Judy is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Clinical Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.
This distinguished award is presented annually to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to improve the field of Legal Writing by demonstrating:
- an ability to nurture and motivate students to excellence;
- a willingness to help other Legal Writing educators improve their teaching skills or their Legal Writing Programs; and
- an ability to create and integrate new ideas for teaching and motivating Legal Writing educators and students.
As stated in her nomination letter, Judy exemplifies these qualities in several important ways:
Judy unequivocally satisfies the criteria for the Blackwell Award. Through her tireless involvement with students for nearly two decades, Judy nurtures and motivates young lawyers to excellence. Through her leadership at Arizona State and in the national legal writing community, her scholarship, and her presentations, she has demonstrated a willingness to help other legal writing teachers improve their skills and programs. Finally, through her work creating a regional legal writing conference, designing new courses, and writing instructional texts, Judy has shown an ability to create and integrate new ideas for teaching and motivate educators and students.
Judy has also traveled the country for over a decade speaking to legal writing faculty about teaching legal research and writing, most recently addressing her colleagues as the invited plenary speaker for the Western States Legal Writing Conference. Her presentations, Succeeding in the Legal Writing Triathalon, Teaching Legal Writing from a Different Perspective, The Tao of Legal Writing, Intensive Legal Research and Writing: Teaching Today’s Product-Oriented Students to be Process-Based, and Teaching Both Depth and Breadth: Upper-Level Intensive Legal Research and Writing, all show her commitment to helping others improve their teaching.
Anthony Niedwiecki, President of ALWD
Mel Weresh, President of LWI
