Bundle: The Handbook for the New Legal Writer, Third Edition and Cicero

BOOKMARK

Authors

Jill Barton
Rachel H. Smith

Series / Aspen Bundle Series

BOOKMARK

Publication Date

2026-07-31

Edition

Third Edition

Description

Bundle: Print + eBook + Online Course (Cicero) - This bundle includes both print and digital versions of ISBN 9781543858365 as well as an access code to Rhetoric's Cicero.

Bundle: eBook + Online Course (Cicero) - This bundle includes a digital-only version of ISBN 9798886144024 as well as access to Rhetoric's Cicero.

The Handbook for the New Legal Writer, Third Edition, is the practical guide to the foundational skills that law students need. With concise and easy-to-follow instructions, a variety of annotated examples, and the clarifying concept of “anchors,” the Handbook is a student-centered text that engages and accompanies students throughout the first-year legal writing course, and beyond.

The Handbook for the New Legal Writerfocuses on showing (not telling) students how to write effective legal documents using step-by-step instructions and annotated examples. The Handbook uses the term “anchors” throughout to help students deepen their understanding and analysis of legal questions. In an easy-to-read style, the Handbook guides students through the entire first-year legal research, writing, and analysis curriculum. The Handbook covers predictive and persuasive writing in the form of memos, motions, and appellate briefs; as well as professional correspondence in the form of emails, letters, and instant messages; exam writing; judicial writing; oral argument; legal research and citation; and grammar, punctuation, and style. For each topic, the Handbook provides examples (written by the authors or by judges and practicing attorneys), along with detailed explanations that demonstrate how to write with care and clarity. The Handbook is a resource that will guide students throughout law school and into their legal careers.

Aspen Publishing has partnered with Rhetoric to bring Cicero, a practice platform for law schools that helps students build real communication and advocacy skills through realistic, repeatable practice—without replacing human judgment. Built by legal professionals and educators, Cicero supports active learning through simulations that mirror authentic legal tasks, from cold calls to oral arguments and interviews.

This Trial and Oral Advocacy bundle includes access to the following three Cicero modules:

Hot Bench Simulation - Practice responding to rapid‑fire questions from judges in challenging appellate argument simulations. This module supports video, audio, and text input, allowing you to develop clarity, composure, and strong legal reasoning in a realistic setting.
Legal Case Presentation - Master the art of presenting legal cases with clarity and persuasiveness. Practice organizing case facts, legal issues, and arguments for judges, clients, or colleagues.
Oral Augments - Practice and refine oral arguments with structured sessions focused on clarity and persuasion. Receive feedback on legal logic and delivery.

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About the authors

Jill Barton

Professor of Legal Writing and Lecturer in Law

University of Miami

Professor Barton is a former appellate judicial clerk and an award-winning journalist. She earned her bachelor of journalism magna cum laude from the University of Missouri and also studied at Oxford University’s Keble College, where she founded and co-edited Ox-Tales, a compilation of students’ short stories.

Professor Barton worked as a journalist for more than a decade, mostly for the Associated Press (AP) and other news organizations in Florida. As an AP correspondent, she regularly published news stories in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Miami Herald. She later received her M.S. in journalism from the University of Kansas, where she taught advanced reporting, and her J.D. summa cum laude from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

In law school, Professor Barton received the West Publishing Award for Outstanding Scholarly Accomplishment and won the National Association of Women Lawyers student writing competition. She also served as managing editor of the UMKC Law Review and as a teaching assistant for the school’s legal writing program. Prior to joining the Miami Law faculty, Professor Barton clerked for Judge Leslie B. Rothenberg at Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal.

Professor Barton is also the author of "A Show Don’t Tell Lesson on Plain Language," 70 Clarity (2013).

Rachel H. Smith

Professor of Legal Writing and Lecturer in Law

University of Miami

Professor Smith completed her B.A. with honors at UC Santa Cruz and earned her J.D. at the UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) in 2002. During law school, she was awarded a NAPIL/VISTA Summer Fellowship to work at the Legal Aid Society of Columbus, Ohio, and interned at Equal Rights Advocates in San Francisco, California. After graduation, Professor Smith worked at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, where she litigated a variety of complex cases in state and federal courts, primarily focusing on intellectual property disputes.

In 2007, Professor Smith joined the Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing Faculty at Santa Clara University School of Law and was awarded the Legal Research and Writing Professor of the Year Award in 2008 and 2010. In 2009, she won an ALWD Teaching Grant for a legal writing podcast series entitled 'Perk Up Your Pens.' She is the author of The Legal Writing Survival Guide (Carolina Academic Press 2012), a book that aims to help law students and lawyers solve common legal writing problems. Professor Smith has presented at national and regional legal writing conferences on issues relating to the use of technology to teach legal writing, the value of collaborating with other professors, and the need to inspire hope and positivity in the legal writing classroom. At Miami Law, she teaches in the Legal Communications and Research Skills program.

Product Information

Edition

Third Edition

Publication date

2026-07-31

Copyright Year

2026

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