Professor Cameron lectures in a Stetson University College of Law classroom

Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication

Stetson's Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication is a home for the study of the legal communication issues that face lawyers, judges, other professionals, and the public. It supports an active community of legal communication and writing scholars, and its faculty work to develop innovative and effective methods and programs for teaching legal communication theory, skills, and values to students. The institute's training programs provide instruction to lawyers, judges, and other professionals to improve their legal communication skills.

The Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication's projects include:

  • Advanced Legal Writing and Communication Development Program in which students improve legal communication skills and learn about cutting-edge issues
  • Distinguished Legal Communication Speakers and Visiting Scholars, which have included Yale's Legal Writing Director Noah Messing; the Florida Supreme Court's Director of Communications Craig Waters; rhetoric expert Dr. Clarke Rountree of the University of Alabama, Huntsville; rhetoric scholar Dr. Katie Langford of Texas Tech University; and Dr. Chantal Morton of Melbourne Law School in Melbourne, Australia
  • Virtual Legal Writing Conference Webinars that provide information and community for legal writing faculty
  • 2014 and 2017 Southeast Regional Legal Writing Conference host
  • Rhetoric Colloquia and Workshops, which bring together faculty who research and write about law, rhetoric, and legal writing
  • Legal communication training for legal professionals including CLEs and customized legal communication training

Legal Research and Writing Curriculum

Stetson's commitment to legal communication extends to its Legal Research and Writing curriculum. Stetson has been ranked second among law schools for legal writing. Features of the curriculum include:

  • Full-time tenured and tenure-track legal writing faculty
  • Seven credits of legal research and writing training in the first-year
  • Subject-focused first-year advocacy courses with offering in areas such as elder law, environmental law, and international law
  • Advanced legal writing courses, including Judicial Writing, Successful Writing for Law Practice, and Contract Drafting

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Director's Message

Kirsten K. Davis"At Stetson, our mission is to lead the way in legal communication. Through our leadership, scholarship, and training programs, we collaborate with our colleagues around the world to improve our knowledge about and mastery of legal communication. And, through a robust legal research and writing curriculum that is centered on assessment and feedback, we empower students to be effective and ethical communicators in the legal profession."

Dr. Kirsten K. Davis
Director of the Institute for the Advancement of Legal Communication