Ah, LRW.  It's a right of passage for first year law students everywhere, and GW Law is no exception.  And while we may moan and groan about it, many students fail to appreciate the uniqueness, efficiency, and importance of our school's legal research and writing program.

Unlike some other similar programs across the country, GW Law's LRW program takes full advantage of its student staff.  While the adjunct professors may take the lead, the Dean's Fellows and Writing Fellows provide the support that makes this program so effective.

Indeed, says Professor Christy DeSanctis, Associate Professor of Legal Research and Writing and Director of the Legal Research and Writing Program, "LRW is a tremendously difficult class to appreciate in the moment."  But, she says, "I can't tell you how many 'mea culpa' emails I receive when our students go out into the legal workplace and realize that they have far better writing skills than their peers from other institutions.  The Professors, the Dean's Fellows and Writing Fellows, and the exceptionally small faculty-to-student ratio of our classes, truly help us offer as much one-on-one assistance as possible and result in overall positive and long-lasting personal and professional relationships."

The Dean's Fellows and Writing Fellows, DeSanctis continues, are critical to the "one-on-one setting" and help "to ensure appropriate attention given that the LRW adjunct professors have full-time jobs outside of GW."  And,  she says, "the Dean's Fellows and Writing Fellows are uniquely situated to help us ferret out and address issues that arise during the course of the semester.  For example, we learn from the Writing Fellows what issues the students are having trouble with, and can then disseminate advice to the adjunct professor on how to deal with it."  It is no surprise then that to ensure the further success of the program, Professor DeSanctis, along with her colleagues Professors Jessica Clark and Iselin M Gambert, take great care in selecting prospective Fellows.

In screening candidates, administrators consider several factors and rely heavily on a personal statement expressing the basis of student's interest.  Applicants for the next year's Dean's Fellow program must be at least a 2L or a 3L evening student, and those for the Writing Fellow program can be either current 1Ls or 2Ls.  In selecting Writing Fellows, the administration considers the student's grades, prior teaching/tutoring experience, and proficiency in a foreign language.  For Dean's Fellows, the Professors look at the student's performance in LRW, participation in law school activities, prior teaching experience, and a proposed lesson plan.  Finally, applicants must sit for interviews and Dean's Fellow applicants must also conduct a five minute lesson.

But, says Tim Frey, a Dean's Fellow, the rigorous application process is well worth it.  "Dean's Fellows get to help their students with the more day-to-day aspects of law school.  While the adjunct are great teachers and can give advice based on their past law school experiences, Dean's Fellows were 1L's only 2 years before and can thus better appreciate what the students are going through."

This year, the LRW Program administrators have a touch selection process ahead of them.  According to Professor DeSantis, sixty students applied for forty-two Dean's Fellow positions, while they received one hundred and twenty-five applications for thirty Writing Fellow openings.  Decisions as to next year's program will be announced on the Dean's Fellow/Writing Fellow Application TWEN page by Sunday, March 7, 2010.  Lists of the selected applicants will also be posted by Professor Clark's office door (Burns 407) and the teaching center door (Burns 410).