In the real world, adults learn by repeated practice; they are not
judged during the learning process, but only when it's time to demonstrate final proficiency or become fully certified.
In addition to training externs and clerks, an upper - level class in judicial opinion writing provides an opportunity for students to hone their skills in writing for a particular audience, structuring and organizing, analyzing, and using rhetorical devices introduced
during the first - year writing course through a different type of document.6 Such a course can cause students to look at the legal
process from a different perspective and to become better critical readers and users of opinions by writing them.7 Thus, other goals of a judicial opinion writing course can include
learning about the audiences of judicial opinions and the perspective
judges bring to their opinion writing.