As a professor and pre-law advisor, countless students express a passion for and commitment to a legal career every semester. In so doing, they always ask the same question: what skills are needed to be a great lawyer? Intelligence, critical thinking…
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Developing strong persuasive advocacy skills—both written and oral—is a challenging process that requires dedication, resilience, a growth mindset, and a commitment to lifelong learning. Law students begin honing these skills early, navigating th…
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Anxiety is a common experience for attorneys. Whether you’re preparing for an oral argument, conducting a deposition, or leading a trial, the pressure can be intense—and the fear of underperforming can be debilitating. But anxiety doesn’t have…
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Ask a juror what they remember months after trial, and chances are they’ll recite the theme—not the jury charge. At the core of every persuasive brief, oral argument, or trial lies a theme—the beating heart of your case that distills law and fa…
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Public-employee speech doctrine appears, on paper, to be well settled. Courts recite familiar tests, invoke settled standards, and reaffirm bedrock First Amendment principles. The rules are known. The frameworks are stable. The citations are routine.…
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Most lawyers think they’re good negotiators because they argue for a living. They’re not. Argument is about winning a point. Negotiation is about shaping a decision. The best negotiators don’t overpower the other side—they design the environm…
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Most writing advice is either vague (“find your voice”) or obvious (“be clear”). Neither helps when the stakes are real—when you’re writing for judges, editors, gatekeepers, or readers who are actively looking for reasons to stop reading.…
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Public employers rarely punish speech outright anymore. They do something more subtle—and more effective. They invoke professionalism. Across public institutions, and especially universities, adverse actions are increasingly justified by claims abo…
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Speech is punished because it is disfavored. Universities then invent other reasons to conceal the suppression of free expression—presenting themselves as benevolent actors even when their conduct, in constitutional terms, constitutes a textbook vi…
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Garcetti v. Ceballos sought to clarify the limits of the First Amendment in the public workplace. In doing so, it revealed the boundary of a rule the Supreme Court itself declined to cross. That boundary is the university. Under Garcetti, when a publ…
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