Professor Kate Brem
Professor Sarah J. Morath
Professor Lauren Simpson
June 10, 2019 —Two University of Houston Law Center Lawyering Skills and Strategies professors recently presented at the Association of Legal Writing Directors Conference in Boston.
Hosted by Suffolk University Law School, the biennial conference in May focused on transformative leadership.
Professor Kate Brem’s panel presentation, “Equal Education for All,” discussed the search for balance between a school’s limited resources and its obligation to provide equalized education to foreign law students. She explained how she integrated foreign law students into the 1L LSS curriculum to introduce concepts of international law such as civil law, international arbitration, and cross-national transactions.
Brem posited that the integration of foreign and local students maximizes her foreign students’ experience at UHLC, while simultaneously addressing her local students’ need to understand the ever-increasing globalization of U.S. legal practice.
Professor Sarah J. Morath’s panel presentation, “Creating Student Leaders,” discussed how legal writing fellowship and honors programs can help develop leadership skills in students. Morath described leadership as a critical lawyering skill that is sometimes overlooked in law school curricula and explained how fellowship programs offer students the opportunity to exercise discretion, initiative and authority.
Prior to the conference, Morath participated in the inaugural ALWD Leadership Academy, which gave participants an opportunity to focus on professional development through exposure to leadership skills and theory. At the ALWD membership meeting, Professor Lauren Simpson received an ALWD Outstanding Service Award for chairing the ALWD By-Laws Committee. These annual awards recognize ALWD committee members who have gone above and beyond in their service for the year.
The conference was sponsored by 16 law schools, including the Law Center.
