• Syllabus and readings (home page)
• Important course information: materials, mechanics, policies, and grading
• Writing assignments and related instructions
• AI Policy (NEW for 2026)
• Open Educational Resources (OER) copyright and permissions information

The course will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:30 am to 11:50 am. The class will meet on Zoom rather than face to face. Class meetings will be recorded, and the class recordings will be posted afterward to YouTube.

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS: BASIC REQUIREMENTS AND MECHANICS

The graded work for this course consists of three short (3-4 pp.) writing assignments. These may consist of legal memoranda (to colleagues, clients, or others); explanatory email messages (again, to one or more audiences); or PowerPoint [or equivalent] slide decks (in which the lawyer communicates by the content of the slide deck, not by delivering a presentation orally). Each assignment will be posted here approximately two weeks before the assignment is due. Also before the assignment is due, time in class will be set aside to discuss questions relating to each assignment.

FORMAT EXPECTATIONS

Prior versions of this course have required that writing assignments be produced in solely in the format of traditional legal memos. That expectation has changed, because lawyers today increasingly communicate in other formats and other media. This course may require different formats.

HOW TO SUCCEED

Although the formats may change, professional expectations regarding effective communication have not changed. Legal writing in every setting should be clear, consistent, polished, expert, ethical, responsive, and trustworthy. Those expectations apply to this course. For guidance regarding those expectations and how they apply to the graded work for this course, students are strongly encouraged to read and re-read this “Modern Legal Writing” document, which summarizes advice for producing a great work product in Professor Madison’s courses.

For help with basic writing questions (grammar, syntax, word choice, active vs. passive voice, and so on), consider trying editing / writing correction / grammar checking software. A good choice – with a free option – is Grammarly. An alternative choice that may be better suited to professional writing but one that costs real money, is WordRake. WordRake may be a useful investment now that pays off over a full professional career. The founder and creator of WordRake, Gary Kinder, is a tremendous, experienced writer in his own right. Professor Madison says: “I took a writing seminar from him when I was a junior lawyer, and I still remember and use his lessons even today.”

AI POLICY

New for 2026: I have produced a full page of guidelines and instructions for students with respect to Generative AI systems. This is my AI Policy, which applies to all of my courses.

You can find that page here.

All students are expected to comply with this AI Policy with respect to each work product that they turn in.

RUBRIC

The rubric used to mark the assignments is available here.

Writing assignment due dates

• Assignment 1:  Friday, October 2, 2026, at 3 pm.
• Assignment 2:  Friday, November 6, 2026, at 3 pm.
• Assignment 3:  Last day of exams (Wednesday, December 9, 2026), at 12 noon.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

For students who want to know more about the assignments for this course, here is a page containing the text of some prior assignments.

ASSIGNMENTS

Assignment One

To:         Junior Associate, Dewey, Cheatem & Howe
From: Junior Partner, Dewey, Cheatem & Howe
Date:    September 21, 2026
Re:        Retro Motors

Our firm has been retained by a new company that has what I think is a provocative business plan.  One of their requests to us is to help the company sort out its trademark strategy.

The company is called Retro Motors, and it plans to build and sell automobiles that are fully modern on the inside and that look like classic cars on the outside.  These will not be restoration projects (thus: not what I understand are called “resto-mods” or “restomods”); these will be fully new builds, with 21^st century motors under the hood and brand new, contemporary engineering and performance otherwise, but with body styles and external details that mimic the look of the cars that they copy.

Retro Motors’s president, Grand Smith, told me that the company will focus entirely on cars that have been out of production for at least 25 years. 

Retro Motors’s first efforts will focus on the Chevrolet Corvette, and specifically on the Corvette that was produced from 1953 to 1962 (including the legendary 1962 Corvette convertible) and the “second generation” Corvette “Sting Ray” that was produced from 1963 to 1967. 

In terms of trademarks and branding, Smith told me that he knows that Retro Motors cannot use the names “Chevrolet” or “Corvette” or “Sting-Ray” on the cars themselves or in connection with any advertising or promotional materials.  Also, he will not use any Chevrolet logos or the Corvette “crossed-flags” logo.  The cars are meant to sell themselves entirely based on their looks.

That is where our firm comes in:  Smith has convinced himself that Chevrolet (and General Motors, its parent) relinquished all rights to the trade dress of these classic cars when the company pivoted to brand new designs during and after 1968.  He knows, of course, that owners and fans of these classic cars have kept the “flame” of Corvette celebrity active for decades, via car shows, restoration projects, and an active marketplace for buying and selling the cars.  But what has Chevrolet done?

Answering that question is our job.  I would like you to put together a game plan for researching the current validity of any trade dress rights that Chevrolet might have in these old cars. Include guidance for tactics to explore to keep Smith and Retro Motors on the right side of trademark law.  Smith does not want to be absolutely sure that that he will not get sued by Chevy; he’s aware that a big company will come calling.  But he wants to have his proverbial ducks in a row in the event that he needs to fight back.

Please limit your work product to four pages, and have it to me no later than Friday, October 2, 2026, at 3 pm.

Rules and Guidelines for Assignment One

To the extent that these rules may appear to conflict with general advice regarding work product that appears in course-related webpages, these rules take precedence.

This is an “open” problem, meaning that there are no limits on the resources that you may bring to bear on your work. Among other things, you may consult with your classmates and other human beings. If you discuss the merits of the assignment with anyone, however, you must disclose that person’s identity on or in your work product. Write the names of any of these “consultants” at the top of the first page of the document.

Use your own name in the “From” field. Your work product is not anonymous.

Format

You should use the default or standard “legal research memo” form and format for this assignment. For the content, be guided by the advice in the “Modern Legal Writing” document cited above.

Memos must be typed or printed using a computer. Each memo, including any attachments, must be not longer than four [4] typewritten or printed pages, double-spaced, with 1″ minimum margins on all sides. “To,” “From,” “Re,” and “Date” headings may be single spaced, and the “consultants” list and description of any AI consultation may appear inside the 1″ margin at the top of the first page.

You do not need to include a comprehensive statement of the facts; instead, you may refer to the factual background in my memo to you. Omitting a factual summary may be unwise nevertheless. A factual summary may be helpful in framing and presenting the analysis of the memo.

No footnotes are permitted.

The following font must be used: Twelve [12] point Times New Roman.

So that the memos can be graded electronically, you must use Microsoft WORD for the final, submitted version of the memo.

Grading

Work product will be graded based on form, format, and writing quality as well as on content. The assignments are designed so as not to have any single correct or even best solution. Each problem may present a range of issues that your work should identify, analyze, and solve in a creative way.

Due date

One copy of the work product prepared for this assignment must be turned in not later than Friday, October 2, 2026, at 3 pm.

Your work product must be turned in to me (Professor Madison) as an attachment to an email message.

There were be no extensions or exceptions to the deadline. Work product that does not conform to the format instructions above, or that is turned in late, will be accepted but is subject to grade reduction.

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