Your professors for this course are Zachary Schmook (writing, Room 3075) and Robert Linz (research, Room 3112N). Our main goal this semester is to help you develop your legal analysis skills by beginning the process of becoming proficient legal researchers and writers.
The full syllabus for this course is available on Canvas. This website is designed to provide a brief, phone-friendly summary of the highlights without requiring you to login to a learning management site. While I will make every attempt to keep the information on this site current and up to date, if there are any discrepancies, go with the guidance from the official syllabus and/or other law school sources.
Class Times & Office Hours
Section A Class: Tues. 9:30-10:45 / Thu. 9:00-10:15
Section B Class: Tue. 11:00-12:15 / Thu.. 1:30-2:45
Office Hours: Mon. 11:00-1:30 / Thur. 10:30-1:00
I’m also happy to meet with students any time my door is open or by appointment for another time.
Key Skills
• Identify legal issues from facts
• Determine the applicable law
• Understand hierarchy and weight of authority
• Conduct legal research
• Self-educate about legal issues
• Synthesize rules from multiple legal authorities
• Explain rules & illustrate cases
• Predict legal outcomes
• Apply legal rules to case facts
• Use proper legal citation
• Use time effectively
• Write concisely, clearly, and precisely
Texts
(1) Christine Coughlin, Joan Malmud Rocklin & Sandy Patrick, A Lawyer Writes: A Practical Guide to Legal Analysis (3d ed. 2018).
(2) The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Columbia Law Review Ass’n et al. eds., 21st ed., 2020). MUST HAVE PHYSICAL COPY of this newest edition.
(3) Bryan A. Garner, The Redbook (4th ed. 2018). Print or e-book.
(4) Morris L. Cohen and Kent C. Olson, Legal Research in a Nutshell (14th ed. 2021). Available at no cost on West Academic Study Aids.
Grades
LRW will be graded on the OU College of Law twelve-point scale. Each section will be curved to the same average to ensure consistency. Grades will be based on the Grammar and Citation Exam (25%) and the final draft of Memo 2 (75%).
In addition, all research-class assignments, Memo 1 and E-Memo assignments, Interactive Citation Exercises, and the Core Grammar for Lawyers post-test will be graded as Pass/Fail. Each student is required to work independently to complete these mandatory Pass/Fail assignments.
Class Calendar
Feedback and Comments
Grammar & Citation
Throughout the course, we’ll use two online systems to help introduce you to the grammar and citation conventions of legal writing. While these systems are graded pass fail, they will prepare you for the final Grammar & Citation Exam, which will be worth quarter of your grade for the fall semester.
Grammar: Throughout the fall semester, we’ll use Core Grammar for Lawyers by Ruth Ann McKinney and Katie Rose Guest Pryal. The full syllabus will provide you with a discount code and class code to allow me to see your responses. There will be a pretest due at the end of the first week. You’ll be able to test out of any section where you score 100%.
After the pretest, you’ll work through self-guided lessons to cover areas you did not test out of. You’re required to finish all lessons and complete the final post-test with a score of 80% or better by early October. You can take the post-test as many times as necessary to earn the required score.
Citation: Throughout the fall, you’ll be responsible for completing online, Interactive Citation Exercises exercises on Lexis.com.
You may—but are not required—to purchase the Interactive Citation Workbook for The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation by Tracy Norton (2020 LexisNexis). Either the e-book or print version will work, but the 2019 edition (or earlier) will not be compatible with the
ICW exercises you will be assigned. Copies will be made available on reserve in the library.
Accommodations
The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all students with disabilities. Students with disabilities must be registered with the Disability Resource Center prior to receiving accommodations in this course. The Disability Resource Center is located at the University Community Center, 730 College Avenue, phone 405/325-3852, and its website is www.ou.edu/drc.
Should you need modifications or adjustments to your course requirements because of documented pregnancy-related or childbirth-related issues, please contact your professor as soon as possible to discuss. Generally, modifications will be made where medically necessary and similar in scope to accommodations based on temporary disability. Please see www.ou.edu/content/eoo/faqs/pregnancy-faqs.html for commonly asked questions.
For any concerns regarding gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, stalking, or intimate partner violence, the University offers a variety of resources, including advocates on-call 24/7, counseling services, mutual no-contact orders, scheduling adjustments, and disciplinary sanctions against the perpetrator. Please contact the Sexual Misconduct Office at 405-325-2215 (8-5) or the Sexual Assault Response Team 405-0615-0013 (24/7) to learn more or to report an incident.
University policy is to excuse absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide without penalty for the rescheduling of in-class work that falls on a religious holiday. A student who plans to observe a religious holiday must notify the professor in advance to make appropriate arrangements for rescheduling of class work.
Zachary Schmook 