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Develop the skills needed to be a successful law student through analyzing case law, preparing a legal memo, and advocating for your client.
This project is designed for students who aspire to work in the legal industry. Practicing law has its unique features that students cannot know until they get a hands-on experience of what it’s like. How is “legal writing” different from writing any other essays or research papers? How is “legal research” different from any other research? How is reading case law and court decisions different from any other papers? Law Students spend an entire year (or more) to learn these skills. The project allows you to get a head start in gaining these skills, in a more simplified, beginner-friendly way. You will develop a legal memo as a final deliverable, which will include your analysis of cases, and its application to the matter at hand, and your position in advocating for your client. It can be used as a writing sample which will be handy in applying for law schools and/or internships or other law office positions that do not require an attorney license.At the end of the 8-weeks session, you will feel more confident applying for law schools or jobs in the legal industry.
Entering the legal industry whether it being applying for law schools or finding a job in the legal market is somewhat intimidating. Let’s discuss your interests. What brought you to this project? Is there a specific area of law you would like to practice in? Did you know that you don’t need to be barred (licensed attorney) or need a law degree to work in the legal industry?
Understanding case law is one of the most basic and important skills your need to be in the legal industry. But before we get there, you would be surprised to know how the structure of the government system in this country affects the reasoning behind the judge’s decisions.
This workshop will focus on interpreting the legal decisions made by reading through decisions. Interpreting case law, which incorporates review of the black letter law, its legislative history, and analysis of other cases is very important in conducting your own legal analysis. You will learn how to read the cases.
Legal writing is different from other writings. It requires you to utilize the skills you have already acquired in writing essays or any other papers, but in a different structure and tone. There are different types of legal writing. Who is your audience? How should your final written work look like in different situations?
Read the materials provided, which may be in the form of contracts, emails, etc., and interview your client (and possibly depose a witness) to understand the facts of the case. What happened, what was the relationship between the client and the potential defendant, and what is your client asking for?
For our project, we will focus on preparing a legal memorandum for a hypothetical Partner Attorney in a law office. This is the time to utilize the skills you acquired during Workshop 3 to 5. You will be given several cases that you will utilize for your final memo and analyze the issue at hand. What position are you trying to argue, and how would you incorporate the facts you found with the case law you analyzed?
Now that you have fully drafted your legal memo, it is time to argue in front of the Court. This session is prepared so that you can gain the confidence of being able to speak in front of an audience, on a legal matter that you have spent time and effort to analyze.
We will conclude the workshop with conversation attorneys who are practicing in different areas of law (guest speaking is subject to change depending on schedule). What questions do you have for them? How do their experience with law differ? How did the project overall influence your thoughts on practicing law?
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Joo Hee is a Law Fellow at Open Avenues, where she works with students leading projects in the legal industry.
Joo Hee is an associate attorney at ASK LLP, where she focuses on bankruptcy law.
Joo Hee has one year of experience in the legal field as a recent law graduate. She also worked at the county attorney's office and externed for a bankruptcy court judge during law school.
She holds a JD.