Legal Analysis, Writing and Research (LAWR) Program Ranked 5th in the Nation

The U.S. News & World Report 2022 Best Graduate Schools Rankings – Law Schools has ranked Wake Forest University School of Law’s Legal Analysis, Writing & Research (LAWR) program #5 in the nation.

LAWR courses are designed to teach students how to research and analyze legal problems and how to use language with precision, clarity, and persuasiveness. The skills students learn in LAWR are foundational and essential components of the practice of law, no matter how they choose to use their law degree. This rise in the ranking into the Top 5 recognizes Wake Law’s commitment to producing graduates who excel in the foundational research, analysis, and writing skills that legal practice requires.

Our legal writing faculty are experienced teachers, respected scholars, and national leaders in the legal writing community. Laura Graham, Wake Forest LAWR’s program director, will be taking on the role of President of the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) in August 2021. Professor Graham is also celebrating ten years of authoring Writing that Works, a column published in the North Carolina Bar Association’s magazine, The North Carolina Lawyer. She also continues to serve on the NCBA’s Communications Committee.

Wake Forest LAWR faculty are also represented in leadership levels of the Legal Writing Institute (LWI). Abigail Perdue is Co-Chair of its New Member Outreach Committee and a contributing author to LWI Lives. Sarah Morath serves on the Governing Board of the Sirico Scholars’ Workshop and is a Managing Editor of Legal Writing: The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute. Brenda Gibson chairs LWI’s Awards Committee and is a member of the editorial board of LWI’s Monograph Series.

Christine Nero Coughlin continues to publish in several disciplines. She co-authored the book Modern Legal Scholarship: A Guide to Producing and Publishing Scholarly and Professional Writing, published by Carolina Academic Press, and The Stories We Tell: Narrative, Policymaking, and the Right to Try, a symposium article for the Wake Forest Journal of Law and Policy, with Professor Nancy M.P. King.

Hal Lloyd continues to publish in various areas and has a forthcoming article on semiotics in the University of Richmond Law Review.  He is also a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Gavel Awards and advises the Wake Forest Law School Transactional Competition.

John Korzen continues his important work as Chair of the North Carolina General Statutes Commission. He also serves as a member and sub-committee chair of the NCBA’s Appellate Rules Committee. Professor Korzen maintains an active appellate practice as Director and Supervising Attorney for Wake Law’s Appellate Advocacy Clinic. Clinic students are currently representing numerous clients in the Supreme Court of the United States, the North Carolina Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Wake Forest University School of Law is incredibly proud to count these talented and accomplished professors as its faculty. Now they can add being in the Top 5 of LAWR programs in the nation to their already impressive list of accomplishments.