3L Luca Azzariti took top honors and 2L Grant Shellhouse placed second in the annual Paper Chase Legal Writing Competition, which tests law students’ ability to craft succinct responses to a fictional prompt based on current events. Azzariti and Shellhouse will each receive a trophy, as well as cash prizes of $5,000 and $1,500, respectively.
“We are thrilled by our students’ success in the Paper Chase competition,” says Kamela Bridges, who teaches legal writing at Texas Law and directs the David J. Beck Center for Legal Research, Writing, and Appellate Advocacy. “In Texas Law’s rigorous legal writing program, students research and write practical legal documents, receiving detailed feedback from faculty to help them continue to improve. These victories demonstrate that the students can adapt their skills to new challenges. Our graduates are ready to be productive lawyers from their first day at work.”
In addition to Luca and Grant, 3L Ian Miller was a semifinalist in fifth place and 3L Sidney Wiswell received honorable mention in 10th place.
Real-world Legal Writing
The Paper Chase is organized by the Texas Young Lawyers Association and Baylor Law School. Practicing attorneys who are members of the TYLA judge the anonymized entries, while Austin-based firm FVF Law sponsors the competition’s prizes.
“We created the Paper Chase to challenge Texas law students in a fun and engaging way, allowing them to experience real-world legal writing under the time constraints they will face as attorneys,” says Matthew Cordon, Baylor Law’s director of legal writing and A. Royce Stout Chair of Law. “University of Texas students have always performed very well” in this competition.
To evaluate students’ legal reasoning and persuasive writing abilities, this year’s Paper Chase tasked competitors with crafting a motion to strike affirmative defenses. Participants were required to apply relevant U.S. Supreme Court decisions to defensive pleadings. With no outside research required, the task focused solely on participants’ writing skills and ability to analyze the issues—and address them succinctly within a seven-page limit.
A total of 37 student participants represented the largest number of competitors in the event’s history. Seven of the nine law schools in the state of Texas (other than Baylor, which is not eligible as the host school) were represented.
Foundation for Success
Texas Law students have an impressive track record in the Paper Chase, having won four of the seven competitions held to date. At least one Texas Law student has placed in the top three every year, and in several years—including this one—two Texas Law students have finished among the top three.
Texas Law students have many opportunities to develop their writing skills, positioning them for success in competitions like the Paper Chase. The Beck Center provides all students with a foundation for excellence in legal research, oral presentation and argument, and legal writing. The center provides required 1L courses in legal research and writing as well as advanced courses available to 2l and 3L students. As part of their Texas Law experience, students take a writing seminar to develop research skills and provide an intensive experience writing analytical papers. In addition, students can obtain individualized, professional writing advice at the Law School Writing Center. Many students are involved in writing and publishing legal journals like the Texas Law Review.
Competition Preparation
Both Texas Law winners applaud the academic work that improved their writing skills and prepared them for the competition.
Azzariti, who came to the U.S. from Italy to study law, particularly credits two courses with shaping his approach to legal writing: Bridges’ Persuasive Writing and Advocacy and her Advanced Legal Writing course, which “reshaped how I approach legal writing and taught me to structure sentences with clarity, purpose, and intent,” Azzariti explains. “I learned to adapt my tone for different audiences, refine legal analysis, and eliminate excess to ensure that each sentence carried weight.”
In his role as Texas Law Review’s executive associate editor, Azzariti has had these lessons reinforced, “sharpening my eye for precision and structure, as even the strongest arguments, understandably, falter without disciplined execution,” he says.
“Writing isn’t just a component of legal practice but its foundation,” says Azzariti. At Texas Law, he’s learned that “the strength of an argument depends not only on its logic but on how it is framed, structured, and delivered.” Following graduation, Azzariti plans to practice bankruptcy law in either Texas or New York.
Second-place finisher Shellhouse, who eventually hopes to work in environmental law litigation, also appreciates the writing skills that he has acquired in law school. “I’m grateful for the ways that the legal writing program at Texas Law gave me such a great foundation to learn and grow as a legal writer,” he says. “My 1L courses with Professors Edward Dawson and Stephanie Cagniart not only introduced me to new types of writing, but they fostered my abilities as a writer in general. I truly enjoy legal writing, in large part thanks to Texas Law.”
Original source can be found here.