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Amanda Sholtis
Professor of Legal Methods
Director, Academic Success Program
PUBLICATIONS
SSRN Papers
Curriculum Vitae
Faculty Spotlight News Article
Email: alsholtis@widener.edu
Phone: 717.541.3946
“I teach a year-long course in legal methods to first-year students. At the end of the year, when I watch my students argue their first cases, I am proud of how much they have accomplished over a short amount of time.”
Amanda Sholtis is a dedicated teacher. She works primarily with first-year students, equipping them with the skills that they will need to succeed in law school and practice. Her courses focus on how to read and analyze the law, research, cite legal authority, and communicate legal analysis orally and in writing. She strives to make her classes engaging and challenging.
Professor Sholtis also serves as the Director of the Academic Success Program. In this role, she assists students in enhancing their academic skills so they can reach their full potential. She works with students in various ways, including classes, workshops, and one-on-one meetings.
Professor Sholtis' scholarship focuses on how best to prepare students to practice law. She authored an article, supported by a grant awarded by the Legal Writing Institute, exploring the pedagogical advantages of teaching judicial opinion writing in the first semester of law school. Her approach has been adopted into the law school’s Legal Methods program. In addition, Professor Sholtis shares teaching ideas at conferences across the country. She has presented on incorporating several innovative technologies and techniques into courses to enhance student learning.
Finally, Professor Sholtis has a heart for community service. She volunteers with Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, which offers support to law students, attorneys, and judges struggling with life’s challenges. She founded and leads two support groups in the Harrisburg area, one for divorced and separated individuals and the other for single parents.
- Introduction to Legal Process
- Intensive Legal Analysis
- Legal Methods I & II
- Legal Methods III: Judicial Opinion Writing
- Legal Methods III: Advanced Appellate Advocacy
- Legal Methods III: Advanced Legal Analysis
Education
BA, Grove City College, magna cum laude
JD, Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University, magna cum laude
Experience
Deputy Attorney General, Civil Litigation Division, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
Law Clerk, Honorable Sandra Schultz Newman, Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Bar Admissions
Pennsylvania
Memberships
Association of American Law Schools
Legal Writing Institute
Selected Presentations
Practice-Ready Millennials: Technology Training for Efficient and Effective Communication, Southeastern Regional Legal Writing Conference, Atlanta, GA (April 2018) (co-presenter)
Rubrics and Checklists and Frameworks – Oh My! Southeastern Association of Law Schools Annual Conference, Boca Raton, FL (August 2017) (co-presenter)
Say What?: A How-to Guide on Providing Formative Assessment to Law Students Through Live Critique, Mid-Atlantic Junior Faculty Forum, Richmond, VA (May 2017)
Best Practices in Formative Assessment: No Red Pens Required, Association of Academic Support Educator’s Annual Conference, New York, NY (May 2016) (co-presenter)
May It Please the Court & Your Students: Using Animation and Speed Questioning to Prepare Students for Their First Oral Arguments, with Professor Dionne Anthon, Legal Writing Institute’s One-Day Conference on the Modern Legal Writing Classroom, Miami, FL (December 2014)
Judge for Yourself: Designing a Judicial Writing Course, with Professor Dionne Anthon, Legal Writing Institute’s Biennial Conference, Philadelphia, PA (July 2014)
Mission Impossible or Mission Accomplished? Our First Year Without the Traditional Office Memo, with Professors Dionne Anthon and Anna Hemingway, Legal Writing Institute’s One-Day Conference, Boston, MA (December 2013)
Everything Old is New Again: Student Journaling as Blogging, The Third Colonial Frontier Legal Writing Conference, Pittsburgh, PA (March 2013)
Keeping It Fresh: Using Technology in the Legal Writing Classroom to Reach Today’s Students, with Professors Dionne Anthon and Anna Hemingway, The Third Colonial Frontier Legal Writing Conference, Pittsburgh, PA (March 2013)
Preparing for Practice from Behind the Bench: Replacing the Traditional Office Memorandum with a Judicial Opinion, Legal Writing Institute’s One-Day Conference, Washington, D.C. (Nov. 2012)
Team-Based Learning, with Professors David Raeker-Jordan, Jennifer Lear, and Dionne Anthon, Legal Writing Institute’s One-Day Conference, Washington, D.C. (Nov. 2012)
Preparing for Practice from Behind the Bench: Replacing the Traditional Office Memorandum with a Judicial Opinion, Legal Writing Institute’s Biennial Conference, Desert Springs, CA (June 2012)