Clarion University of Pennsylvania’s College of Business Administration and Information Sciences has published the second edition of Clarion University Law Journal. The 56-page journal is the culmination of a class project for Advanced Legal Writing and Research.
Dr. C. Frank Shepard, associate professor of finance and instructor of the class, said law journals contain advanced legal research on topics of interest to legal professionals and anyone interested in the current state of our legal system.
"Students selected their own topics based on what they considered to be the most relevant legal topics of the day," Shepard said. "By the time they entered the class, they had a thorough knowledge of the use of online law libraries such as Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis."
Clarion students have access to the Legal Collection, which contains all Law Reviews published in the United States.
"Each topic was exhaustively researched by the students. The legal conclusions of each paper were debated in sessions that frequently lasted at least a class period for each topic," Shepard said. "I viewed it as my job as instructor to research each issue so that I could take the opposite conclusion of the author and make counter-arguments."
Prior to taking the class, students had worked as interns in the legal community, many volunteering to work additional hours at Legal Aid and with other organizations. They had completed several law classes and knew how to do legal research, write briefs and draft pleadings.
"The Clarion University Law Journal shows the extreme talent, legal knowledge and skills of our students. The Advanced Legal Writing and Research class is required of our BSBA in paralegal students and our Integrative Studies: Paralegal students," he said. "In preparing the journal, the students engaged in detailed legal analysis and applied that analysis to the tough societal issues of our time. This type of in-depth analysis and application will serve them well in their legal careers."
Contributors include: Carrie Pakozdi, Carl Shepard, Nadia Pitts, Madison Campos, Tiara Schreckengost, Brittany Schneider, Morgan Douglass, Abigail Caspar, Eric Boyer, Stephen Hartley, Erica Hancock, and Amanda Ginnis.
The publication of the law journal was funded by the Barbara Morgan Harvey Center for the Study of Oil Heritage, located at Clarion University – Venango. Click here to view the journal.