Welcome to Touro Law Center and to our Writing Resources Center Online. By way of introduction, I would like to briefly express my thoughts about the importance of writing.

In my opinion, the three most important skills you learn in law school are writing, writing, and writing. The three most important traits of a good lawyer, interestingly enough, are--guess what: writing, writing, and writing. You cannot pass the bar if you don’t write well, regardless of how much law you know. The same is true for the practice of law. You cannot become a very good lawyer if you do not write well.

Touro Law School, I have observed, is a good place to work on your writing skills. The Writing Resources Center and the director will help you develop those skills, but the first step starts with you--the student.

Learn how to write effectively and in a professional manner. You will write to your professors, prospective employers, judges, clients, and colleagues. Be sure that your writing represents you in the most positive way. Learn about topic sentences, sentence structure, word choice, acceptable grammar, and other aspects of the composition process.

Read the newspaper every day, and read books outside of what you are assigned in class. Look for good writing, and learn why some writing works while some writing falls flat.

You are already successful in our society because you have been admitted to law school, so in your mind you have achieved something special. I agree. But you must not become complacent about your writing. To this day, I still use the advice of others to edit my writing. I still read and learn from others who write well. I always work to become a better writer.

My suggestion is that you, too, work to improve your writing skills, something that I believe will serve you well at Bar Exam time and in the practice of law. Learn to ask for help: the Writing Resources Center Director will evaluate your writing needs when you visit the Writing Resources Center; you may want to work on the basics or you may be ready to work towards publication of an article or essay. Either way, do not waver from your decision to improve your writing.

Make the decision to keep a critical eye on your writing throughout your law school career, and don’t stray from that resolution.