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Law Library

Seminar Papers & Law Review Notes: Writing

Topics, Research & Writing Tips for Seminar Papers & Law Review Notes

Key Writing Tips

  • Outline
    • Avoid bullet points, professors prefer a traditional outline such as: I, A, 1, a, i
    • For an example, see the Outline of a well-organized law student paper below
  • Format & Organization
    • Use a source like Volokh
    • Examine the structure of a good source, such as a recently published law review note, or one of the examples highlighted in the chart below.
  • Style & Grammar
    • Use a legal writing style guide
  • Proofread!
  • Avoid Plagiarisim
    • Use quotations & citations. If in doubt, cite!
    • See Plagiarism.org for a good introduction

A few examples of recent law review notes

Publishing

Writing Resources

For more guidance on writing & researching for the law, see the library's Legal Research & Study guide.

Plagiarisim

Plagiarism is a serious concern when writing papers, and is a breach of the Honor Code, even when accidental. In order to avoid plagiarizing make sure to cite as you write. Even if you don't include full citations in a first draft, ALWAYS use quotation marks and include some sort of reference to your source for any material you quote, paraphrase, or summarize.