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Does LWR success have a correlation with doing well in doctrinal classes?

It should, if the LWR is teaching you how to do legal writing.

It is difficult to say whether it does or not. You are graded on two totally different things; i.e., a memo, writing product, research and citation skills, ect vs. a closed book 3 hour "kitchen sink" exam.

There isn't too much correlation between those two. However, from my experience, the people who did typically well in LRW also did great in other classes. I think this is mostly because of the amount of work and effort put into the class, as well overall intelligence.

However, there were other people who were excellent exam takers for regular classes who actually struggled (really struggled) at LRW.

Yeah, in my class most of the people who were at the top of LRW also did well in their other classes (though not necessarily the absolute top), but there were plenty of people who aced their doctrinal classes who were median in LRW.

(My school gave out awards for the top grades in each LRW section, so you could make some comparison.)

Just anecdotally, I got an A in LWR my first semester 1L year. Did meh in my other classes, slightly above median overall.

I am a much better writer than law exam taker. BTW, majored in writing in undergrad.

I got median and below-median in my LRW classes, but strongly above-median for the doctrinal ones. My strategy was to focus on the classes worth 3-4 credits, which were generally less time-consuming, and turn in hot garbage for the 2-credit LRW courses. It worked, at least from a time-value perspective to me anyway.

inyoureyes89 wrote:Just anecdotally, I got an A in LWR my first semester 1L year. Did meh in my other classes, slightly above median overall.

I am a much better writer than law exam taker. BTW, majored in writing in undergrad.

Just anecdotal here too, but I had the best grade in my LRW class and was also #1 in the class overall after 1L fall semester. So maybe there is a correlation--if you can write a good legal brief you can probably write a decent exam that sounds like it was written by a lawyer, but I don't know. Maybe its just if you "get" how to learn law you're more likely to be able to write a good brief and more likely to test well. So I don't think its a useful predictor, but I guess I would expect some correlation.

NotMyRealName09 wrote:

inyoureyes89 wrote:Just anecdotally, I got an A in LWR my first semester 1L year. Did meh in my other classes, slightly above median overall.

I am a much better writer than law exam taker. BTW, majored in writing in undergrad.

Just anecdotal here too, but I had the best grade in my LRW class and was also #1 in the class overall after 1L fall semester. So maybe there is a correlation--if you can write a good legal brief you can probably write a decent exam that sounds like it was written by a lawyer, but I don't know. Maybe its just if you "get" how to learn law you're more likely to be able to write a good brief and more likely to test well. So I don't think its a useful predictor, but I guess I would expect some correlation.

Counter anecdote, I was top 2% after 1L, but straight medianed LRW. Point being, I struggle to find any connection.

The extent that writing ability matters for exam success probably depends on the luck of the draw wrt profs, too. Most profs don't expressly grade up for good writing (unless they warn you ahead of time), but I'm sure some profs are subconsciously influenced by it - I had some who were really fine with bullet points as long as the substance was right, and others who wanted actual writing.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:The extent that writing ability matters for exam success probably depends on the luck of the draw wrt profs, too. Most profs don't expressly grade up for good writing (unless they warn you ahead of time), but I'm sure some profs are subconsciously influenced by it - I had some who were really fine with bullet points as long as the substance was right, and others who wanted actual writing.

Yeah, this is an excellent point. I had multiple professors who didn't care if everything was spelled poorly and had terrible grammar if the substance was there. Also, in terms of LRW classes (at least for us), we had tiny sections for it, so it was easier to be outcurved even if you were on the top of the collective curve.