The Writing Enhancement and Skills Program (WES) focuses on individual students, with specialized one-on-one sessions that identify areas in which students can benefit from further work – areas such as grammar, syntax, mechanics, expression, and style.
During the fall and spring semesters, the WES Program is available only to first-year students seeking a J.D. degree. By participating in the WES Program, 1L students can earn points toward their Legal Research and Writing courses. At all other times of the year (i.e., once the course timeline for earning these points concludes, during winter and spring breaks, and throughout the summer), the WES Program is open to all J.D. students – each of whom is encouraged to continue participating in the WES Program, to improve his or her overall writing skills.
The WES Program is a new and creative approach to the teaching and learning of writing skills in a law school setting. Indeed, from the very beginning – and as part of its pedagogical practice – WES has encouraged students in all law programs to consider producing work for publication. To date, WES has facilitated a dozen student projects that have been published already, or have been accepted or commissioned for publication in the future, by organizations in California, New York, and England. Such projects highlight individual student effort as well as dedicated institutional commitment to writing excellence.
For more information, contact:

 

The Rev. Prof. Raúl Fernandez-Calienes, Ph.D.
Visiting Associate Professor of Legal Writing Skills
and Executive Assistant to the Dean
305-623-2334