Writing Lab

The Writing Lab is a resource that all students enrolled in a program at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law are welcome to use. Focusing on grammar, sentence structure, and organization, the Writing Lab is designed to help all students become better writers. Have a question about when and how to use a comma? The Writing Lab can help with that. Unsure about passive vs. active voice? The Writing Lab can help with that too! 

The Writing Lab is staffed by Writing Fellows who are upper-level students in the JD program. In an appointment, a Writing Fellow typically edits a portion of a student's work and then uses the revealed pattern of strengths and weaknesses to provide the student with editing strategies. Fellows can meet with students to assist not just with assignments, but for writing samples and exams as well.  

To ensure that there are sufficient appointments for all students and that those appointments go smoothly, please know that: 

• Fellows can only review a portion of a draft, no more than 800 words;
• Fellows cannot provide substantive feedback;
• Students cannot meet on the day an assignment is due;
• Appointments cannot be made on the same day or made with less than 24-hours-notice;
• ESL students can have up to two appointments per week;
• ESL students can meet with a Fellow up to 2 times per assignment; and
• Non-ESL students can meet with a Fellow up to 1 time a week. 

To take advantage of the Writing Lab, students must first register with the Writing Lab page.

If you have any questions, please contact the Writing Lab at writinglab@law.northwestern.edu or Meredith Geller, Writing Lab Director, at meredith.geller@law.northwestern.edu or Nell Novara, Director of International Student Support, at nell.novara@law.northwestern.edu.  

We look forward to working with you!