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This month marks the end of Professor Melissa Weresh’s two-year term as president of the Legal Writing Institute (LWI). LWI is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving legal writing by providing a forum for discussion and scholarship about legal writing, analysis, and research. Weresh will move to the role of immediate past-president through 2016, after serving as president-elect from 2010-2012 and president from 2012-2014. During her final, two-year term, she will remain on the executive committee of the LWI board of directors.
LWI is a professional organization made up of over 2,700 members with the purpose of exchanging ideas about legal writing and providing a forum for research and scholarship about legal writing and analysis. It is thought to be one of the largest member-groups of legal professionals outside the American Association of Law Schools.
“As legal education adapts to a shifting market, legal writing professionals stand in an excellent position to provide resources,” says Weresh. “[W]e are a community of educators and scholars who routinely speak and write on the subject of legal skills and innovation in legal education. This expertise is a valuable commodity in these changing times. The organization provides a dedicated, collaborative forum in which members generously share knowledge, strategies, and resources.”
LWI engages over 20 committees that focus on efforts for outreach as well as internal programming. The resources of LWI are beneficial for pre-law advisors, pro-bono initiatives, and academy/bench/bar collaborations. Within the academy, LWI provides teaching resources for law school and graduate degree programming, as well as grants and scholarship resources for members. Competent and effective legal writing ability is vital for newly practicing lawyers.
Through the organization, members have the benefit of communicating with others in their field in order to use that knowledge to best prepare students for life after law school.
“LWI members have a great deal to offer in the ongoing dialogue about future developments for legal education,” says Weresh.
Drake Law School has long been known for the emphasis on practical preparation for students with a significant focus on ethical and professional considerations associated with legal communication. The legal writing program has played an important role in that process, having a history of national recognition.
Professor Melissa H. Weresh has been teaching at Drake Law School since 1997. Her expertise lies in the areas of legal writing, appellate advocacy, environmental law, ethics, and professional responsibility. She regularly contributes to scholarly work in these areas and has been a member of several boards and professional organizations.