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Courses in Mercer's Legal Writing Curriculum
Research & Writing for a Typical Student
Research & Writing for a Certificate Student
Required Courses
Introduction to Legal Research
This course meets in the early weeks of both the fall and spring semesters. Classes are taught by the professional librarians and cover print and electronic formats used for researching state and federal judicial, administrative, statutory and secondary sources. The course requires completion of weekly assignments and midterm and final examinations.
Legal Writing I
Legal Writing I covers research strategy, legal reasoning, professionalism, and predictive legal writing. The course examines organizational frameworks and the use of authorities to predict the most likely outcome of a legal issue governed by rules containing elements and factors. The course teaches writing as a constructive process and requires completion of at least two major writing assignments and a final examination.
Legal Writing II
Legal Writing II continues coverage of research strategy, legal reasoning, and professionalism, but now in the context of persuasion. The course examines organizational frameworks and the use of authorities to persuade a court to reach a particular answer to a legal question. Students study the standards of appellate review and write at least one appellate brief. Course requirements include completion of at least two major writing assignments and an oral argument.
Advanced Writing Requirement
All students must complete an individually authored work of rigorous intellectual effort under the active and regular supervision of a full-time faculty member. A list of courses that satisfy the Advanced Writing Requirement is available on the Registrar's website.
In their fourth through sixth semesters, in addition to taking a course to satsify the Advanced Writing Requirement, students often take one or more of the following electives:
Advanced Legal Research
The purpose of the course is to develop research skills in both print and electronic legal research resources. The course covers state and federal judicial, legislative and administrative materials as well as the use of finding tools, legal commentary, forms and trial preparation resources. Effective use of computer-assisted legal research is emphasized.
Advanced Litigation Drafting
This course explores technical and strategic issues in the drafting of litigation documents such as briefs, complaints, answers, written discovery, affidavits, discovery schedules, pretrial orders, jury charges, releases and correspondence. It addresses the use and misuse of formbooks, the viability of the “plain English” movement, and the view of good legal writing from the perspective of judges. During the course, students develop their own form file for their future use.
Advanced Persuasive Writing
This course explores principles of persuasion drawn from cognitive psychology, classical rhetoric, literary technique, modern advertising technique, and ethics. The class examines the relationship between these theories and strategies of persuasion and a lawyer’s work as an advocate.
Advanced Transactional Drafting
This course covers issues surrounding the drafting of business-related documents such as wills, contracts, legislation, etc. The course addresses the use and misuse of formbooks and the viability of the “plain English” movement. The course will offer students practical instruction about various areas of a general business practice. At the end of the semester, students will have sample documents to use as templates in the future as well as checklists for drafting additional documents.
Appellate Practice & Procedure
This course covers topics of appellate procedure and the documents that correspond with the stages of an appeal. Reading for the course includes law review articles on topics pertaining to appellate legal writing. Time permitting, the course explores several principles of persuasion from the study of rhetoric, cognitive psychology, and jurisprudence. Students make a presentation, do periodic small writing assignments, and take an examination.
Pretrial Practice
Students examine and use the tools of civil discovery. Working in teams, they plan and implement a discovery program, including interrogatories, document requests, requests for admission, a request for sanctions, objections to discovery requests and the like. They also write a brief and argue one major pretrial motion.
Judicial Field Placement
Students perform research and writing assignments for their judges and are expected to attend hearings, trials, and other proceedings. Each student is expected to keep a contemporaneous journal of the court’s activities and to turn it in at the end of the internship. The journal’s contents should be edited to maintain confidences and otherwise to comply with the ethical and professional obligations of the intern to the court. Each student completes a minimum of 120 hours of service for the student’s assigned judge. The course also includes a classroom component. The class meets weekly and covers topics and readings.
Independent Research & Writing
With the approval of a full-time faculty member, an upper-division student may register for independent research and writing. An independent research and writing project is normally undertaken for two hours credit, but in appropriate cases the supervising faculty member may approve registration for one or three hours credit. Credit will be awarded, in the discretion of the supervising faculty member, on either a graded or pass/fail basis, upon the completion of a written product suitable for submission for publication.
Advanced Writing Group
Sections of this course are limited to six students and meet one hour each week. Students learn to use the reader response techniques taught first by Peter Elbow. Most weeks, the group responds to a piece of writing from a group member. In addition, the group reads examples of good writing; reads and edits examples of weak writing; works on selected topics of grammar and style; and studies and practices advanced writing techniques.
Real Estate Finance
This course surveys the financial issues attendant to the closing of a real estate transaction. The course will cover planning and zoning, a behind-the-scenes look at the bank’s perspective on the secondary mortgage market, the mechanics of searching a title for transfer of ownership, closing a real estate transaction, and tax-deferred exchanging. Students search a real estate title and draft intent letters and lien instruments.
Law Review
Members of the Mercer Law Review staff and Editorial Board earn academic credit for each year served on the Law Review. Upon satisfactory completion of the writing, editing, and other work required for each category of Law Review membership, credit is awarded.
Moot Court Board
Upper-level students are eligible for the Moot Court Board. Board members are selected based primarily on their performance in Legal Writing II. They earn academic credit for representing the Law School in various state, regional, and national moot court competitions.
Research & Writing for a Typical Student
FALL |
SPRING |
|
First Year |
Predictive Reasoning & Writing Introduction to Legal Research Part I(1 credit awarded in Spring) (required). This course meets in the early weeks of both the fall and spring semesters. Classes are taught by the professional librarians and cover print and electronic formats used for researching state and federal judicial, administrative, statutory, and secondary sources. The course requires completion of weekly assignments and midterm and final examinations. |
Predictive Reasoning & Writing Introduction to Legal Research Part 2. See Fall Semester description. Legal Writing I (3 credits) (required). This is the core course in predictive legal reasoning and writing. Legal Writing I covers research strategy, forms of legal reasoning, ethics and professionalism concerns, and predictive legal writing. The course examines organizational frameworks and the use of authorities to predict the most likely outcome of a legal issue governed by rules containing elements and factors. The course teaches writing as a constructive process and requires completion of at least two major writing assignments and a final examination. |
Second Year |
Persuasive Writing & Oral Advocacy
Legal Writing II (3 credits) (required). This is the core course in persuasive writing. Legal Writing II continues coverage of research strategy, forms of legal reasoning, and ethics and professionalism, but now in the context of persuasion. The course examines organizational frameworks and the use of authorities to persuade a court to reach a particular answer to a legal question. Students study the standards of appellate review and write at least one appellate brief. Course requirements include completion of at least two major writing assignments and an oral argument. |
Advanced Legal Research (2 credits) (heavily subscribed elective). |
Third Year |
Academic Advanced Writing Requirement (2 credits) (required, but may be satisfied in the third, fourth, fifth or sixth semester). |
Drafting Advanced Drafting Course (2 credits) (heavily subscribed electives). |
Research & Writing for a Certificate Student
FALL |
SPRING |
|
First Year |
Predictive Reasoning & Writing Introduction to Legal Research Part I(1 credit awarded in Spring) (required). This course meets in the early weeks of both the fall and spring semesters. Classes are taught by the professional librarians and cover print and electronic formats used for researching state and federal judicial, administrative, statutory, and secondary sources. The course requires completion of weekly assignments and midterm and final examinations. |
Predictive Reasoning & Writing Introduction to Legal Research Part 2. See Fall Semester description. Legal Writing I (3 credits) (required). This is the core course in predictive legal reasoning and writing. Legal Writing I covers research strategy, forms of legal reasoning, ethics and professionalism concerns, and predictive legal writing. The course examines organizational frameworks and the use of authorities to predict the most likely outcome of a legal issue governed by rules containing elements and factors. The course teaches writing as a constructive process and requires completion of at least two major writing assignments and a final examination. |
Second Year |
Persuasive Writing & Oral Advocacy
Legal Writing II (3 credits) (required). This is the core course in persuasive writing. Legal Writing II continues coverage of research strategy, forms of legal reasoning, and ethics and professionalism, but now in the context of persuasion. The course examines organizational frameworks and the use of authorities to persuade a court to reach a particular answer to a legal question. Students study the standards of appellate review and write at least one appellate brief. Course requirements include completion of at least two major writing assignments and an oral argument. |
Advanced Legal Research (2 credits) (required). The purpose of the course is to develop research skills in both print and electronic legal research resources. The course covers state and federal judicial, legislative, and administrative materials as well as the use of finding tools, legal commentary, forms, and trial preparation resources. Effective use of computer-assisted legal research is emphasized. Advanced Writing Group (1 credit) (required). Sections of this course are limited to six students and meet one hour each week. Students learn to use the reader response techniques taught first by Peter Elbow. Most weeks, the group responds to a piece of writing from a group member. In addition, the group reads examples of good writing; reads and edits examples of weak writing; works on selected topics of grammar and style; and studies and practices advanced writing techniques. |
Third Year |
Academic Writing Seminar Requirement (2 credits) (may be satisfied by taking any seminar in the third, fourth, fifth OR sixth semester). Advanced Writing Group (1 credit) (required). See Spring Second Year description.
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Drafting Legal Documents Advanced Drafting Course (2 credits) (required) (NOTE: Although this requirement will frequently be satisfied in the spring semester of the third year, students may satisfy the requirement by taking an Advanced Drafting Course in an earlier semester.) Preparation of a Writing Portfolio |
Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law - 1021 Georgia Avenue Macon, Georgia 31207
