Writing Center

Through the Writing Center, Southwestern offers individualized assistance, workshops, and courses geared toward making students better legal writers. With content-based and process-based instruction, students learn to evaluate and rewrite their work, become more confident in their written product and are more prepared for today's legal workplace.

First-year students can meet with the Center's Writing Specialists and Fellows to develop their basic writing skills so they can better focus on the material their LAWS professors are teaching. The feedback will conform to any restrictions given by individual professors.

Upper-division students can meet with the Center's Director, Writing Specialists, and Fellows, to review seminar papers, externship assignments, law review and law journal articles, cover letters, and writing samples. Students are welcome to visit at any stage of their writing - from brainstorming to polishing. The feedback will conform to any restrictions given by individual professors or externship supervisors.

In addition, the Writing Center holds numerous workshops throughout the year that focus on developing students' legal writing and revision skills. Workshops vary year-to-year based on student need. Past workshops have included Game Plans for Revision: Learn to Self-Edit One Issue at a Time; Writing Better Sentences: Concision and Precision; Mastering Mechanics; Self-Editing; Citation Review; and Grammar and Punctuation review.

The Writing Center maintains learning materials on its Canvas site to assist students with improving writing at their own pace.

Storytelling Project

The Writing Center is home to the Storytelling Project.  Prof. D’Italia developed the project in 2020 to teach the power of narrative in law practice. In 2022, The National Jurist recognized the project for its innovation. The Project’s workshops and speaker series for students, alumni, and faculty cover topics such as fiction techniques in persuasive writing, evolving language in legal narratives, personal storytelling in interviews and cover letters, drafting declarations, effective closing arguments, and more. The annual Faculty StorySlam is a favorite among faculty and students alike. 

Details on the Writing Center's hours and appointment policy can be found on the Writing Center's Canvas course.

Current students can also find additional details and resources on the Portal.