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14 Second Draft 1 (1999-2000)

handle is hein.journals/secnd14 and id is 1 raw text is: Mary Beth Beazley President, Legal Writing Institute On Thursday, January 6, 2000, the Legal Writing Institute will honor Arthur Levitt, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, for his work promoting - and requiring - the use of plain language in corporate filing documents. The Institute's first Golden Pen Award will be given to Chairman Levitt at 4:30 p.m. on January 6 in the First Amendment Room of the National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C. Chairman Levitt put plain language requirements at the top of his agenda at the SEC, and the plain English regulations became effective October 1, 1998. The new rules require plain English for the cover page, summary, and risk factor sections of prospectuses. The Commission has noted that registrants must draft the language in these sections so that, at a minimum, the language substantially complies with each of the following plain English writing principles: * active voice; * short sentences; * definite, concrete, everyday words; * tabular presentation or bullet lists for complex material, whenever possible; * no legal jargon or highly technical business terms; and * no multiple negatives.* Joe Kimble of Thomas Cooley Law School - a/k/a Mr. Plain English - has been instrumental in both the creation and the presentation of this first award. Mark Wojcik, of John Marshall, has been working hard as well. We hope that all of the legal writing professors who attend the AALS meeting will come to the award ceremony and bring their friends! Whilst pondering the theme of this issue of the Second Draft, I thought back to the 1996 AALS annual meeting. In San Antonio that year, I attended a remarkable plenary session in which the presenter explained the history of training chicken sexers - that is, those workers whose job it is to look at a peeping ball of golden fluff and accurately predict whether it will grow into a hen or a rooster. Q Jc' 6C& - 4A% .. Mnytak to all1 whIo conitributed to tis issue, whlich prset awide ag of perspectives onl anld approaiches, to responding to studen~lt wr-iting. T hlrge numberI~l Of conltr-ibutions, weC rceived reflcts how\ muLch thlinklingl and efforlt we devote to thisk cruLcial activity. W\ithl thlis issueC we'd likeC to welcomei as, co-editor Elisabehth Keller, who1 has taugh1t Lega'l Reasoingi, Reseairch, anid Wrtn tBC a chlool for- almiost 10 years,. Li'esyon epodn to stuldent wrtn ithl audioaped commen~ts ppar inl thlis issue. ThIe coingping issueC of' The Second Dra ft w\ill focus' Onl theC methodolog10ies weC use for- tech1ing' leal analysis inl the classrooml. What Specific methodolog10ies do0 yo use', to teaichlyss How do yo un c-lasshY discussions' whenl you are focus'ing On teching1 the analysis Of al prob1lm? 'to techI aUnlysi do0 you inIcoorate collaborative exercises or iclswritingo exercises? Have yo develCopeCd tech1ing methodolog0iesdeige to mal~ke comlplex ideas, more* accssile to stuldenlts who1 are visual leManers and who learnl less, effectively w\ithl excllsively verl-1 methodologiesC'? Have yo use1,d technlology inl waysN that are specifically gealred to tecing anlyticalklls If you wouIl likeo to share y our1 thlough1ts Onl these (or- related) quesC'tions, pleaseC submllit your ssa of alpproxilmtel 750 w\ords to Jon mI t)M <b1lum1bcedu. by FebruaryM- 29, 2000. YouH HM also subm11it you essay by, lImil, Onl disk and inl hard copy) , to Joan B))lum1, Bt)onlleg Law1O t Schiool, 885 C'entre Street, Newton, MA. 02459. sian 63 (cm, awQ /A < u~& c

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