Levin College of Law

Henry T. Wihnyk

Emeritus Senior Legal Skills Professor

Phone:
(352) 273-0881

About

Henry Wihnyk became a member of the Legal Skills faculty in 1990. In addition to teaching Legal Writing, Legal Research, and Appellate Advocacy, he developed and taught the course, Advanced Techniques in Appellate Advocacy. Recognizing the need for students to learn and practice speaking skills beyond the courtroom, he developed the course, Public Speaking for Lawyers.

Professor Wihnyk has participated in several CLE presentations and writing workshops benefiting practicing lawyers and judges. These include,”Improving Decision Writing” at the Workers Compensation College, International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (2003), and “Appellate Writing and Oral Argument” (with Prof. Tracy Reid) at the 2004 and 2005 Capital Cases Seminar, Florida Commission on Capital Cases.

He is active in the legal writing academy as a member of the Legal Writing Institute. Professor Wihnyk has presented and served as an invited panelist at conferences of the Legal Writing Institute. His presentations include “Enhancing the Pedagogy of Oral Argument and First-Year Moot Court (2008) and “Techniques for Teaching How to Shift from Objective to Persuasive Writing” (with Prof. Patricia Thomson) (1997).

Prof. Wihnyk taught Appellate Advocacy, Legal Writing, and Torts at the Center for the Study of American Law, University of Warsaw Faculty of Law and Administration. Additionally, while teaching in Warsaw, he served on the panel “Legal Education in the Era of Globalization – European and American Perspectives,” presented at the Polish-American Symposium on Current Legal Issues and Legal Education in a Global Society, and on the panel “Globalization of Legal Education,” presented by the University of Warsaw Faculty of Law and Administration. He also presented “Appellate Advocacy from a Common Law Perspective,” to the students in the Common Law Society of the University of Warsaw Faculty of Law and Administration.

Prof. Wihnyk is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, and the Florida Bar.

He is a member of the Legal Writing Institute and serves on the Board of Reviewers, Contributors and Editors of “The Redbook, A Manual on Legal Style” 2d and 3d Editions.

Education

LL.M., Columbia University
J.D., Nova University (cum laude)
B.A., Florida Atlantic University

Teaching and Scholarship

Legal Research & Writing, Appellate Advocacy, Advanced Techniques in Appellate Advocacy, Public Speaking for Lawyers.

Courses

  • LL.M. in Comparative Law Introduction to the Legal System of the United States Part I
  • Legal Writing and Research for LL.M. in Comparative Law

Publications

  • Legal Writing: A Skill Polish Law Students Should Master in Law School, 8 Warsaw U. L. Rev. 148 (2008) [SSRN]