Writing to Learn Law and Writing in Law: An Intellectual Property Illustration

Authors

Michael J. Madison, University of Pittsburgh School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2008

Abstract

This essay, prepared as part of a Symposium on teaching intellectual property law, describes a method of combining substantive law teaching with a species of what is commonly called "skills" training. The method involves assessing students not via traditional final exams but instead via research memos patterned after assignments that junior lawyers might encounter in actual legal practice. The essay grounds the method in the theoretical disposition known generally as "writing to learn." It argues that students are likely to learn intellectual property law effectively if they learn to practice as intellectual property lawyers, and specifically to write as intellectual property lawyers.

Recommended Citation

Michael J. Madison, Writing to Learn Law and Writing in Law: An Intellectual Property Illustration, 52 St. Louis University Law Journal 1 (2008).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.pitt.edu/fac_articles/358