Perspectives on legal research and writing

The Fall 2008 issue of Perspectives is now available. For those who don’t already know, Perspectives is a periodical for teachers of legal research and writing, published three times a year by West. The second-best thing about Perspectives (after its content) is its price: it’s free. To receive a hard copy by mail, click here and fill out the form. It’s also available on line in PDF format.

Though it’s written and published for teachers, each issue usually has something for practitioners who want to improve their research and writing skills. The current issue includes at least two items in that category:

• Legal Research Readings to Inspire and Inform Students, by Shawn G. Nevers. Nevers is a legal-research instructor at BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. In this article, he lists and reviews several other articles that he uses as supplemental reading materials for his legal-research course. If your legal practice includes legal research, you’ll probably find some useful information here.

• Understanding “Style” in Legal Writing, by Stephen V. Armstrong and Timothy P. Terrell. What is style? Why is it important? How can a writer control style? This article explores some answers to these questions.