Professor Emerita Mary Lawrence (Oregon Law 1977) passed on September 23, 2021. She was the founding director of Oregon Law’s Legal Research and Writing Program, a pioneer in the national legal writing discipline, and a legend in the national community of legal writing professors.
Professor Lawrence founded Oregon Law’s Legal Research and Writing Program, which she led from 1978 until her retirement in 2000. She established an innovative and widely respected program that emphasized legal analysis and taught writing as a “thinking process.”
The program she founded served as a nationwide model and is currently tied for the top ranking in the nation, a tribute to her lasting impact.
“Our program is built on the foundation that Mary established over twenty-two years of groundbreaking work. She touched so many lives through her teaching, scholarship, directing, and mentorship.”
Suzanne Rowe, current Director of Legal Research and Writing
Professor Lawrence received numerous awards recognizing her work. She earned University of Oregon’s first Orlando J. Hollis Award for Outstanding Faculty Teaching in 1990, and at her retirement the law school endowed a scholarship in her name to recognize the top student in each first-year class.
She received the first award for distinguished service given by the Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research. In 2000, she received the inaugural Marjorie Rombauer Award from the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD). In 2013, she was selected to receive the prestigious Burton Award for Outstanding Contributions to Legal Writing Education. That same year, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from ALWD and the Legal Writing Institute (LWI).
LWI also established the Mary S. Lawrence Award to recognize outstanding legal writing professors for pioneering scholarship and innovative curriculum or program design. For years she was Senior Editor of the LWI journal, Legal Writing. In 2010, the journal published a collection of tributes to Professor Lawrence from the national legal writing community.
Mary Lawrence’s legacy continues to inspire at University of Oregon and nationally. Oregon Law will remain ever grateful for her groundbreaking work, dedication to the discipline, and generosity of spirit.
“If you want to celebrate Mary's remarkable life and spirit today, just do something kind and generous for someone else, think of Mary, and smile.”
— Professor Charles Calleros, ASU Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
Please click on the image below to view a photo gallery of Professor Lawrence through the years. Highlights include:
*the 2018 One-Day Workshop at Oregon Law (luncheon for the Mary Lawrence Award)
*Mary with student recipient of Oregon Law’s Mary Lawrence Award
*Panel at Oregon Law’s conference Legal Writing and Leadership
*Dinners with friends
*AALS recognition with LWI/ALWD award
*Burton Award at Library of Congress (including Justice Sotomayor)
*Oregon Law’s LRW Program 30th and 40th anniversary celebrations
Photo credits: Jack Liu, David Austin, Karin Mika, Suzanne Rowe, and other colleagues and friends of Mary.
