Welcome to your first year of law school at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and to my Legal Writing section. The following information will help you prepare for our first class session during Orientation. Legal writing class during Orientation is mandatory, so be sure to attend.

The following four required textbooks should be available from online merchants such as Amazon and at the CSU bookstore. We will also be using some selections from my own legal writing text, What Are You Trying to Say? A Guide to First-Year Legal Writing. I will put those readings online as I assign them.

• Terrill Pollman, et al., Legal Writing: Examples & Explanations (2d Edition 2014)

• The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (20th Edition)

• Tracy L. McGaugh, et al., Interactive Citation Workbook for The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (2015 Edition) -Please make sure to purchase the Bluebook version, not ALWD of the Interactive Citation Workbook.

• Amy E. Sloan, Researching the Law: Finding What You Need When You Need It (2014)

You may also elect to purchase this additional, optional text:

• Richard Wydick, Plain English for Lawyers (5th Edition 2005).

For the first class meeting, please read Part I of What Are You Trying to Say? linked to this notice. You do not have to write out any of the exercises in the reading, but please look them over and be prepared to discuss them in class. 

I look forward to meeting you in class. If you have questions, please contact me at c.c.maynull@csuohio.nulledu.

Sincerely,

Claire C. Robinson May

Legal Writing Professor of Law