what clear, concise, straightforward writing sounds like. It's not some airy-fairy, heavy treatise on what writing ought to be like with boring exercises--it's a compact, tight book on how to get it done efficiently and excellently. Best book purchase I've made in law school.

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Student Writing and Beyond

My law review assigned as required reading an essay that Professor Volokh later expanded on when he published this book. I benefited greatly by reading the essay as a law student, and I have again benefited by reading the book (first edition) as an attorney publishing in law reviews. The writing advice is superb, but what might get missed are helpful hints on how to publish in law reviews beyond your own, and how to publicize yourself afterward. All in all, it is a fantastic A-Z on how to engage in legal scholarship and make a name in doing so.

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A Must Read

I highly recommend Professor Volokh's new book, Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, and Seminar Papers.

As the title suggests, it focuses primarily on legal writing, especially for aspiring and current law school students. However, anyone who wants to improve his/her writing and critical thinking skills should read this book. The book--which is only 189 pages--abounds in smart advice on how to write better and avoid common errors such as wordiness, unduly harsh criticism, overly technical language, etc.

Speaking as someone who starts law school in a month and a half, I am glad I read this book. It gave me a nice view about what type of writing is expected in law school. And unlike some academic books, it is affordable and highly readable.

Volokh addresses every possible question that a pre-law student could have about academic legal writing--how to choose a topic, how to test its claim or hypothesis, how to research it, how to use evidence (i.e., cases, law review articles, statistics, surveys, etc) correctly, and how even to publish and market your work.

To take one example: Volokh advises that in the process of conducting research always check the original source. In other words, do not simply assume that a secondary source will correctly represent the original article or case. For example, even the most revered Courts (such as the Supreme Court of the United States) sometimes misstate facts, arguments, and holdings in cases.

I can personally attest to the soundness of this advice. I once cited an article by a political science professor of mine in a paper I wrote for him. I relied on a secondary source to summarize his main thesis. When my professor graded the paper, he circled in red ink the citation of his work and wrote, This is not the argument I made. Did you bother to read the article?

Again, this is a great book for anyone considering law school. It should be on every pre-law student's must-read list.

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