News Archive

IU School of Law – Indianapolis’ legal writing program, known as Legal Analysis, Research and Communications (LARC), was ranked 11^th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in 2008.

Ruth Anne Robbins, Clinical Professor of Law at Rutgers School of Law-Camden and incoming President of the Legal Writing Institute, praised the program, calling it “one of the best” and a “model of excellence.”

U.S. News & World Report added legal writing programs to its annual rankings of special law school programs in 2005. The rankings are based on a survey submitted to those law professors across the nation teaching in their schools’ legal writing programs. Since 2006 the legal writing program at IU-Indianapolis has ranked in the top 15, steadily moving upward to its present 11^th placement. The IU-Indianapolis legal writing program has gained national attention in several ways: writing faculty members have given multiple presentations at regional, national, and international conferences, taken on board memberships and chairmanships with national and international committees, published articles and books in the field, and brought the spotlight to the law school by hosting conferences.

The Central States regional conference was held at the law school in 2005, and the 13th Biennial Legal Writing Institute Conference, “Racing Toward Excellence,” will be held here in July 2008. The national conference will draw up to 600 participants from across the nation and countries around the world, including Africa, Canada, Ukraine, and Mexico.

Clinical Professor of Law, Joan Ruhtenberg, director of the LARC program, said, “The legal writing profession has made remarkable strides during the past twenty-five years, and I am grateful that our school is recognized as a part of that progression. We have come a long way since I became director of our program in 1982, and I hope that we continue on the path toward excellence.”