NWC Professor Honored for Legal Writing

NEWPORT, R.I. – Coast Guard Capt. Andrew Norris, judge advocate at U.S. Naval War College (NWC), has been honored for exemplary legal writing by the quarterly law journal Green Bag Almanac & Reader.

Published by George Mason University School of Law, the Almanac & Reader cites Norris’ account of the odyssey of the S.S. City of Flint, a U.S.-flagged merchant ship that sailed for England from New York City in 1939. The ship was taken by German forces prior to the U.S. entering World War II.

When Norris wrote the article, he was hoping only to compile a complete account of the incident which got worldwide attention at the time and is now fading from memory.

“I wanted to write the definitive article on the City of Flint and hoped it would be the one place for information on the subject for those who want to study the incident,” said Norris.

Norris presented the facts in the form of an easily readable story, rather than in the typical legal style that can be difficult to understand for those without legal training.

“Many law review articles you read are really pretty painful to get through. They are by scholarly people writing about weighty stuff,” said Norris. “What this tale brings is that it has got maritime, legal and diplomatic elements. It is a good story and maybe that’s what caught the eye of the Green Bag people.”

Green Bag positions itself as “An Entertaining Journal of Law” and reprints legal articles that are selected as examples of good legal writing, in categories such as: opinions of courts, books, long articles, news and editorial.

Norris did not submit his article to Green Bag directly. It was originally published in the American Journal of Legal History published by Temple University Beasley College of Law. 

The article was nominated for the award without Norris’ knowledge.

“I got an email in November telling me I was nominated, and that was the first I had heard of the journal or the award,” said Norris. “While I thought it was a good article and got some good feedback on it and I put a lot of work into it, I was really surprised that it got recognized as it did.”

In January, Norris was notified that his article was one of two winners in the long articles category.

“I was surprised, because most of the past winners have been law professors at high-powered universities, federal judges, and the like,” said Norris.

The article, titled "A Maelstrom of International Law and Intrigue: The Remarkable Voyage of the S.S. City of Flint," can be read in its entirety at http://t.co/NTDJQqi6jJ.

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Daniel L. Kuester
January 22, 2015

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