Peer Review In Advanced Legal Writing Course

Patricia Montana (St. John's), Peer Review in Advanced Legal Writing Course, 68 St. Louis U. L.J. 1 (2023):

This Article adds to the conversation about peer review, discussing specifically the numerous benefits peer review brings to an advanced legal writing course. The Article illustrates how to effectively integrate peer review into an advanced legal writing course. Peer reviews can support student learning and improve students’ legal analysis and writing, among other things. Thus, the Article encourages law professors to experiment with peer review exercises and incorporate them into their advanced legal writing courses.

Conclusion
While it’s clear that peer review exercises have been explored in first-year legal writing classes, it’s less evident that they have been used in advanced legal writing classes. Given that upper-level students are better poised to engage in meaningful peer and self-critique, an advanced legal writing course is a more appropriate context for peer review exercises. The benefits of peer review exercises are numerous, including reinforcing students’ understanding of legal writing organization and techniques, teaching them to work cooperatively and be more receptive to critique by others, honing their own self-editing skills, and appreciating the recursive process of writing. In the end, they develop into better legal thinkers and writers. As such, professors should be encouraged to experiment with peer review exercises, integrating them into their advanced legal writing courses. 

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