Writing in the Disciplines for Pre-Law, Spring 2012, ENC 3254, Section 2530

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1 Writing in the Disciplines for Pre-Law, Spring 2012, ENC 3254, Section 2530 Fidel Iglesias, PhD, JD, Lecturer / Attorney (Private Practice) Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication Phone: (772) (352) , Rolfs Hall figlesias@ufl.edu / fideliglesias@hotmail.com Mailing Address: 2900 Admiral St, Fort Pierce, FL On-line Syllabus: T: 2nd-3rd periods R: 3rd period CBD 110B Office Hours: T: 12:45-1:45 pm; 3:00-4:30 pm W: 9:30-10:30 am; 1:00-4:00 pm NOTE: ALL ASSIGNMENT PAGE SPECIFICATIONS ARE MINIMUM AMOUNTS ONLY. Course Description In courts of law people's lives depend on the character of words. And the livelihood of lawyers rests on their ability to put language, and other skills, to productive ends. While some of the most eloquent writing about our society has been set down by attorneys and judges, the discipline of law is known for sometimes producing esoteric documents. Among our goals, we will study the oral and written advocacy of lawyers (in and outside of the classroom), with some emphasis on my own backgrounds, including as an attorney, in immigration and criminal (state/federal) law. Thus, I will share with you many of my own academic, legal, and practical experiences, over the years, by way of context to our work. As such, these real world experiences tend to be grounded in immigration / criminal law, and actual individuals (though their identities, naturally, are disguised) from those realms. Even our hypos will reflect such a background. Therefore, you should note that they reflect, at times, pedestrian concerns and language. They're usually quite entertaining, but unvarnished. Tender ears may be unused to same. Additionally, I hope to have several guest speakers contribute to our discussions. And, if possible, they may include a judge or two. This course is designed to be a practical workshop on the most common forms of legal advocacy, including writing. It is also a consideration of the nature of legal communication, and the profession, generally. To these ends, we will write legal briefs and a legal memorandum with a research component. In writing the second, we will become familiar with law library resources. In all of the writing, we will develop the rhetorical skills of argument and persuasion while mastering the basic -1-

2 elements of style. At the end of the term, you will participate in a required moot court competition (for the class) that will also emphasize your verbal advocacy. Several field trips, including at least one to a court in your area, and one to a law library in your vicinity, and perhaps the local jail there, will expose you to the real-world environments in which many counselors work. The persons conducting them, for us, are very busy. You are expected to be there, on time, and alert and courteous. While this will be a course on campus, it is important for you to realize that you will be working in "virtual time," many times, regarding class discussions, presentations, and written work; that this course requires extensive writing and, relatively speaking, reasonable online time; and that we may actually coordinate several online webcam classes (and individual sessions) via Elluminate and other similar technologies. In sum, this course will be an interactive one -- on campus (as per official schedule) and online (TBA). As such, you will need to have access to a PC; online capabilities; a printer; webcam software/hardware; word processing and power point programs; a telephone; possible access to a fax machine; and the ability to operate them. You should remember that, while I will religiously maintain your student and related information confidential, under applicable law, that all online communications are liable to unauthorized publication by others; via your own mistakes; technological mishaps; and even criminal activity. Thus, you should be very careful about your online communications -- keep them relevant to the course; do not communicate anything you wish to maintain private; and do not violate any rules, laws, etc when participating in this course. I will not be responsible for same. And I will not allow inappropriate conduct, in class, or online, for this course. Course Requirements and Policies Assignments and Course Work To pass Writing in the Disciplines for Pre-Law, you must complete all required course work. You will write and revise communications of at least five types: legal briefs, legal memoranda, letters, personal statements, and résumés. Regular in-class work, in small teams, will contribute to your grade. Class participation is also a significant part of this course. It includes in-class work, homework, a journal of legal briefs, and attendance in class and at special events, including the moot competition at the end of the term. You must take these into account regarding your overall schedule. (See attendance policy below.) In-class work must be completed in class on the day assigned and may not be made up. Out-of-class work must be typed in the appropriate professional format. It is due at the beginning of class and will not be accepted late. "In-class" refers to our scheduled online interactions (chats, class time, presentations, and other assignments that we, as a class, meet simultaneously online to work on), which will be our equivalents to "real time" class meetings on campus. -2-

3 Attendance and Preparation for Class Readings should be completed by the date on which they are scheduled, unless otherwise indicated. Even if you have an excused absence, you should make every attempt to turn assignments in on time. We have a strict attendance policy: for every absence over three, 50 points, or half a letter grade, will be deducted from your final grade. An "absence" is defined as either your non-attendance, online, for our scheduled interactions (eg, class discussions, lectures, presentations, chats) or, even if you are, technically, in class or online, you are not regularly engaged in our work as judged by the instructor. For example, I will be asking, each of you, to individually respond during our meetings in class and online. If you do not respond, after a reasonable amount of time (ie, several minutes), I will mark you down as absent given you may be away from the screen; elsewhere; and, if in class, distracted or simply unprepared. If a serious, official, and/or technical problem, beyond your control, and which you can document, accounts for same, then that may be an excused absence as per my discretion. (See attendance policy below.) Academic Honesty Plagiarism is a serious violation of the Student Honor Code. The Honor Code prohibits and defines plagiarism as follows: Plagiarism. A student shall not represent as the student s own work all or any portion of the work of another. Plagiarism includes (but is not limited to): a. Quoting oral or written materials, whether published or unpublished, without proper attribution. b. Submitting a document or assignment which in whole or in part is identical or substantially identical to a document or assignment not authored by the student. (University of Florida, Student Honor Code, 15 Aug University of Florida students are responsible for reading, understanding, and abiding by the entire Student Honor Code which, along with other academic, faculty, and student catologs, handbooks, information, and policies may be found at these sites: and Their contents are incorporated herein by reference. Important Tip: You should never copy and paste something from the Internet without providing the exact location from which it came. I especially urge you not to engage in real-time or online dishonesty and related violations. The medium of communication may vary, with differing permutations in different venues, but they are prohibited nonetheless. We'll discuss this issue further during the term. Grading The evaluation of written work will be thorough and rigorous, holding students to the highest professional standards. We will use a 1000-point system, the points distributed as follows: 100 Legal Brief 1 (Exercise) 200 Legal Brief 2 (Negligence or Emotional Distress Case) 300 Memorandum 100 Legal Brief 3 (Tournament Round 1) 100 Application Materials 10 Annotated Bibliography -3-

4 10 Case Flow Chart 25 Journal Assignment 55 Moot Court Competition 100 Class Participation: In-Class Work, Homework; Field Trip Regarding the moot court competition, this (depending on logistics) may be either vis-a-vis other classes or w/in our own class. I will let you know the specifics during the term. Grading is, by definition, a somewhat subjective process. In my case, it is based on years of experience with these types of assignments; with students from varied backgrounds; in different fields; and at different institutions. Nonetheless, it remains an art or trade, of sorts, and cannot simply be reduced to a matter of rubrics, totaling raw points, and so on. Grading Scale A C A C B D B D B D C E A note on this point system, and "rubrics" generally. They are aids to learning in my opinion. Receiving points, for the assignments, along the way, should not be viewed as simple accounting where you, literally, add things up and, VOILA, there's your final grade. For instance, I will simply not have any idea where you stand in terms of participation until the course is nearing the end given this is an ongoing portion of your performance. The moot court competition, additionally, will occur, again, toward the end of the term. Thus, I cannot evaluate that until the very end. And, when totaling points, at the end, I do not only consider your overall improvement (or lack thereof) over time, but then place your individual performance in the context of your colleagues' as well. In other words, I evaluate your -4-

5 work individually and comparatively. To make an "A" in this course, you must earn an "A" on at least two of the four major writing assignments (brief 1, 2, or 3 or the memorandum). Extra credit (up to 5% of the course total) may be given, at the instructor's discretion, for our upcoming field trip(s) AND attendance (as defined herein) at other designated activities. Attendance is, of course, required and affects the participation grade because in-class work and homework cannot be made up. Every absence over three lowers your final average by 50 points or one half of a letter-grade. This penalty is in addition to any lowering of your grade because you are unprepared. Only documented emergencies, involving you or your immediate family, or official University functions, may excuse you, at the instructor's discretion, from certain attendance, participation, field trip, and due date requirements. If a requirement is excused, alternative assignments may be given at the instructor's discretion. Required Text Writing in Law. From Laurence Behrens and Leonard Rosen, Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. New York: Longman, Additional select readings may be occasionally assigned. They will likely be available online or via reserve readings at Library. You are expected to read, understand, and otherwise be prepared to discuss this reader every class period. Schedule of Class Assignments Unit 1: The Form of Legal Argument Week 1: Introductions: syllabus, texts, information sheets. Discuss the elements of an effective legal writing style. Discuss the introduction to the course materials (Writing in Law 733 & 763)--the following case is optional reading. Discuss common vs. civil law. Discuss "The American Legal System" (WL 742). Week 2: A form for legal research reports. Discuss "IRAC: How to Write about Legal Cases (WL 752). Discuss a "legal brief" concerning an everyday situation. Legal Brief 1 (Exercise) Concerning an Everyday Situation. Discuss Cases (WL , ). -5-

6 Unit 2: Putting the Legal Brief into Practice Week 3: In Class: Write a paragraph summarizing the applicable rules in your case, and outline your analysis. Debates Preparation: In class: Outline the application section, organize your team for the debate. Homework: Draft the application. (WL 769 & 777) Week 4: Discuss debates. Review and synthesize the application. Discuss legal brief 2. (WL 798) Week 5: Discuss debates and legal brief 2. Discuss journal assignment and writing a legal memorandum. Discussion of issue statements, primary research sources, and the process of legal research. (WL 805) Unit 3: Legal Research and Writing Week 6: Issue statement? Research materials orientation. Memo format. Law library Orientation w/ guest speaker TBA. Discuss secondary research materials and citation format. Homework: Discuss annotated bibliography. (WL 815) Week 7: Continue law library work. Annotated bibliography continued, including background research sources. Discuss issue statement and facts. Discuss revised issue statement and facts. Application of the law or analysis: General principles and description of rules. (WL 825) Week 8: Application of the law or analysis: Examples and workshop. Application of the law or analysis: Using case precedents and arguing by analogy. Use of citations. Week 9: Workshop: Bring to class source materials for memorandum. Conclusions and recommendations-- General principles. Discuss application of the law for peer review. Discuss law school applications at next meeting. -6-

7 Unit 4: Law School Applications Week 10: Revised memorandum examined. Discuss law school applications. Writing the résumé for graduate school. Bring your résumé to class, if you have one. Writing a personal statement. Week 11: Résumé and personal statement for peer review. Revised résumé and personal statement. New legal issue and discussion. The principles of debate--guest speaker. Unit 5: Winning Legal Debates / Misc Topics Week 12 15: Preparation of legal arguments. In-class moot court prep and trial. Discuss legal brief 3. Finals Week: As per Registrar's schedule. Due: Final Legal Brief #3. The above schedule of assignments, readings, and events is tentative. I reserve the right to change it as needed. I will announce (in class and via / Sakai) our assignment specifics and dates as the term progresses. You are responsible for being in class when they are announced, and for signing up for Sakai. You are responsible for reading your s. The weekly schedule is our general framework. We will aim to follow it, but not fanatically. Units may overlap, and the schedule adjusted accordingly. And the number of actual weeks may vary by term. Thus, the readings (text) schedule is tentative. It will likely takes us more time, than referenced above, to finish the book. Nonetheless, we will finish it early. So, early on, think of topics you may be interested in. And I will assign, during the term, assorted online readings. Tests There will be much hands-on work in this course. Therefore, I do not intend to give you many formal examinations. However, this is premised on your doing the required assignments and otherwise being prepared in class. Otherwise, or if another educational reason calls for it, I may nevertheless give you an exam, quiz, so forth, if need be. It/they would be under the homework points category (see above). Educational Philosophy My main goal, in this course, is for all of us to learn. To that end, it will be essential that all of us attend; show up prepared; and contribute to our discussions. -7-

8 Along those lines, grades are simply one tool for encouraging / recognizing learning. While numbers will be assigned to individual assignments (and the overall course grade), it is important to realize that this is not a science. In other words, verbal and written work is, by its nature, subjective for you when speaking and writing, and for me in assessing it. There are some grammatical and stylistic (and for the law, legal) guideposts for same. But, as they say when it comes to beauty, it is often in the eyes of the beholder. Thus, my main criterion for judging your work, verbal and written, include effort (as evidenced in your assignments), improvement over time, the quality of your advocacy skills (oral and on paper), and how your colleagues perform in their own efforts. In other words, I will determine whether you met the minimum requirements for an assignment; judge your work, individually, over time (to see if your effort level and the quality of your work has evolved during the term); and then comparatively in terms of your colleagues. You should not expect to, simply, and automatically, "plug in" your specific assignment scores into a "rubric" and expect that same final course grade. Besides several assignments not being graded until the end of the term, when all work is finally completed, there are other considerations such as those previously mentioned. Assignment scores are, to some extent, guideposts for you to judge your work by, as well as learning tools. I usually round upward, on final grades, to take these considerations into account. You should take advantage of extra credit options. I would encourage you to see me to discuss your performance, and standing in class, individually. We can meet after/before class and/or my office. Just let me know beforehand. Do not wait until the last minute to do this. It is your responsibility to meet with me, individually, to discuss your progress in the course. Sakai, for instance, is only a tool for our use, and does not supplant a real meeting with an instructor. Do show initiative in class; during our conferences; via online / personal interaction with me and your colleagues; and otherwise be proactive regarding the course. I will not "spoon feed" you. -8-