Joe Fore

  • Professor of Law, General Faculty
  • Co-Director, Legal Research and Writing Program

Joe Fore has been a co-director of the Law School’s Legal Research and Writing Program since 2014. In addition to teaching research and writing courses, Fore works extensively with the Law School’s moot court programs. In 2018, he received the BLSA Service Award for his role in coaching BLSA’s extramural moot court teams. 

Fore is also an active member of the national legal writing community, and he publishes and presents regularly on topics relating to legal communication and legal skills pedagogy. He authors a regular column devoted to legal writing in Virginia Lawyer magazine, the official publication of the Virginia State Bar. Fore received the Legal Writing Institute’s inaugural Emerging Scholar Award for his 2019 article on lawyers’ use of probabilistic language when rendering legal advice. He has been editor-in-chief of a journal devoted to teaching legal skills, and he currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Legal Writing Institute.

Before joining the Law School faculty, Fore was an attorney with BakerHostetler, practicing both trial-level and appellate litigation in Washington, D.C. and Orlando, Florida. He also served as an adjunct professor at Barry University’s Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law in Orlando, teaching a seminar course in advanced oral advocacy skills.

Fore received his J.D. from the Law School, where he was a notes editor for the Virginia Law Review and a semifinalist in the William Minor Lile Moot Court Competition.

Education

  • J.D.
    University of Virginia School of Law
    2011
  • B.A.
    Duke University
    2007

Articles & Reviews

Write Like a Spy: Using U.S. Intelligence Guidelines to Reinforce the Lessons of Predictive Legal Writing, 28 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing 15–18 (2020).
“A Court Would Likely (60-75%) Find”: Defining Verbal Probability Expressions in Predictive Legal Analysis, 16 Legal Communication & Rhetoric 49–84 (2019).
Making a Great Second Impression: Overcoming a Rough Start in Law School Classes (with Emily Grant), 31 The Second Draft 22–26 (2018).
The Comparative Benefits of Standalone Email Assignments in the First-Year Legal Writing Curriculum, 22 Legal Writing: The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute 151–187 (2018).
Style Secrets from America’s Litigator-in-Chief (reviewing Jack Meltzer, The Solicitor General’s Style Guide) 14 Legal Communication & Rhetoric: JALWD 135–140 (2017).
Encourage Students to Eliminate the Brown M&Ms from Their Legal Writing, 25 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing 18–23 (2016).
Are Communications with a Corporate Client's Former Employees Protected by Attorney-Client Privilege?, XLI The Advocate: Official Newsletter of the Florida Bar Trial Lawyers Section (2013).
Moving Beyond 'Gene Doping': Preparing for Genetic Modification in Sport, 15 Virginia Journal of Law & Technology 76–100 (2010).

Op-Eds, Blogs, Shorter Works

Getting to the Point, 71 Virginia Lawyer 54 (December, 2022).
Altering Quotes with Brackets, 71 Virginia Lawyer 54 (October, 2022).
Your Fall Reading List: Practical Legal Writing Scholarships, 71 Virginia Lawyer 54 (August, 2022).
Altering Quotations with Ellipses, 71 Virginia Lawyer 54 (June, 2022).
A Guide to Giving Writing Feedback that Sticks UVA Center for Teaching Excellence (2022).
The Mechanics of Quoting, 70 Virginia Lawyer 62 (April, 2022).
Alternative Feedback Strategies for Greater Efficiency UVA Center for Teaching Excellence (2022).
Writing by the Numbers, 70 Virginia Lawyer 54 (February, 2022).
Striking the Right Tone in Written Feedback UVA Center for Teaching Excellence (2021).
Leveraging Tech Tools to Improve Your Writing, Part 2, 70 Virginia Lawyer 62 (October, 2021).
7 Strategies to Help Students Adopt a Growth Mindset in Your Writing Course UVA Center for Teaching Excellence (2021).
Tech Tools for Better Editing, Part 1, 70 Virginia Lawyer 62 (August, 2021).
Giving Good Feedback: Cultivating a Growth Mindset, 70 Virginia Lawyer 54 (June, 2021).
Improving Document Design with Better Spacing, 69 Virginia Lawyer 62 (April, 2021).
Don't Be So Negative, 69 Virginia Lawyer 62 (February, 2021).
On the Writing Process, Part II, 69 Virginia Lawyer 62 (December, 2020).
On the Writing Process, Part 1, 69 Virginia Lawyer 62 (October, 2020).
A Legal Writing Reading List, 69 Virginia Lawyer 61–62 (August, 2020).
Giving Effective Feedback, 69 Virginia Lawyer 62–63 (June, 2020).
Heads-Up Headings, 68 Virginia Lawyer 62–63 (April, 2020).
What’s a "likely" legal outcome? Examining lawyer’s use of probability language Appellate Advocacy Blog (2020).
Four Steps to More Concise Writing, 68 Virginia Lawyer 62–63 (February, 2020).
Want to Give Better Writing Feedback? Watch Your Tone. THE #PRACTICETUESDAY BLOG (2017).
How to Make a Great Second Impression in the Law School Classroom (with Emily Grant) TEACH LAW BETTER (2017).
Three Neglected (Keyboard) Keys in Effective Legal Writing Lady (Legal) Writer (2016).

IN THE NEWS

02/14/2023
Ending a Section With Style (Virginia Lawyer)
12/14/2022
Episode 88 - Guest Joe Fore (Crozet Series) (The Brad Rykal Brief)
12/05/2022
Getting to the Point (Virginia Lawyer)
08/01/2022
Your Fall Reading List: Practical Legal Writing Scholarships (Virginia Lawyer)
06/17/2022
Altering Quotations With Ellipses (Virginia Lawyer)
06/03/2022
New CCAC Chair Takes Reins Amid County Review of Rules (The Crozet Gazette)
05/31/2022
A Guide to Giving Writing Feedback that Sticks (Center for Teaching Excellence)
05/17/2022
S2E17 -Providing Effective Feedback to Students (Designed for Online)
02/14/2022
Alternative Feedback Strategies for Greater Efficiency (Center for Teaching Exellence)
11/23/2021
Striking the Right Tone in Written Feedback (UVA Center for Teaching Excellence)
08/04/2021
Tech Tools for Better Editing, Part 1 (Virginia Lawyer)
06/04/2021
Cool or Cringe? Judicial Pop Culture References Rankle Some Lawyers (The National Law Journal)
06/02/2021
Giving Good Feedback: Cultivating a Growth Mindset (Virginia Lawyer)
02/04/2021
Don’t Be So Negative (Virginia Lawyer)
12/08/2020
On the Writing Process, Part II (Virginia Lawyer)
08/20/2020
A Legal Writing Reading List (Virginia Lawyer)
07/02/2020
Giving Effective Feedback (Virginia Lawyer)
05/01/2020
2020 Emerging Scholar Award Recipient (Legal Writing Institute)
04/01/2020
Heads-Up Headings (Virginia Lawyer)
02/18/2020
Four Steps to More Concise Writing (Virginia Lawyer)
07/09/2018
New Members (The Scrivener)
11/28/2017
Want to Give Better Writing Feedback? Watch Your Tone. (The #PracticeTuesday Blog)

AT UVA LAW

Accolades: Public Service Dean Wins Literary Award
Three Faculty Members Promoted
4 Tips to More Concise Legal Writing
Professor Elected to Legal Writing Institute Board
Building Strong Writers, One Mentor at a Time
Overview of the 1L Curriculum at UVA Law
Six UVA Law Faculty Members Promoted
Getting it Right: Legal Research and Writing
Alumnus Joe Fore '11 Joins UVA Law Legal Research and Writing Program Faculty
Overview of the 1L Curriculum at UVA Law

Featured Scholarship