<p>I understand that being a good writer is a pre-requisite to succeeding in law school/law, but what I wanted to know is exactly what type of writing is expected in law school/law, and how extensive is it?</p>
<p>There really isn't all that much writing. Most of the classes I took in undergrad required a lot more writing than the typical law class. As a 1L, you'll have a legal research/writing class that will probably require a memo or two and an appellate brief. Those aren't very much like college papers, the class is often not graded and generally only a minor part of the curriculum (although it can consume a lot of your time). Most classes have just one three-hour exam at the end, so your writing is going to be rushed and probably kind of sloppy as you try to discuss as many issues as you can find. Upper-level classes and seminars will often feature a paper written in the same format as a law review article. You can look through a journal to get an idea of what this entails.</p>
<p>The answer to this depends on what type and how much writing you did as an undergrad. I was an English major in a very competitive program so the writing in law school paled in comparison for me. However, I had friends who majored in other areas who were freaked out by the writing. For exams, much of the writing is issue spotting with a very concise analysis. You need to be able to get to the point quickly and not waste words - I had many very smart friends who just couldn't seem to finish an exam.</p>
<p>I preferred writing papers to writing exams, and took a lot of seminars in law school (after my first year, which consisted mostly of large lectures).</p>
<p>We also had a separate legal writing course that required a lot of papers, and drafted appellate briefs for moot court.</p>
<p>I focused on litigation the first twelve years of my career, which required a lot of law and motion briefs. This is a specialized kind of writing in which you cite legal authorities to the judge, and argue that the facts of the case should result in a particular ruling.</p>
<p>I went in-house ten years ago, and became a licensing attorney. My writing now falls mostly into two buckets: sending emails to answer legal questions posed by other employees of the corporation where I work, and drafting complex contracts.</p>
<p>so in general how long are these briefs? Sorry I'm asking such basic questions, but I would just like to have better insight into being a lawyer from the writing perspective. Thanks again.</p>
<p>A typical law and motion brief might be ten pages, double-spaced.</p>