Excellence in Writing Week shows validity of written law aspect

The first Celebration of Excellence in Writing Week was met with high attendance.

The celebration was held Oct.5 through Oct. 9 at West Virginia University's College of Law.

Anyone in the WVU community interested in the pursuit of excellence in writing was invited, according to a WVU press release, and people took up the offer, said Jean Daley, writing specialist and director of the Professional Writing Center.

The event was organized by Daley, Professor Hollee S. Temple, director of Legal Reasoning at the WVU College of Law, and Jennifer Powell, assistant dean of Career Services.

Celebration of Excellence in Writing Week was held, in part, to accredit the written aspect of law as well as educate law students, Daley said.

"Lawyers are often known for their spoken word but not their writing," Daley said.

The event included a variety of guest speakers and contests, including a "Dark and Stormy Night Contest," where both students and faculty competed to create the best first line of a novel.

Participants had from Monday until Thursday to submit ideas.

The winner, Matthew Yanni, a third-year law student, was announced Thursday.

"I felt it was important to be ambiguous in my writing," Yanni said.

Yanni received an iPod provided by Westlaw, an online legal research company, for winning the competition.

The capstone event will be held Friday at noon and will include conversations with lawyers and other legal experts on the social networking Web site Twitter.

The roundtable discussion, which will be posted on www.22Tweets.com and will focus on "a lawyer's work, life and the importance of technology in the practice of law," Daley said.

Creator of 22Tweets.com, Lance Godard, will be assisting with the event, and Temple will host it.

Students are able to ask questions about all aspects of law practice, according to the press release.

Godard's Web site holds interviews with tweeting lawyers and legal experts from around the globe. The interviews provide advice to law students as well as other lawyers and legal experts, the press release read.

"This event should show the importance of writing in law," Daley said.