Legal Writing Education

Outstanding Contributions to Legal Writing Education

Presented for outstanding contributions to the education of new lawyers in the field of legal analysis, research and writing, whether through teaching, program design, program support, innovative thinking or writing.

The 2007 Award Winner

Laurel Currie Oates is the Director of Legal Writing at Seattle University School of Law, which is ranked as one of the best legal writing programs in the United States by U.S. News and World Reports. As the director, Laurel has worked with the other members of the legal writing faculty to design and implement a comprehensive three-year writing program, and she Laurel is also active in law school governance, serving on Dean Search Committees, Self-Study Committees, Status Committee, Recruitment Committee, and Curriculum Committee. Among her many honors are the following: In 2003, she received the 2002 AALS Section Award from the Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research; in 1998 she received an award from the Legal Writing Institute for founding and fostering the Legal Writing Institute; and in 1997 she was presented the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Seattle University Alumni Association.

Laurel Oates' Professional Publications: In Progress: Laurel Currie Oates, Did Harvard Get it Right? (Accepted for publication in the Mercer Law Review); Laurel Currie Oates, Anne Enquist, and Constance Krontz, Just Briefs, Second Edition (to be published by Aspen in 2007); Published: Laurel Currie Oates and Anne Enquist, Just Memos, Second Edition (Aspen, December 2006); Laurel Currie Oates and Anne Enquist, The Legal Writing Handbook, Fourth Edition (Aspen 2006); Laurel Currie Oates, Leveling the Playing Field: Helping Students Succeed by Helping Them Learn to Read as Expert Lawyers, 80 St. John's L. Rev. 227 (Spring 2006); Mimi Samuel and Laurel Currie Oates, From Oppression to Outsourcing: New Opportunities for Uganda's Growing Number of Attorneys in Today's Flattening, 4 Seattle J. for Social Justice 836 (Spring 2006); Laurel Currie Oates and Anne Enquist, Just Research (Aspen 2005); Anne Enquist and Laurel Oates, Just Writing, Second Edition (Aspen 2005); Laurel Currie Oates and Anne Enquist, Just Memos (Aspen 2002); Laurel Currie Oates and Anne Enquist.