Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2018

Abstract

The Legal Writing Journal published my first article. For that reason alone, it is special to me. As I am sure is true for many legal writing scholars, the Journal helped me find my voice, provided welcome validation, and conferred value on my scholarly effort. I have a copy of each print volume in my office, and like old friends, they are always there when I need them. I miss receiving each new cream and green issue in the mail, devouring it, and adding it to my collection, but the online version is equally pleasing in a different way and admittedly more convenient.

As we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Journal’s founding, I thank those with the requisite foresight, talent, and spirit who founded the Legal Writing Institute and shortly thereafter the Journal. I just missed being a part of this magical time but consider myself a fortunate beneficiary. Since 1991, the Journal has been a consistent witness to and agent of the growth of our discipline. Together with Legal Communication & Rhetoric: JALWD, our second peer-review journal, it has given legal writing scholars a comfortable home and, to build on a phrase from Linda Berger, “a [legitimate] place to stand.”[1]

As teachers, scholars, and publishers of legal writing, we can be proud of our progress over the last thirty years. We acknowledge the efforts of law faculty nationwide, doctrinal and skills-related alike, who have believed in our work, supported our cause, and made mutual respect possible for the benefit of all our students. Yet many of us continue to face significant challenges in terms of title, security of position, salary, governance rights, other academic privileges, and heavy course loads. As a member of LWI’s Professional Status Committee, I am keenly aware of the amount of work yet to be done.

Publication Citation

Legal Writing, Vol. 22, 2018, Pp. 50-55.

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