Student Feedback on Legal Skills

"I knew how to write a memo. My employer loved my work!"

"Writing memos made much easier; research methods from Legal Skills very helpful."

"It provided me with basic knowledge of legal practice (i.e. writing techniques, expectations) that I did not possess beforehand and that benefited me when I started my internship. The first year provided a good foundation."

"I did a lot of research and writing memos. I was so glad I had at least a few under my belt and that my first assignment wasn’t a mystery."

"Legal Skills is an excellent program and really shaped my summer experience working for a district court judge. I felt comfortable with my legal vocabulary and research ability."

"The Legal Skills memos really helped me. The ones I did this summer were 'Short Answer' instead of Question Presented, Statement, Analysis, Conclusion. It was pretty easy to adapt."

"It gave me the tools to tackle the research and writing assignments I got from the law clerks."

"It definitely helped me in drafting memos. Especially having learned the IRAC method."

"Memo writing provided practice for the memos and opinions that I drafted this summer."

"The legal research component was useful, as I was a research assistant this summer."

"The writing experience gave me a better skill set."

"It was incredibly helpful to have some practical experience before working in a law firm. The other summer associate’s law school curriculum was all theory, and she really envied the program I was offered."

"I felt very comfortable writing memos and blue-booking. I had the opportunity to draft a complaint and the attorney used it word for word minus one sentence, which felt very gratifying."

"I did a lot of writing this summer and the blue-booking and writing training were both useful."

"My blue-booking was complimented by my boss at the USAO’s in D.C."

"I had a few research projects and my skills experience helped me identify the issues and craft my responses."

"The research skills helped a lot, but most importantly the exposure to a firm-like simulation."

"[Employer] says she's getting all her interns from us in the future, and she went to [a top ten law school]!"

"More than anything else, Legal Skills enabled me to be comfortable and familiar with legal writing as well as having a format that would be effective. It also made me realize the need to conduct thorough research before I began writing."

"I believe the biggest benefit from Legal Skills was the practice at concise and objective writing which contrasted greatly with my undergrad writing."

"I think that learning to write memos and the help that was made available to us for the development of our writing skills was invaluable." 

"The practical application of legal skills in the context of a small, mock firm was especially helpful when working as a summer associate at an actual law firm."

"Being able to have a familiarity with drafting memorandums, motions, and pleadings allowed me to immediately take on questions without having to ask procedural questions."

"I think Legal Skills helped establish a familiarity with 'legalese.'"

"I probably wouldn’t have known how to write a legal memo if not for Skills, and I wrote plenty of them this summer."