Second-Year Writing Requirement

A student, in order to receive a degree, must, at some time during his or her second year, complete a research and writing project under the direct supervision of a member of the Faculty or Dean. Satisfactory completion of the requirement will be demonstrated by certification from the instructor who supervises the project. To satisfy the requirement a writing project must require thorough legal research, a substantial piece of legal writing, and rewriting in response to criticism from the supervising instructor. The requirement may be satisfied by an Independent Research Project or a law journal note if the above standards are met. The requirement may also be met by satisfactory completion of a paper meeting the above standards and submitted as part of the regular work in designated courses or seminars.

The following 2025-2026 courses may satisfy the requirement

  • LAW 630 Feminist and Queer Jurisprudence Seminar
  • LAW 631 Jurisprudence Seminar
  • LAW 637 Comparative Law Seminar
  • LAW 642 Law and Geography Seminar
  • LAW 645 Law and Practice of the European Convention on Human Rights Seminar
  • LAW 911 Law Review:2L
  • LAW 970 Journal of Civil Rights & Social Justice:2L

At the end of the semester in which you complete your writing requirement you will be asked to obtain faculty sign-off on one of the writing forms below in order for credit to be applied to your transcript. Return the completed form to the Law Registrar office or to lawrecords@wlu.edu.

Second-year Writing Requirement Sign Off Forms:

Seminar Courses (follow link to access form. Open in Adobe for a fillable version).

Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice - Contact JCRSJ Editor in Chief for most current form.

Law Review - Contact Law Review Editor in Chief for most current form.

 Updated 3/25/2025