Legal Practice Workshop (“LPW”) is a required, full-year course that introduces students to the research, writing, and analytical skills critical to legal practice. Through a range of simulation exercises, students learn how to digest and analyze a legal problem and, ultimately, present that analysis in writing to different audiences. In the fall, students focus on predictive writing, learning to research and objectively analyze legal issues and discuss them through interoffice memoranda and written communications with clients. Through these simulations, students are also trained in practice-based skills that reach well beyond writing, including client interviewing and advising and the fundamentals of negotiation.
In the spring, students shift their focus to persuasive writing, with an emphasis on appellate advocacy. Working in pairs, students research, write, and orally argue appellate briefs through the Law School’s Moot Court program or one of the alternative intermural competitions in which our students compete.
LPW is taught in small, highly interactive sections of approximately 12 students each. Each section is led by a practitioner drawn from a range of practice areas. Throughout the course, students receive continuous, individualized feedback from lawyers who are close to practice and eager to welcome students to the profession.