Writing Workshop: Law and Creativity

Practicing law is very much a creative enterprise. Effective advocates and counselors provide innovative and thoughtful solutions to complex problems. But there often isn't enough attention devoted in law school either to thinking creatively or to reflecting in a creative way on the issues students confront inside and outside the classroom. This course will respond to this gap by building a bridge between law and the arts, with the goal of helping students hone their ability to think creatively and use disciplined imagination. Law & Creativity will meet twice a week and have dual components designed to inform one another. The first session will be structured as a seminar in which students gather to examine and discuss creative treatments of legal and professional issues in a variety of media (including film, fiction, and nonfiction). The second session will follow the creative-writing workshop model in which students submit their own fiction and creative nonfiction pieces for group discussion. Through the workshop process, students will develop the skills necessary to constructively critique and workshop one another's work, and learn a variety of techniques for improving their own creative writing. Elements used in grading: Class attendance, participation and final paper.