Faculty Profile: Wayne Schiess
Main Profile Content
Featured Work
Legal Writing Nerd: Be One
Wayne Schiess's monthly column on legal writing has appeared in Austin Lawyer magazine for 15 years. Legal-Writing Nerd collects the best of those columns and presents them in a practical, useful book.
Biography
Wayne Schiess teaches legal writing, legal drafting, and plain English and speaks frequently on those subjects. He has also written dozens of articles and five books on practical legal-writing skills. He graduated from Cornell Law School, practiced law in Dallas at the law firm Baker Botts, and then came to Texas Law. He blogs about legal writing at LEGIBLE.
Courses for Spring 2023
- Advanced Legal Writing Practicum
- Advanced Legal Writing Workshop
- Legal Writing, Adv
- Legal Writing, Adv
Professional Activities
2022
2022
Seminar speaker
Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Texas Second (Fort Worth) Court of Appeals, Texas Public Utilities Commission, Immigration & Customs Enforcement--El Paso Office of General Counsel, UTCLE Advanced Adminstrative Law Seminar, Texas Association of Appellate Court Attorneys, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas Office of the Attorney General, Multi-State Tax Commission.
2021
2021
Seminar speaker
Speaker on legal writing for Austin Bar Association, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement--Department of Homeland Security (Buffalo, New York, and El Paso, Texas), Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers' Compensation, Texas Office of Injured Employee Counsel, Texas Court of Ciminal Appeals, Texas Office of the Attorney General.
2020
2020
Seminar speaker
Speaker on legal writing for UTCLE, Texas Department of Insurance, TDI General Counsel Division, Texas Office of the Attorney General, Texas Bar CLE, and Northern District of Florida Office of the Federal Public Defender.
2019
Seminar speaker
Speaker on legal writing for Austin Bar Association, Texas Public Utilities Commission, Texas Office of Injured Employee Counsel, UTCLE, Texas Department of Insurance, Texas Office of the Attorney General, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas Advanced Paralegal Seminar, Law firm of Hunton Andrews Kurth, Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, Texas Bar CLE, U.S. Attorneys Office--Southern District of Texas, Texas Center for the Judiciary, Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
2018
2018
Seminar speaker
Speaker on legal writing for British Petroleum, Austin Bar Association, Texas Public Utilities Commission, Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings, National Association of Workers' Compensation Judiciary, Office of Special Counsel--Immigration and Customs Enforcement, UTCLE, Texas Department of Insurance, Texas Office of the Attorney General, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Office of Assistance Secretary for Civil Rights, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Capital Area Paralegal Association, Law firm of Lloyd Gosselink, Bell County Bar Association
2017
2017
Seminar speaker
Seminar speaker on legal writing for Andrews Kurth LLP, Texas Office of the Attorney General, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, National Association of Workers Compensation Judiciary, Texas Ethics Commission, UTCLE, and State Bar of Texas.
2016
2016
Seminar speaker
Seminar speaker on legal writing for Andrews Kurth LLP, Texas Office of the Attorney General, Austin Bar Association, Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, National Association of Workers Compensation Judges, UTCLE, State Bar of Texas, and Texas Department of Insurance.
2014
November 30, 2014
Seminar speaker
Various
Seminar presenter and speaker on legal writing for UTCLE School Law Conference, Texas Office of the Attorney General, Austin Bar Association, UTCLE Conference on Criminal Appeals, Association of Judicial Disciplinary Counsel, Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Entergy Texas, Inc., and Texas Office of the Comptroller.
2013
November 30, 2013
Seminar speaker
Various
Austin Bar Association, Texas Office of the Attorney General, Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings, Law Firm of Rash Chapman, Texas Department of Insurance, Texas Office of the Comptroller, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
November 8, 2013
Visiting speaker
Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University
Legal Communication & Rhetoric Visiting Scholar. Made possible by support from ALWD through a grant to support the Legal Communication & Rhetoric Visiting Scholars Grant Program
2012
November 30, 2012
Seminar Speaker
Various
Speaker on legal writing for Austin Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, UTCLE, Texas District & County Attorneys Association, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
2011
November 30, 2011
Seminar speaker
Various
Speaker on legal writing for Austin Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas Department of Aging and Disability, and Center for Plain Language / Clarity / Scribes annual conference.
2010
November 30, 2010
Columnist
Austin Lawyer magazine
Author of monthly column on legal writing for Austin Lawyer magazine.
November 30, 2010
Seminar Presenter
Various
Seminar speaker on legal writing for the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Teacher Retirement System of Texas, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
November 30, 2010
Award finalist
Center for Plain Language
Drafting consultant for the revised Texas Pattern Jury Charges, which were named a finalist for a Clearmark Award.