Legal Writing is Important – Eric Fingerhut

Tags

Andis Kaulins, Constitutional Law, Eric Fingerhut, Legal Writing, Legal Writing Courses, Stanford Law School

Legal Writing is Important – Eric Fingerhut

Eric Fingerhut, a Stanford Law School alumnus and the Democratic Party nominee for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, is quoted in the Stanford Lawyer (Fall 2004) remarking on the value of his law school education to his improved abilities as a speaker:

“What sticks in my mind the most is the legal writing class…. I learned how to keep my speeches to what’s important and to make sure that people walk away with something that matters to them.”

As someone who has taught legal writing in law school for a good number of years, it is gratifying to hear – and not for the first time – that this topic is as valuable to students as the Law Pundit has always claimed that it is. Although legal writing courses do not have the intellectual depth of e.g. constitutional law – which was my favorite subject during student days, they are, in the real world, far more useful in the long run.