1L Resources
Students learn by assuming the role of lawyers giving legal advice to clients in realistic fact situations. They perform hands-on legal research, under the guidance of the Westminster Law Library Reference Librarians, and they draft complex legal documents. In the first semester, students are introduced to legal research and to objective legal writing by preparing an office memorandum. In the second semester, students research and write a persuasive appellate brief. Students further enhance their skills by presenting their argument orally to a panel of judges at the end of the term.
The Lawyering Process Program is an innovative two-semester course designed to introduce our first year students to the essential tools of lawyering:
- Categories and Weight of Legal Authorities
- Legal Research
- Legal Analysis and Problem Solving
- Legal Communication – Written and Oral
Academic Achievement Program
CaseMap
Legal Research Resources
LP Faculty and Staff
Sign-ups and Registrations
Streaming Videos
Technology
TWEN
Useful Links and Tutorials
Academic Achievement Program
The Academic Achievement Program provides useful resources to students throughout their law school experience. Visit their website for more information including the Writing Tips.
CaseMap
To Download the Annotated Casemap Shell File:
Click on the file DU-shell-file-Feb-2010.cm8, save to the desktop, double-click on the .zip file to open it in Windows Explorer, click on the “Extract all files” link to unzip it, and then double-click on the .cm8 file to open in Casemap.
To download a version of the CaseMap Shell file in Excel format (for Mac users), please click here. You must have Office 2011 for the Mac installed to run the Excel CaseMap replacement.
You will need CaseMap software installed and registered very early in the fall semester of Lawyering Process. Contact the Help Desk for assistance.
We have developed a starter, “shell” file that each student can use to get started in working with CaseMap. You can download the Annotated CaseMap Shell File and place it on the desktop.
Macintosh users may run CaseMap in Bootcamp or Parallels. If your Mac does not have windows compatibility, you may be able to use a similar approach in the Mac environment. See the Technology TA if you have questions.
After you have downloaded the file and placed it in this folder, open CaseMap and choose File, Open, and open the “Shell” file. Change the name of the person creating the file to your own by selecting Tools, Manage Case Staff. (A help sheet for this and other CaseMap concepts can be found in “CaseMap Help Sheets” below). Then make modifications as you gather facts and conduct legal research on the client matter assigned by your LP Professor.
Click the links below to open these help files in Adobe Acrobat.
CaseMap Help Sheets:
Adding & Hiding Fields
Changing User Names
Getting Started
Issues Screen
Linking Issues
Linking to Files
New Fact
New Object
New Research Item
Printing from CaseMap
Renaming a File
Sharing Case Data
Sorting
Viewing the Description Column
Legal Research Resources
Legal Research Guides, Resource Maps, and Legal Research Tips – Useful information regarding research tools and skills needed for LP.
Students learn by assuming the role of lawyers giving legal advice to clients in realistic fact situations. They perform hands-on legal research, under the guidance of the Westminster Law Library Reference Librarians, and they draft complex legal documents. In the first semester, students are introduced to legal research and to objective legal writing by preparing an office memorandum. In the second semester, students research and write a persuasive appellate brief. Students further enhance their skills by presenting their argument orally to a panel of judges at the end of the term.
LP Faculty and Staff
There are currently nine Lawyering Process faculty members, including one director and a program coordinator. Click here to learn more about them.
Sign-ups and Registrations for Events and Training
Need to sign up for a CaseMap or Westlaw/Lexis Nexis training session or planning to attend Judges’ Day? You can find information here.
Streaming Videos
Miss a presentation or event? Visit our active list of videos to catch what you missed.
Technology
Learn more about the technology used within LP. You can also register for training here.
TWEN
TWEN – First year students enrolled in this course can access TWEN to view their specific course syllabus and materials. This is a online tool used by most faculty in the law school.
Useful Links and Tutorials
Click here to view various links and tutorials about grammar, writing, plagiarism and citation.