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Leading legal writer and educator Professor Tracy Norton to join LSU Law faculty this fall

Professor Tracy L. M. Norton

Professor Tracy L. M. Norton

Professor Tracy L. M. Norton, a national and international leader in the fields of legal writing and legal education, will join the LSU Law faculty in the fall semester.

Norton comes to LSU Law from the Touro Law Center in Long Island, New York, where she has taught since 2007. She started her career in academia in 1997 at Texas Tech University School of Law, where she remained until 2001, when she joined the faculty at South Texas College of Law. Prior to teaching, Norton practiced criminal law in Texas for four years. She majored in political science at the University of North Texas before earning her juris doctor from Baylor University School of Law in 1994.

“I am inspired by LSU Law’s mission to provide a student-centered, practice-oriented legal education, and I am excited to join the faculty and begin meeting the students and my new colleagues,” said Norton, whose family is from Southwest Louisiana and East Texas. “After 15 years in New York, this is a homecoming of sorts for me and my family. We’re looking forward to Southern hospitality, Louisiana food, and great college football.”

At LSU Law, Norton will teach Legal Research & Writing I & II in the 2022-23 academic year. During her time at the Touro Law Center, Norton taught Legal Process I & II, Advanced Persuasive Strategies, Judicial Writing, Disaster Law & Policy, Criminal Law, and an Advanced Writing Requirement Workshop.

Norton is best known for her research and presentations on cross-generational competence in legal education and the legal profession. Among her contributions to the field of legal writing are her Interactive Citation Workbook (formerly with co-author Prof. Christine Hurt) and accompanying online Workstation, published originally in 1999. The ICW was the first digital teaching tool in widespread use in American law schools and is currently used in more than half of American law schools. A longtime member of the Legal Writing Institute, Professor Norton served two four-year terms on its Board of Directors.

“The wealth of expertise that Professor Norton brings to LSU Law will enhance our curriculum and the student experience at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center,” said LSU Law Interim Dean Lee Ann Wheelis Lockridge. “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome her to our faculty.”

Her current scholarly interest is using principles of storytelling from other disciplines like poetry and songwriting to develop compelling legal narratives. Her current teaching interest is making legal education more accessible through digital platforms. In addition to her classroom teaching, has taught both synchronous and asynchronous law courses since 2010. She has also developed a fully online pre-law legal analysis program for students interested in attending law school. Norton is currently creating a digital textbook for 1L legal analysis and writing courses. During the 2020 pandemic, she assisted faculty throughout the country in adapting to asynchronous and synchronous online course delivery.

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