MICHAEL R. SMITH

PROFESSOR OF LAW

  AND DIRECTOR OF LEGAL WRITING PROGRAM

Office: 202 College of Law Building
Telephone: 307-766-6421
Email address: msmith89@uwyo.edu

Michael Smith has been a Professor of Law and the Director of Legal Writing at the University of Wyoming College of Law since 2006.  Prof. Smith administers the law school’s legal writing program and teaches classes in Legal Writing and Appellate Advocacy.

Before joining the University of Wyoming College of Law, Smith taught in two nationally ranked legal writing programs.  Immediately prior to coming to the University of Wyoming, he was an Associate Professor of Law at Mercer University School of Law, where he helped design Mercer’s innovative legal writing curriculum.  In 2005, the first year legal writing programs were rated, Mercer’s program was rated number 1 in the nation (tied with Seattle) by U.S. News and World Report.  Since then, the program that Smith helped to design at Mercer has consistently ranked in the top five in the nation.  Before joining Mercer, Smith taught legal writing at Temple University School of Law.  Temple’s legal writing program, too, has consistently been ranked in the top five in the country.  Before joining the Temple faculty, Smith was on the law faculties of two other law schools: The University of San Diego College of Law (1992-1996); and The University of Florida College of Law (1990-1992).  Prior to teaching law, he practiced law in Pensacola, Florida with the law firm of Carlton, Fields, Ward, Emmanuel, Smith & Cutler and in Newport Beach, California with the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Smith’s primary areas of scholarly interest are the psychology of persuasion and, more generally, the cognitive processes underlying effective legal writing.  He has written extensively in these areas and has given numerous presentations, both in the United States and abroad.  In 2002, Smith published his book, Advanced Legal Writing: Theories and Strategies in Persuasive Writing (Aspen 2002).  This multi-disciplinary book has been hailed as a groundbreaking work in the area of persuasive legal writing and, as one reviewer noted, "a must read for every legal writing and advocacy teacher."*

* Kathryn M. Stanchi, Moving Beyond Instinct: Persuasion in the Era of Professional Legal Writing (A Book Review of Advanced Legal Writing by Michael R. Smith), 9 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 935, 936 (2005).

Education

B.S., Florida State University,1982 (Summa Cum Laude).

J.D., University of Florida College of Law, 1985 (With Honors, Order of the Coif, Phi Kappa

        Phi, Sr. Research Editor - U. Fla. L. Rev.).

Recent Publications

Books and Contributions to Books:

Recent Presentations

"The Five Levels of Metaphor in Persuasive Legal Writing," presented at the 2006 Legal Writing Institute Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, June 9, 2006.

"Publishing Legal Writing Books: How We Did It, and How You Can Do It , Too," presented at the 2006 Legal Writing Institute Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, June 9, 2006 (panel presentation).

"Once Upon a Time: A Three-Part Collaboration to Start the New Discipline of Applied Storytelling in Law," poster presentation at the 2006 AALS Conference on Clinical Education, New York, New York, April 30, 2006 (with Ruth Anne Robbins and Brian J. Foley).

"Summoning Dreams and Swords: Exploring the Power of Literary Allusion in Persuasive Discourse," presented at the international conference, The Power of Stories: Intersections of Law, Culture, and Literature, University of Gloucestershire, Gloucester, England, July 26, 2005.

"Psyched Up: Teaching the Psychology of Persuasion," presented at the 2005 New England Consortium of Legal Writing Teachers Regional Conference, Albany Law School, Albany, New York, June 10, 2005 (with Ruth Anne Robbins).

"Shared Stories: Exploring the Functions of Literary Allusion in Persuasive Discourse," presented at the 2005 Conference of the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities, College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, March 12. 2005.

"Scholarship Guides: Journals, Passports, Roadmaps," presented at the 2004 Legal Writing Institute Conference, Seattle University School of Law, July 24, 2004 (with Linda L. Berger).

"Shared Stories: Exploring the Functions of Literary Allusion in Persuasive Writing," presented at the 2004 Rocky Mountain Regional Legal Writing Conference, University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Law, March 6, 2004.

Moderator/Facilitator, Roundtable Discussion on "Upper-Level Legal Writing Courses," at the 2003 Association of Legal Writing Directors Biennial Meeting, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, July 19, 2003.

"The Cognitive Dimensions of Illustrative Narratives in the Communication of Rule-Based Analysis," presented at the 2003 Notre Dame Law School Colloquium on Legal Discourse, June 11, 2003.

"Alternative Approaches to Designing Advanced Legal Writing Courses," presented at the 2002 Legal Writing Institute Conference, University of Tennessee College of Law, May 30, 2002 (with Amy E. Sloan).

"Alternative Approaches to Designing Advanced Legal Writing Courses," presented at the 2001 Southeastern Regional Research and Writing Conference, Stetson University College of Law, September 8, 2001.

"Theories and Strategies of Persuasive Writing: An Overview," presented at the Southeastern Conference of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), Hilton Head Island, S.C., July 16, 2001.

"Persuasive Writing: How to Persuade in Argument," presented at the "Essentials for Appellate Practice" CLE Program sponsored by Mercer Law School and the Macon Bar Association, Mercer University School of Law, Macon, Georgia, February 9, 2001.

"Analyzing Lawyer-Client Relationships in Film," presented annually (1999-2005) as part of the Introduction to Client Counseling Program required for all second-year law students at Mercer University School of Law, Macon, Georgia.

"Legal Writing 'Skills' Scholarship: Proposals for the Future," presented at the 1998 Legal Writing Institute Conference, University of Michigan School of Law, June 19, 1998.

"The Total Integration of Legal Research, Legal Writing, and Legal Analysis," presented at the 1998 Legal Writing Institute Conference, University of Michigan School of Law, June 20, 1998 (panel presentation).

"'Skills' Scholarship in Legal Writing: Toward an Interdisciplinary Future," presented at the 1997 Atlantic Region Legal Research and Writing Conference, Temple University School of Law, May 30, 1997.

Professional Memberships and Positions

Association of Legal Writing Directors

        Board of Directors (2003-2005)

        Founding Member, Editorial Committee for the Journal of the Association of Legal

                Writing Directors (2002 - Present)

The Legal Writing Institute

        Board of Directors (2006-2010)

        Member, Committee on Committees (2006 - Present)

        Member, Upper Level Legal Writing Committee (2002 - 2006)

American Bar Association

        Member, "Beyond the First Year" Subcommittee, ABA Communications Skills

                Committee, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar (2002 - 2006)

AALS - Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning and Research

The Florida Bar (inactive)

The State Bar of California (inactive)

Honors For Teaching or Academic Service

Outstanding Academic Service Award, presented by the Black Law Students Association, Mercer University School of Law, March 15, 2006.

Commendation from the Mercer University House of Delegates for working with the House of Delegates, the University President’s Office, and University Counsel on revising the University’s "Faculty Grievance Procedure," issued May 12, 2005.

Commendation from the Mercer Law School Chapter of the Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity (Fish Chapter) for serving as the faculty advisor on its award-winning speaker series, "From Law Student to Lawyer: What Law School Doesn’t Teach You," issued September 14, 2004.

Honorary Certificate in Advanced Legal Writing, Research, and Drafting, presented by the third year students of the Legal Writing Certificate Program, Mercer University School of Law, May 11, 2002.