With so many available options, finding the right LLM or legal program can often be a difficult challenge. In addition to the normal factors that one must consider in any program search-location, size, cost, admissions requirements-law students must seek excellent writing and legal research resources. A lawyer's foremost skill should be effective problem solving, but he or she must also be able to write well.
Effective Legal Research
Legal research is the "meat and potatoes" part of a lawyer's ability to solve problems. Research is conducted to find legal authority-be it "primary" authority gleaned from statutes and regulations that beg legal recourse, or "secondary" observations on law that are not legally binding, but helpful in their explanatory nature. There are many tools that lawyers use to find authorities. Legal encyclopedias, law reports, law reviews, and periodicals written by legal scholars are but a few resources.
Prospective law or LLM students should seek a program that includes electronic database research and citation training as well as information on researching legal briefs, memos, and legal research papers. Electronic database research training involves training in Lexis and Westlaw, the most common names in legal research. Through agreements with both companies, a law school can allow students research training as well as free access to both online databases.
Legal Writing: Analytical vs. Persuasive
There are two common types of legal writing: analytical and persuasive. The former requires attorneys to carefully consider their audience. When sending an interoffice memo about a particular case, an attorney would not include detailed descriptions of basic legal concepts since doing so could be insulting to colleagues. On the other hand, failure to include such detail in correspondence with clients would result in confusion. The writer should pay special attention to the recipient's needs, perspective, and degree of involvement in the issue.
Law Programs and Legal Writing
A good law or LLM program must recognize that students come from all over the world, and their English proficiency as well as their approach to certain issues can vary drastically from person to person. Law and LLM students need access to individualized writing workshops and writing coaches. Students must be completely immersed in the language of law-not to mention the English language, which is secondary to some students-in order to sharpen their skills and be successful in their profession.
One common shortcoming among some programs is that many schools teach students how to write either an academic legal research paper or a legal brief, but both are vital in a law student's growth. Academic legal research establishes a student as a scholar, while writing an effective legal brief teaches students to persuasively frame and support their arguments.
It's important to remember that any degree is only as useful as the training behind it. Students who are serious about maximizing their experience should carefully consider each option, paying special attention to the resources offered as well as the accessibility of faculty and academic camaraderie within the student body.
The full version of this article originally appeared in Hobsons' LLM Guide.
By Hannah Roberts, staff writer
