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4 Pitt. Tax Rev. 103 (2006-2007)
Learning to Write in Code the Value of Using Legal Writing Exercises to Teach Tax Law

handle is hein.journals/pittax4 and id is 107 raw text is: ARTICLE LEARNING TO WRITE IN CODE THE VALUE OF USING LEGAL WRITING EXERCISES TO TEACH TAX LAW Scott A. Schumacher* A debate has waged for many years regarding the role of law schools in teaching and training lawyers. Akin to a Shakespearean blood-feud,' the Langdellians' argue that we should teach our students to think like lawyers, while the MacCrates3 counter that, no, the primary mission of the law school is to train law students to practice law. In my view, this is a false dichotomy. The best way to teach students to think like lawyers is to train them to write, speak, and act like lawyers Unfortunately, the divide between theory and practice continues in the way most tax courses are taught. Traditionally, law school tax courses have been taught using a mix of problems, class discussion, the Socratic method, * Assistant Professor of Law, University of Washington School of Law. The author would like to thank Professors Kate O'Neill and Sam Donaldson for their helpful suggestions and insights, Professors Alan Kirtley and Debbie Maranville for their inspiration and encouragement, and Laura Vander Pol for her insightful and valuable edits. I. See, e.g., WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, ROMEO & JULIET, the background for Which involves a feud between two families-the Capulets and the Montagues. 2. Langdellians profess that law should be taught as almost pure theory or as a science. LAWRENCE M. FRIEDMAN, A HISTORY OF AMERICAN LAW 613 (2d ed. 1985). 3. See Robert MacCrate, Preparing Lawyers to Participate Effectively in the Legal Profession, 44 J. LEGAL EDUC. 89, 89 (1994). 4. See, e.g., Mary Beth Beazley, Better Writing, Better Thinking: Using Legal WritingPedagogy In The Casebook Classroom (Without Grading Papers), 10 LEGAL WRITING: J. LEGAL WRITING INST. 23, 25-27 (2004).

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