Advanced Legal Writing: Appellate Litigation (7836): This course will give students intensive practice with legal analysis, argument structure, and writing in the appellate context. Through a combination of lectures, discussions, selected readings, and writing exercises, we will cover the most important components of appellate writing. The Lecturer will bring her practical experience in legal writing -- both as outside counsel at a law firm and in-house counsel at a high-growth tech company -- to bear as we work together towards each student crafting an appellate brief. The goals of this class are to deepen students' understanding of how to make compelling written arguments and to practice doing so in the context of an appeal on a cutting-edge issue. While this course will be focused on writing an appellate brief, the skills learned will be useful for all legal writing in a litigation context. Elements used in grading: Attendance, Class Participation, Written Assignments. CONSENT APPLICATION: To apply for this course, students must complete and submit a Consent Application Form available on the SLS website (https://law.stanford.edu/education/courses/consent-of-instructor-forms/). See Consent Application Form for instructions and submission deadline.

Advanced Legal Writing: Appellate Litigation (7836): This course will bring the Lecturer's decades of experience in high-stakes legal writing to bear on the drafting of appellate briefs: what's good, what's bad; what works, what doesn't; and how to get from here (your frustratingly blank computer screen) to there (a finished brief that assists, persuades, and impresses appellate judges). Through a combination of lectures, discussion, selected readings, and writing exercises (both individual and collaborative), we will cover most of the key topics in appellate writing. Throughout the course, the emphasis will be on centering the reader's cognitive experience from moment to moment in time--not merely what conclusion the reader will draw when they reach the end of your brief, but how they will react to every word in every sentence along the way. You will learn how to make every moment of that experience as rewarding and informative--and even captivating--as it can possibly be. You will also learn how to avoid the mistakes that make reading most legal briefs so frustrating, boring, and exhausting. Although we will discuss the peculiarities of appellate brief-writing in detail, what you learn in this course will help you write any brief to any court. During the final lecture, concerning Supreme Court briefing, we will have a guest lecturer with extensive Supreme Court experience. Last year, for example, we met with former Principal Deputy Solicitor General Ian Gershengorn. The course occurs in two phases. The classroom phase. From September 20 to November 19, 2021, the course will proceed as a lecture course with readings and in- and out-of-class exercises. Lots of time will be set aside for Q&A. During this phase, you'll also write and receive detailed feedback from me on some components of an appellate brief. The writing phase. From November 20, 2021 to roughly January 18, 2022, you'll be completing the brief that you began during the first phase. During the brief-writing process, you'll be getting detailed written feedback from me. This feedback will be like what you would get if you were an associate in a law firm writing for a senior partner--except better, because I'll put more time and effort into it. You'll get detailed redlines and comments from me that sensitize you to the reader's cognitive experience from moment to moment as they read what you wrote, in addition to helping you sharpen your substantive arguments. You'll also attend a one-hour one-on-one session with me to discuss any questions that you may have about the assignments, appellate writing generally, your legal career, or anything else that you'd like to talk about. Elements used in grading: Attendance, Class Participation, Written Assignments.