• LL.M. in American Law
  • Announcements / Events
  • Academic Calendar
  • Admissions Questionnaire
  • Academic Regulations
  • Concentrations
  • Faculty Profiles
    • Full-Time
    • Part-Time
  • First-Year J.D. Courses
  • Upper-Class J.D. Courses
  • Research and Writing Seminar
    • Instructors
  • Course Schedules
    • First-Year
    • Upper-Class
      • Fall
        • Monday
        • Tuesday
        • Wednesday
        • Thursday
        • Friday
      • Spring
        • Monday
        • Tuesday
        • Wednesday
        • Thursday
        • Friday
    • Legal Research & Writing Seminar
  • Course Updates
  • Book Lists
  • Reading Assignments
    • First-Year
    • Upper-Class
  • CourseInfo
  • Courses Outside BU Law
  • Exams
    • Exam Schedules
      • First Year Exam Schedule
      • Upper-class Exam Schedule
    • ExamSoft Information
  • American Law Student Handbook (PDF)
  • Disciplinary Regulations (PDF)
  • Plagiarism Policy
  • Law Library
  • Bar Admission
  • Frequently Requested Forms
  • Fitness & Recreation
• LL.M. in Banking & Financial Law
• LL.M. in Intellectual Property
• LL.M. in Taxation

 

Research and Writing Seminar

All LL.M.’s take a fall semester two-credit Legal Research and Writing seminar, specifically designed to introduce foreign lawyers to the basic principles of American legal writing. In small class settings and individual conferences, students receive guidance on drafting and editing memoranda and agreements. Their work is critiqued and rewritten. The research component of the seminar trains students to locate cases, statutes and secondary material through indexing systems and the latest computer technology. Research assignments are integrated into writing assignments -- exposing students to the methods of US legal analyses -- so that by the end of the term, students obtain the skills needed to write memoranda appropriate for submission to US law firms

The LL.M. Writing Seminar will be supervised by Professor Robert Volk, the Director of the First Year Writing Program.  His office, as well as the Writing Program office, is located in Room 752.

• Books and Assignments
• Schedule
• Library, Lexis Nexis, & WestLaw Trainings

BOOKS AND ASSIGNMENTS

A.        Booklist

            1.         Ray, Basics of Legal Writing (2006)

            2.         Sloan, Basic Legal research (3d ed. 2006)

            3.         The Bluebook, A Uniform System of Citation (18th ed. 2005)      

In addition, Strunk & White, The Elements of Style, is recommended for the class.

B.        Schedules

Seminar schedules will be posted each week on the CourseInfo site for the class (JD 893).  Note that Monday, September 1 is a holiday; Monday seminars will be rescheduled for that week.

C.        Notices

All notices relating to the class will be posted on the CourseInfo site.  You are responsible for checking the site regularly for information about class schedules, assignments and other information.

D.        Assignments for the first class

            For the first class, please read chapter 1 of the Ray text.

SCHEDULE

Please note that Monday, September 1st is Labor Day.  Therefore, Monday seminars will be rescheduled for the first week of classes. Please refer to the adjusted dates and times below:

The first class meeting for Section 1 with Christine Durkin will be Wednesday, September 3rd from 6:00PM to 7:15PM in Room 820.

The first class meeeting for Section 2 with Marni Caputo will be Wednesday, September 3rd from 7:00PM to 8:15PM in Room 1470.

SECTION	DAY	TIME	ROOM	INSTRUCTOR
1	Monday	6:00PM - 7:15PM	1434	Christine M. Durkin
2	Monday	7:00PM - 8:15PM	532	Marni Caputo
3	Tuesday	2:30PM - 3:45PM	734	Judith Ziss
4	Wednesday	10:00AM - 11:15AM	734	Joan Neisser
5	Wednesday	7:00PM - 8:15PM	1470C	Selena Fitanides
6	Thursday	5:30PM - 6:45PM	870	Patrick Cassidy
7	Thursday	6:30PM - 7:45PM	734	Nadine Donovan

 

 

 

 

 

     

LIBRARY, LEXIS NEXIS, & WESTLAW TRAININGS

All LL.M. and visiting exchange students are required to to attend an informational tour of the library, as well as attend mandatory Lexis Nexis and WestLaw trainings. These trainings have been coordinated in conjuction with your Research and Writing Seminar courses. You are required to attend the trainings that correspond to your specific Research and Writing section. All trainings will be conducted in the Law Library. The dates that have been selected for these trainings include the following:

SECTION	DATE AND TIME	TRAINING
1	Friday, Sept. 12th, 2:30PM - 3:30PM Friday, Oct. 3rd, 2:30PM - 3:30PM Friday, Oct. 10th, 2:30PM - 3:30PM	Library Training Lexis Nexis WestLaw
2	Friday, Sept. 12th, 3:30PM - 4:30PM Friday, Oct. 3rd, 3:30PM - 4:30PM Friday, Oct. 10th, 3:30PM - 4:30PM	Library Training Lexis Nexis WestLaw
3	Thursday, Sept. 11th, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Thursday, Oct. 2nd, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Thursday, Oct. 9th, 2:00PM - 3:00PM	Library Training Lexis Nexis WestLaw
4	Thursday, Sept. 11th, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Thursday, Oct. 2nd, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Thursday, Oct. 9th, 1:00PM - 2:00PM	Library Training Lexis Nexis WestLaw
5	Tuesday, Sept. 9th, 2:30PM - 3:30PM Tuesday, Oct. 7th, 2:30PM - 3:30PM Tuesday, Oct. 14th, 2:30PM - 3:30PM	Library Training WestLaw Lexis Nexis
6	Friday, Sept. 12th, 1:30PM - 2:30PM Friday, Oct. 3rd, 1:30PM - 2:30PM Friday, Oct.10th, 1:30PM - 2:30PM	Library Training Lexis Nexis WestLaw
7	Tuesday, Sept. 9th, 3:30PM - 4:30PM Tuesday, Oct. 7th, 3:30PM - 4:30PM Tuesday, Oct. 14th, 3:30PM - 4:30PM	Library Training WestLaw Lexis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notices

All notices regarding the Writing Program will be posted on BU’s CourseInfo site and on the 7th floor bulletin boards. The course number is JD893 (Writing LLMs). LL.M.’s are responsible for checking for information about class schedules, room changes, assignments, messages from instructors, and other assignments.