I interviewed Professor Rachel Gurvich of UNC Law’s Research, Reasoning, Writing, and Advocacy program about Practice Tuesday, a weekly Twitter event that she co-founded and co-hosts about law practice—including how to succeed in legal writing and advocacy.
What is Practice Tuesday?
RG: It’s a weekly Twitter event that aims to spark conversation about some aspect of law practice. We initiate the discussion with a prompt. (E.g., How can young attorneys distinguish themselves? What are some pieces of conventional wisdom about law practice or legal education with which you disagree?) And then it’s an open floor for conversation! There’s a great, diverse, and supportive legal community on Twitter, and ultimately we just hope to learn from one another (and make some nerdy jokes).
How did Practice Tuesday start?
RG: Sean Marotta (@smmarotta) is an Appellate Twitter (#appellatetwitter) mainstay. He and I struck up a friendship last summer and now we chat almost daily. This fall, we noticed that the legal community on Twitter really enjoyed practice-oriented discussions where participants shared their best practices and good advice and commiserated about the painful parts of lawyering and our bad habits. And we thought that there was a way to capture that and harness the collective knowledge of the community. So we decided to try weekly discussions and see how they went.
Who can join?
RG: Anyone and everyone! We’ve had attorneys from all kinds of practices (and all levels of seniority), law professors, students, and even judges suggest topics and contribute to our conversations. And it’s a great resource: potential clients, supervisors, peers, and judges all offering insight into their preferences, e.g., what they’re looking for in an attorney or a brief.
When is it? What’s the official hashtag?
RG: Every Tuesday, and it usually kicks off in afternoon or evening. Follow #PracticeTuesday!
You can find Rachel Gurvich on Twitter at @RachelGurvich.