Elon Law professor awarded 2019 Legal Writing Scholarship Grant

Assistant Professor Tiffany Atkins L'11 received funding to research how young law students’ beliefs on social justice and equality, fiscal conservatism, and a desire to make a difference will change the landscape of legal education.

Assistant Professor Tiffany Atkins L'11
One of Elon Law’s newest faculty members begins her role this summer with support from three prominent legal writing and education organizations.

Assistant Professor Tiffany Atkins L’11 is one of four recipients of a 2019 Legal Writing Scholarship Grant, a collaborative program of the Association of Legal Writing Directors, the Legal Writing Institute, and LexisNexis.

The grant will support Atkins’s research for a forthcoming article, “#FORTHECULTURE: How Generation Z Will Reshape the Future of Legal Education,” which examines how beliefs on social justice and equality, fiscal conservatism, and a desire among young law students to make a difference will change the landscape of legal education. 

The grant program reflects the organizations' commitment to the professional development of faculty "to enable gifted educators to explore scholarly ideas and produce scholarship which will assist others in the field of legal research and writing." 

“As a legal writing professor, it is important that I model for my students the process that I teach in class: research, write, revise and edit, submit a draft to a trusted reader, revise again, and submit,” Atkins said. “The mentoring aspect of the grant mirrors this process, enabling me to further connect with my students around their writing.”

Atkins graduated from Elon Law in the Class of 2011 where she was the recipient of the David Gergen Award for Leadership and Professionalism. She later served her law school alma mater as a Legal Method & Communication Fellow from 2016-2018 before teaching in Wake Law’s Legal Analysis, Writing and Research program.

She rejoins the Elon Law faculty after one year away. Prior to her entry into legal education, Atkins worked for several years in Greensboro at Legal Aid of North Carolina.

Other recipients of a 2019 Legal Writing Scholarship Grant

  • Paige Carlos, Florida A&M University College of Law
  • Caroleen Dineen, Florida A&M University College of Law
  • Susan King, Widener University | Delaware Law School