First-Year Program
Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University offers you a nationally ranked Legal Research and Writing Program. Your first-year instruction will consist of two required courses, for a total of five fully-graded credit hours. The fall semester course, Legal Research and Writing I, is a three-credit course that introduces students to the tools and techniques that are essential to law practice: legal analysis, conducting legal research, and objective writing (via the office memorandum form). The spring semester course, Legal Research and Writing II, is a two-credit course that introduces students to the tools and techniques that are essential to communicating with and advocating effectively and ethically for a client. Students will continue to hone their legal research and writing skills, but the will also engage in negotiations and oral argument.
The LRW Program emphasizes the technical research and writing skills necessary for successful new attorneys, but it also places emphasis on the other skills that are necessary for the ethical practice of law. For instance, students will learn the importance of professionalism and time management. They will also gain an understanding of the technologies that are relevant to legal research and writing, including generative AI, and the ethical implications of its use.
Faculty teaching in the LRW program are committed to student learning and success, and our program is staffed by a combination of full-time faculty and adjunct faculty members. The program also employs upper-level teaching assistants and a writing specialist to supplement faculty instruction. All assignments are prepared by the full-time writing professors.
Duquesne Kline Law has very small class sizes with exceptionally low student:faculty ratios, and faculty provide students with extensive critiques. We hold a series of required individual conferences between each student and the professor, and require submissions of revisions following the professor's written and oral feedback (for further review). Students in our program receive the type of one-one-feedback that is characteristic of the type of feedback new associates receive at law offices after they graduate.
Upper-Level Writing Experiences
In addition to other faculty-supervised writing courses and student publication opportunities there are several advanced legal writing courses taught by faculty in the Legal Research and Writing Program, including courses that focus on writing in a law practice and legislative drafting.
The Legal Writing Center
The home of the Legal Research and Writing Program is the Bridget and Alfred Pelaez Legal Writing Center, which was built in 2009 and funded by a generous gift from a law school alumnus who wanted to enhance the instruction provided to Duquesne Kline Law students.
