Eugene, Ore. -- (Sept. 2, 2011) - A professor at the University of Oregon School of Law has been awarded the 2012 Thomas F. Blackwell Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Legal Writing. Suzanne Rowe is the director of the UO Legal Research and Writing Program and the James L. and Irene R. Hershner Professor.
The Thomas Blackwell Award annually recognizes a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of legal writing by demonstrating an ability to nurture and motivate students, an ability to create and integrate new teaching ideas, and a willingness to help other legal writing educators improve their programs. The award is made jointly by the Association of Legal Writing Directors and the Legal Writing Institute, two nonprofit organizations.
In announcing the award, Lyn Entrikin and Ken Chestek, the presidents of the two organizations, noted Rowe's wide ranging public service, from her work monitoring the American Bar Association Standards Review revision process to organizing events to welcome and support new legal writing directors.
Rowe is the author of five books on legal research, and she is the editor of the Legal Research Series published by Carolina Academic Press. Rowe writes a monthly column, "The Legal Writer," in the Oregon State Bar Bulletin.
Rowe has served on the Board of Directors of both the Association of Legal Writing Directors (2001-2004) and the Legal Writing Institute (2006-2010). She is a past-chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning and Research, and she just completed a term as chair of the American Bar Association's Communication Skills Committee.
The Blackwell award will be presented during the January 2012 annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools in Washington, D.C.
About Oregon Law
For more than 125 years, the University of Oregon School of Law has served the state, the nation, and the world through a constantly renewed commitment to excellence in scholarship, classroom teaching, and public service. Oregon Law is an American Bar Association accredited law school, and the only public law school in the state.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Erick Hoffman, director of communications at Oregon Law, 541-346-1665, erickh@uoregon.edu
Ali Wayner, communications manager at Oregon Law, 541-346-7355, agreen@uoregon.edu
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