The Practice Tips Series is an online resource of articles for new lawyers and covers both substantive and practical aspects of legal practice.
The Practice Tips are specifically designed for the new lawyer or a more experienced lawyer delving into a new area of law. The Practice Tips articles help introduce an overview of a particular area of law in an easy-to-read format. These articles are not meant to be scholarly publications or law review articles. These articles may figuratively constitute the intersection of Cliff Notes and Reader’s Digest with a professional tone.
Submitting an Article for Consideration
Each article should be concise and limited to approximately 500 to 700 words. The VSB YLC prefers articles with short sentences and paragraphs, the use of active voice, bullet points, catchy quotes, and creative examples. In general, the Practice Tips Series follows the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition; the Bluebook, 20th edition; and the Oxford English Dictionary.
Contact Alex MacDonald (amac2644@gmail.com) if you have questions or are interested in submitting an article for consideration.
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Litigation Tips – Quick Tips for Litigators
o The Lawyer’s Guide to Drafting a Satisfactory Answer; or Another Article About Applicable Advice for Attorneys to Adequately Author an Appropriate and Acceptable Answer in All Areas
o Three Tips for Drafting a Dispute Resolution Clause
o Ethical Considerations at the Beginning of a New Civil Matter
o Briefing Your First Appeal Before a U.S. Court of Appeals
o Practice Pointers for Litigating Title IX Cases
o Escape the Three Biggest Mistakes of Oral Argument
o “Reasonably Calculated”: Confusion over the Scope of Discovery
Substantive Tips – Quick Surveys of Substantive Topics
o Dealing with Debt: The Basics of Debt Collection
o Your First Section 1983 Action
Practical Tips – Quick Practice Hacks for Everyone
o Writing Billing Summaries: Four Tips for the New Lawyer
o So, You Have Been Assigned a Project? – Part 1 (Set Up)
o So You Have Been Assigned a Project – Part 2 (Running Your Project)
o Five Critically Important Career-Building Lessons
o Five Tips on How to Nail the Big Job Interview
o Time to Reflect and Think about the Big Picture
o Conference Call Fundamentals
o The Art of Seizing the Moment
o Anchors Away: Cognitive Biases in the Law
Writing Tips – Quick Tips to Punch Up Your Prose
o Becoming a Better Legal Writer
o Drafting Effective EEOC Position Statements
o Effective E-mails, Part 1: Get Noticed
o Effective E-mails, Part 2: Take Your Time