School Notes: Yale Law School
January/February 2011

Expanding legal writing instruction

The Law School has recently expanded its legal writing program in a number of innovative ways. In 2009, Noah Messing ’00JD left his job as counsel for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton ’73JD to join Rob Harrison ’73JD as Yale Law’s second legal writing instructor. His writing courses, like Harrison’s iconic Advanced Legal Writing, take students beyond basic competence to excellence in legal writing. Several distinguished federal judges are helping train students in writing as well. U.S. District judge Mark Kravitz led a brief-writing course for first-years and co-teaches—with Senior Judge John Walker ’62 of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit—an upper-level seminar on how to write briefs and argue cases in federal courts. Judge Walker is also meeting directly with first-years, offering custom feedback on their writing and giving advice to their teaching assistants. “Can you imagine being a first-semester law student and having a sitting Second Circuit judge evaluate your legal writing skills?” said Dean Robert Post ’77JD. “It’s pretty exciting.” The latest innovations supplement a program that was already working well and ensure that students are able to get more feedback on their writing from more sources.

Faculty appointed to named professorships

Richard Brooks has been named the Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law at Yale Law School, and Daniel Markovits ’91, ’00JD, has been named the Guido Calabresi Professor of Law. Brooks joined the Yale Law School faculty in 2003 as an associate professor of law. His areas of expertise are law and economics, contracts, business organizations, and race and the law. He previously taught at Northwestern University School of Law and in Cornell University’s Department of Policy Analysis and Management. Markovits joined the Yale Law School faculty in 2001 as an associate professor of law, after clerking for the Honorable Guido Calabresi ’53, ’58LLB, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was named a professor of law in 2007. He works in the areas of the philosophical foundations of private law, moral and political philosophy, and behavioral economics, and has written extensively on contract law and legal ethics.

Students hear Arizona immigration case argued live

Yale Law School students are taking part in an educational initiative of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in which the court sends live streaming video of its arguments to participating law schools around the country. On November 1, about 30 students gathered to watch oral arguments inUSA v. State of Arizona, a highly publicized case concerning the constitutionality of Arizona’s contested immigration law. Clinical professors Mike Wishnie ’87, ’93JD, and Muneer Ahmad acted as moderators for the viewing, the first of three planned for the semester. After watching with students, they provided commentary and answered questions. “We were able to discuss not only the substance of the arguments made by each side and the political context of the case, but the backgrounds, demeanor, and questioning of the judges, the lawyers’ manner of presentation, and their strategic choices and blunders,” said Ahmad. “The video stream provided a great opportunity for students to engage with both the law and the lawyering in this important case.” Other scheduled viewings include Perry v. Schwarzenegger (Proposition 8 same-sex marriage) and Log Cabin Republicans v. USA (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell).