How To Become A Legal Writing Professor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a legal writing professor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Fabio Lanza

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a legal writing professor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $36.65 an hour? That's $76,234 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 12% and produce 159,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a legal writing professor?

Fabio Lanza

Professor, Ashford University

I tell them not to expect that they can achieve the same, old-style academic career (like mine, for example). A tenure-track job in a research university to be clear. Those jobs exist but they are becoming rarer and rarer. I also tell them that if they forecast incurring in serious (or even non-serious) debt in order to get a PhD, they should not do it. They should not pursue that path at all. In the program, they should take all the chances they have to learn new skills, including skills that don't seem directly related to an academic career.

ScoreLegal Writing ProfessorUS Average

Salary

6.0

Avg. Salary $76,234

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.28%

Asian 11.27%

Black or African American 7.28%

Hispanic or Latino 10.36%

Unknown 4.64%

White 66.16%

Gender

female 61.32%

male 38.68%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.0

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a legal writing professor

Explore legal writing professor education requirements

Most common legal writing professor degrees

Bachelor's

53.8 %

Master's

23.7 %

Doctorate

18.3 %

Start to develop specific legal writing professor skills

Skills	Percentages
Course Materials	27.35%
Litigation	18.70%
Class Discussions	15.33%
Oral Arguments	15.16%
Oral Advocacy	11.83%

Research legal writing professor duties and responsibilities

Develop lesson plans, teach mechanics and creativity in writing, teach reading, math and manage resource room as needed.
Participate in institutional projects, including Cooley's application for accreditation with ABA, and supervise students involve in externships.
Administer and monitor TOEFL testing program for graduating university seniors and for prospective new enrollments.
Develop university-level preparation course for TOEFL exam design to increase reading skills and essay writing skills.

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