Tracy L. M. Norton

Biography

Professor Tracy L. M. Norton, a national leader in legal education, currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Law at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center. She has taught legal research and writing at LSU Law since 2022. Her distinguished career showcases a blend of innovative teaching, scholarly excellence, and visionary leadership in the integration of technology and neuroscience in legal education.

Before joining the Law Center, she served as an Associate Professor of Legal Process at Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center in New York, where she designed and taught courses in the traditional and hybrid J.D. programs and contributed to a broad range of institutional initiatives. Prior to that, she served on the faculties of South Texas College of Law and Texas Tech University School of Law.

Going beyond traditional law school teaching methods, Professor Norton uses team-based learning, collaborative writing technology, micro-conferences, and a multimedia resource approach to encourage student engagement and success. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a forward-thinking mindset in a variety of teaching spaces, including in-person and fully asynchronous courses. During the coronavirus pandemic, she assisted faculty throughout the country in adapting to asynchronous and synchronous online course delivery.

Professor Norton began integrating technology into legal education in 1998 with the co-development of the Interactive Citation Workstation, hosted by LexisNexis. The ICW was the first digital teaching tool in widespread use in legal education and is currently used in more than half of American law schools. She has recently emerged as a thought leader in incorporating generative AI literacy into law practice and education. Her presentations on the ethical use of AI, leveraging AI for storytelling, and crafting compelling human stories using AI have been well-received by both lawyers and law professors nationwide.

Professor Norton earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas and her J.D. from Baylor University School of Law, concentrating in Criminal Practice.

Selected Publications

Books

Legal Analysis & Communication, Chart-a-Course (2021) (in progress)

LAW TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR A NEW ERA: BEYOND THE PHYSICAL CLASSROOM (Tessa Dysart & Tracy L. M. Norton eds. 2021)

INTERACTIVE CITATION WORKBOOK: BLUEBOOK EDITION (2000-2021 eds.)
The Interactive Citation Workstation is the first digital formative assessment tool to achieve widespread use in American law schools. The Interactive Citation Workbook, in either Bluebook or ALWD format, has been adopted by over 75 law schools. The online Workstation is in use by approximately 145 law schools. It was available in 1999-2000 as a beta product. LexisNexis has hosted and maintained the software since it licensed the ICW in 2000.

Articles

Mad Women & Murder Ballads (work in progress)

Disaster Narratives in New Orleans Speedy Trial Cases (work in progress)

Using Collaborative Writing Technology to Teach Contract Drafting, 2009 TRANSACTIONS: TENN. J. BUS. L. 189 (2009)

Generation X: The Dying of the Light or the Dawn of a New Day?, 9 J. LEGAL WRITING 119 (2003)

Short Essays

Preface 2 to LAW TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR A NEW ERA: BEYOND THE PHYSICAL CLASSROOM (Tessa Dysart & Tracy L. M. Norton eds. 2021)

The Greatest Generation of Lawyers, THE SUFFOLK LAWYER (Suffolk Bar Assoc., Suffolk County, N.Y.), Sept. 2015, at 22

Laptops in the Classroom: Pondering the Possibilities, PERSPECTIVES: TEACHING LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING, Spring 2006, at 163

Ten Tips for Surviving Generation X, THE SECOND DRAFT (Legal Writing Inst., Seattle, Wa.), Winter 2002. The Synthesis Chart: Swiss Army Knife of Legal Writing, PERSPECTIVES: TEACHING LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING, Winter 2001, at 80 (reprinted in Steve Friedland & Gerald Hess, eds., TEACHING THE LAW SCHOOL CURRICULUM (2004))

The Application Process, THE SECOND DRAFT (Legal Writing Inst., Seattle, Wa.), May 2000, at 12 (reprinted in Steve Friedland & Gerald Hess, eds., TEACHING THE LAW SCHOOL CURRICULUM (2004))

Selected Presentations

National

Mad Women & Murder Ballads, APPLIED LEGAL STORYTELLING BIENNIAL CONFERENCE (Zoom: Mercer University School of Law, 7/ 2021)

Cautionary Tales: Lessons Learned from the Great (Emergency) Online Teachout of 2020-21, INSTITUTE FOR LAW TEACHING & LEARNING CONFERENCE (Zoom: UALR School of Law, 6/2021)

Using Artificial Intelligence for Real Results in Peer Review Assignments, EMPIRE STATE LEGAL WRITING CONFERENCE (Zoom: N.Y. L. Sch., 5/2021) (with Susan Smith Bakshian, Loyola Los Angeles School of Law)

Teaching Legal Citation Asynchronously, LEXISNEXIS WEBINAR (Zoom, 5/2021)

Creating an Online Courtroom for Oral Arguments, LEGAL WRITING INSTITUTE ONE DAY WORKSHOP (Zoom: U. of S. Dakota, December 2020)

Online Tools for Legal Education, AALS Section for Associates Dean of Academic Affairs & Research, REVISITING ONLINE EDUCATION: HERE COMES FALL 2020 (Zoom, June 24, 2020)

Tech Tools for Hybrid Legal Education, ONLINE & HYBRID LEARNING PEDAGOGY: TOWARD DEFINING BEST PRACTICES IN LEGAL EDUCATION (Denver, CO, Sept. 26-28, 2019)

Fantasy Faculty: Energize Your Teaching & Give Your Students the Education They Deserve, EIGHTEENTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF THE LEGAL WRITING INSTITUTE (Milwaukee, WI, July 2018)

Resistance Writers: Using Persuasion to Save Democracy in the Era of Trump, APPLIED LEGAL STORYTELLING CONFERENCE (American U., July 2017)

Racialized Advocacy, Panelist, APPLIED LEGAL STORYTELLING CONFERENCE (American U., July 2017)

Zombie Apocalypse Research Strategy, LEGAL WRITING INSTITUTE ONE DAY WORKSHOP (Delaware, December 2015)

Disaster Narratives After the Deluge, APPLIED LEGAL STORYTELLING CONFERENCE (Seattle U., July 2015)

Change or Die: Responding to Millennial Law Students’ Impact on Legal Education, LEGAL WRITING INSTITUTE ONE-DAY WORKSHOP (U. Conn., December 2014)

The Professionalism Dilemma for Millennial Students, LEGAL WRITING INSTITUTE ONE DAY WORKSHOP (NY & Baltimore, December 2013)

From the Classroom to the Camps: Defending Human Rights in the Aftermath of Disaster, AALS ANNUAL MEETING (poster presentation with Kathleen Bergin, South Texas College of Law)(San Francisco, CA, January 2011)

Shared Technologies: Collaborating Across Law Schools, FOURTEENTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF THE LEGAL WRITING INSTITUTE (with John Mollenkamp, Cornell, and Melody Daily, UM-Columbia) (Marco Island, Florida, June 2010)

Millennials in Law Practice, NEBRASKA STATE BAR ANNUAL MEETING (Omaha, NE, March 2009) (invited speaker)

Millennials in Law School, AALS ANNUAL DEANS MEETING (Phoenix, AZ, January 2009) (invited speaker)

Cheating and Plagiarism among Millennial Law Students: Causes & Solutions, THIRTEENTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF THE LEGAL WRITING INSTITUTE (Indianapolis, June 2008)

Collaborative Technology in the Teaching of Contract Drafting, CONFERENCE ON THE PEDAGOGY OF TEACHING DRAFTING (Atlanta, May 2008) (invited speaker)

The Millennial Generation in Law School, AALS SECTION ON STUDENT SERVICES, AALS ANNUAL MEETING, (New York, NY, Jan. 2008) (plenary speaker)

Co-opt the Laptops, AALS SECTION ON TEACHING METHODS, AALS ANNUAL MEETING (New York, NY, Jan. 2008) (panel speaker)

New Technologies in the Service of Teaching, TWELFTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF THE LEGAL WRITING INSTITUTE (with David Thomson and Clifford Zimmerman) (Atlanta, June 2006)

Plenary Panel Response to Making Sense of Our Times: The Economic and Demographic Transformations of America, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN JUDGES, 27^th Annual Conference (with Professor Eboni Nelson and Judge Nan Duffy) (Houston, Oct. 2005) (invited speaker)

The Stranger in the Stacks: Working with Generation X & Millennials, ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN LAW LIBRARIES, Academic Law Libraries Section (Annual Meeting, San Antonio, July 2005) (invited speaker)

Is the New Bluebook New? ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN LAW LIBRARIES, Special Interest Section (Annual Meeting, San Antonio, July 2005) (invited speaker)

Teaching Grammar & Punctuation to Law Students: What If It Is Our Job? ELEVENTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF THE LEGAL WRITING INSTITUTE (Seattle U. L. Sch., July 2004)

Understanding Why Xers and Millennials Need Better Teachers, ACTIVE TEACHING & LEARNING, Annual Conference of the Institute for Law School Teaching (Gonzaga U. L. Sch., July 2004)

Students Today, Students Tomorrow-Who Are They? The Millennial Generation, ABA SECTION ON LEGAL EDUCATION, Associate Dean’s Conference, Plenary Speaker (Denver, CO, June 2004) (invited speaker)

Who Are Our Students? AALS SECTION ON STUDENT SERVICES, AALS ANNUAL MEETING, Panel Discussion (Atlanta, GA, Jan. 2004) (invited speaker)

Know Your Audience: Teaching Generation X, LEGAL WRITING INSTITUTE CONFERENCE (Knoxville, TN, May 2002)

The Agony & The Ecstasy: Using Portfolios for Writing Assessment, LEGAL WRITING INSTITUTE CONFERENCE (Seattle, July 2000)

When “Because I Can” Isn’t the Answer: Using a Web Course Management System in Skills & Writing Courses, CALI ANNUAL CONFERENCE (Chicago, June 2000)

When “Because I Can” Isn’t the Answer: Using a Web Course Management System in Skills & Writing

Courses, WEB-COURSE-IN-A-BOX USER’S CONFERENCE (Richmond, VA, May 2000)

Interactive Citation Workstation, CALI ANNUAL CONFERENCE (Eugene, OR, June 1999)

Interactive Citation Workstation, INSTITUTE FOR LAW SCHOOL TEACHING, FRESH LOOKS AT TEACHING AND LEARNING LAW (Spokane, June 1999)

Criticism Under Construction: Creating Better Relationships with Students to Encourage Incorporation of Feedback, LEGAL WRITING INSTITUTE CONFERENCE (Ann Arbor, May 1998).

Regional, State & Local

Listening to Katrina, SOUTHEAST/SOUTHWEST PEOPLE OF COLOR CONFERENCE (Santa Fe, NM, Mar. 2006)

The Stranger Down the Hall: Boomers, Xers, and Millennials, TEXAS GENERAL COUNSEL FORUM (Houston, September 2005) (with Lauren Eaton Prescott) (invited speaker)

Managing Expectations of Generation X Attorneys, STATE BAR OF TEXAS ADVANCED IN-HOUSE COUNSEL COURSE (Austin, August 2004) (with Lauren Eaton Prescott) (invited speaker)

The Stranger in the Stacks: Working with Xers & Millennials, HOUSTON AREA LAW LIBRARIES (Houston, May 2005) (invited speaker)

Teaching Generation X Clinical Students, ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL CLINICS CONFERENCE (Houston, Nov. 2003) (plenary speaker, invited)

Teaching Generation X: A Legislative History Simulation, CENTRAL STATES CONFERENCE ON LEGAL WRITING (St. Louis, Sept. 2003)

After the Flood: Legal Research Implications of the TRAP Amendments, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS CONFERENCE ON STATE & FEDERAL APPEALS (Austin, June 2003) (paper by Mark E. Steiner, Ph.D., J.D.)

Teaching Generation X: A Legislative History Simulation, LONE STAR LEGAL WRITING CONFERENCE (Austin, May 2003)

The Fly in the Ointment: Understanding Generation X, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW COURSE, SOUTH TEXAS COLLEGE OF LAW CLE (Houston, July 2002) (invited speaker)

Brilliant Revision in 30 Minutes or Less, CORPUS CHRISTI BAR ASSOCIATION & ASSOCIATION OF LEGAL PROFESSIONALS JOINT MEETING (Corpus Christi, Nov. 2001)

Brilliant Revision in 30 Minutes or Less, TEXAS CENTER FOR THE JUDICIARY ANNUAL CONFERENCE (Houston, Sept. 2001) (invited speaker)

Unlocking the Law: Using Legal Citation as the Key to Legal Research, LAW SCHOOL PREPARATION INSTITUTE (El Paso, July 2000) (invited speaker)

Integrating Technology into the Curriculum, WAKONSE-SOUTH (Austin, April 2000)

Invited Law School Colloquia

Making Waves: Gen X & Millennials in Law School

• Seton Hall School of Law (Feb. 2008)
• University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law (Feb. 2006)
• Marquette University School of Law (Nov. 2004)
• University of Tulsa School of Law (Oct. 2004)
• University of Oklahoma School of Law (Oct. 2004)
• University of Arkansas-Fayetteville Law Center (Sept. 2004)
• University of Arkansas-Little Rock School of Law (Sept. 2004)
• Oklahoma City University School of Law (Sept. 2004)
• Stetson University College of Law (Aug. 2004)

Teaching Generation X

• Thurgood Marshall School of Law (Oct. 2003)
• University of Houston Law Center (Nov. 2002)