As law schools downsize their faculty to offset falling student enrollment, faculty members will likely face greater teaching loads and increased pressure to produce graduates who can not only pass the bar, but are “practice ready.” Formative assessment, prompt and individualized feedback, mentoring, and one-on-one conferences are all integral to achieving those goals. As a consequence, faculty will need to rethink their approach to teaching so that they can meet these new expectations. This is particularly true in legal writing courses, where students are researching and writing throughout the year, and the demand for practice writing opportunities and feedback is high. Teaching assistants are an underutilized resource available at most law schools that could greatly assist legal writing faculty in preparing students for the practice of law.
This Article argues that legal writing programs should incorporate teaching assistants into their teaching model. To the extent legal writing faculty already rely on teaching assistants to teach research and citation, or provide general instruction in predictive and persuasive writing, they should assess whether they are maximizing their use to improve first-year students’ performance in these essential skills. Teaching assistants should be used more purposefully as well as in more varied ways. Thus, this Article proposes a contemporary legal writing instructional model whereby teaching assistants help in all areas of instruction. They will teach, provide feedback, and mentor students throughout. With the professor’s guidance, teaching assistants will reinforce what students have learned in class and expand on that knowledge and experience by leading small group sessions.
Specifically, the Article first examines how law schools have traditionally used teaching assistants. Though there is a fair amount of information on how many law schools use teaching assistants and to what extent, there is not much detail on the way they are used. Nevertheless, the general impression is that teaching assistants are ancillary in most programs, serving mostly an affective role. Next, the Article explains the design of St. John’s University School of Law’s first-year legal writing program and its recent move to more fully integrate the use of teaching assistants. Drawing on my own use of teaching assistants as a model, the Article illustrates how a program that uses teaching assistants in a highly organized way to teach, provide feedback, as well as mentor students can greatly enrich the legal research and writing experience for first- year students.
Then, the Article discusses how using teaching assistants in this way benefits everyone: first-year students, professors, and the teaching assistants themselves. For example, learning from a peer helps students acquire a firmer grasp on concepts because they can review what they learned or did not understand from their professors’ instruction and ask clarifying questions. They can do all of this in a very supportive and collaborative environment, as working with a peer is usually far less intimidating than working directly with a professor. The use of teaching assistants also means that there are more opportunities for students to practice research and writing, revise and polish their drafts, and receive emotional and other academic support.
The addition of teaching assistants will allow professors to use their time more efficiently and productively too. Because teaching assistants will underscore important class instruction and answer many of the students’ pressing questions, professors will have more time to meet with students in groups or individually on discrete topics and specific writing projects. The extra time will allow them to delve deeper into the law and teach advanced research and writing techniques as well. Additionally, they can use their teaching assistants to explore different teaching methods and experiment with new material. The result is a more enriched curriculum and an overall improved learning experience for the students.
Lastly, the teaching assistants themselves benefit from the experience because they are able to develop and refine their own research and writing skills. For example, “the processes of reviewing and organizing material might even lead to a partial or complete reformulation of the subject, giving rise to new insights or a more thorough comprehension of the deep structure of the material.” By moderating class discussions and meeting with students, teaching assistants also improve their oral presentation skills. Moreover, they learn to develop confidence in their writing and editing skills, collaborate with different types of people, and manage their time more effectively.
In addition to these many benefits, using teaching assistants is a very “reliable” and “low-cost method” to improving first-year students’ legal research and writing skills. Accordingly, they should be utilized more regularly and productively. Thus, this Article presents a proposal for how to do so. At a time where budgets are tight but law schools must still improve upon how they prepare students for the practice of law, it’s only logical that they should make greater use of teaching assistants.