Penn Professors on Writing in Legal Studies

Professor Amy Sepinwall

About the Professor

Professor Sepinwall received her B.A. in philosophy and english and M.A. in bioethics from McGill University. In 2004, she graduated from Yale Law School with a J.D. and has a Ph.D. in philosophy from Georgetown University. Professor Sepinwall's research interests include corporate personality, domestic and international criminal law, gender and racial justice, individual and collective responsibility, and mass torts.

Writing Tips

When asked to rank the importance of various elements of writing, Professor Sepinwall ranked reasoning and evidence, following the assignment instructions, and mastery of other's ideas as the top three elements. Mechanical aspects of writing, e.g. grammar and citations, were ranked towards the end of the list.

When asked to list the most typical undergraduate writing errors, Professor Sepinwall named three general kinds of errors: advancing assertions that the student fails to substantiate with any kind of argument, making logically flawed arguments to support a conclusion, and mischaracterizing the account of the author they are critiquing.

For those writing in the legal discipline, Professor Sepinwall recommends using the Bluebook for citation purposes.

Personal Writing Process

Professor Sepinwall is constantly paying attention to current events and news. Once she has picked an issue to write about, she reads stories, cases, and opinions relating to the issue. With a 350 page dissertation in hand, Professor Sepinwall use her past works as references.

Papers frequently go through multiple drafts, and Professor Sepinwall presents her works, before publication, informally and formally. Colleagues in the Legal Studies Department and peers who write about a certain topic are valuable resources. It is very common to present papers at various colloquia or law school conferences to get feedback.

Writing Assignments

In Legal Studies 210, which is a potential requirement of all Wharton students, exams tend to be the norm. One semester, Professor Sepinwall asked students to do reading about whether business students should be required to take an oath of ethics upon graduation. She provided students with four articles, two on each side, and asked them to arrive at their own opinion regarding the topic. However, grading based on the written quality of students work is not the purpose of the class. In an upper level seminar, like a doctoral seminar, writing would be looked at with more detail. There, Professor Sepinwall had students workshop their papers, present drafts of their papers, and receive feedback regarding their writing.

Links

Back to Writing in the Discipline

Other Professors in Legal Studies:
Professor Georgette Chapman Phillips