SEAALL Institute : SEAALL 2011 | Southeastern Chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries 2011 Annual Meeting, Columbia, South Carolina

2011 SEAALL Institute Final Program

Thursday, April 14, 2011

8:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Registration open
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. SEAALL Institute (Carolina Wren)

ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING INSTRUCTION: ARE OUR STUDENTS LEARNING WHAT WE TEACH?

Concern about students' and recent law school graduates' research and writing skills has existed for decades. The Digital Revolution has added its own twist in that students consider Google an index and think everything can be found online simply by "googling" it. According to the students, nothing more is needed.

We've often discovered, as have many of the firms that employ law students, that students don't know how to approach a research problem cost effectively. In today's global economy, law students need to be able to leave school and be able to research and write cost effectively and efficiently from the first day that they are hired.

To address these concerns, the speakers at the Institute will be examining:

what first year law students should know about legal research;
what law school graduates should know about approaching a research problem;
how to use online or distance education to provide alums additional research training;
what information literacy is and how to measure whether research and writing courses work;
how librarians and legal writing instructors can work together to enhance students' research experiences;
what currently enrolled law students and alums say about their legal research experiences;
what legal employers say about legal research skills of their recent hires; and
how to create cost effective legal research skills and programs.

INSTITUTE MODERATOR: ROBERT T. BOCKMAN, Esq., MCNAIR LAW FIRM, COLUMBIA, SC

9:00 - 9:15 Welcome & Introduction

Session 1 - Legal Research Skills: Integrating the Library & the Writing Program

9:15 - 10:00 Research Skills/Information Literacy

Nancy Johnson, George State University, College of Law Library

Lisa Smith-Butler, Charleston School of Law, Sol Blatt Jr. Law Library

Rebecca Trammel, Stetson University College of Law, Dolly and Homer Hand Law Library

Program Handouts:
Johnson,

Legal Research Skills
Legal Research Skills (PPTX)

Smith-Butler,

Trammel, Legal Research Skills (PPTX)

10:00 - 10:15 Break

10:15 - 11:30 - Integrating Research & Writing Skills into a First Year Program

Teaching Legal Research

Rebekah Maxwell, University of South Carolina

Nichelle Perry, North Carolina Central University

Teaching Legal Writing

Jan Baker, University of South Carolina

Liz Dalzell, University of South Carolina

Brenda Gibson, Director of Legal Writing, North Carolina Central University

Program Handouts:
Baker & Dalzell,

Gibson,

Session 2 - 11:30 - 12:15 Employers' Perspectives on Legal Research & Writing Skills: Can our employees/your students do cost effective research?

: Mary Jane Slipsky, Nelson Mullins, Columbia, SC; Janet Meyer, Supreme Court of South Carolina; Margaret Dye, Hunton & Williams, Atlanta, GA; Program Handouts:
Dye, Reality 101: Preparing for Life Beyond Law School
Slipsky, Top 10 Research Skills for Summer Associates in a Law Firm
12:15 - 1:45 Lunch (Breakout I & II)

Afternoon Program

Session 3 - 1:45 - 2:15 Graduates and Students Discuss Their Skills. What I learned in law school and what I wished I had learned about research and writing.

: Kristin Millonzi, Abrahams & Millonzi, Charleston, SC; Neal Truslow, Truslow & Truslow, Columbia, SC; Program Handouts:
Millonzi, Graduates Discuss Their Skills and What Worked and What Did Not Work
2:15 - 2:45 Break

Session 4 - 2:45 - 4:00 Teaching Cost Effective Research Skills: A panel to discuss teaching skills and evaluation methods.

: Presenters in the morning sessions will return for a panel discussion on teaching skills and evaluation methods, with audience participation.

End of Institute