Legal Writing and Analysis

Halftitle Page......Page 2
Editorial Advisors......Page 3
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright Page......Page 5
About Wolters Kluwer Law & Business......Page 6
Dedication......Page 8
Summary of Contents......Page 9
Contents......Page 11
Preface......Page 19
Acknowledgments......Page 22
Part One: Lawyers and the Legal Landscape......Page 24
I. Writing and a Lawyer’s Roles......Page 25
II. Overview of a Civil Case......Page 28
III. Ethical Duties......Page 31
A. Plagiarism......Page 33
B. When to Cite......Page 35
A. The Federal Court System......Page 38
B. State Court Systems......Page 39
B. The Functions of Appellate Courts......Page 41
III. The Common Law Process......Page 42
A. Stare Decisis......Page 43
B. Holdings......Page 44
C. The Breadth of Holdings......Page 45
D. Holdings Versus Dicta......Page 49
A. Primary Authority Versus Secondary Authority......Page 51
B. Mandatory Authority Versus Persuasive Authority......Page 53
C. Other Characteristics Affecting the Persuasive Value of Cases......Page 55
Part Two: Reading and Analyzing the Law......Page 59
I. Introduction to Case Briefing......Page 60
II. A Format for Case Briefing......Page 61
A. Using Consistent Cases A. Sample Case Brief......Page 67
B. Reconciling Seemingly Inconsistent Cases......Page 68
I. Reading Statutes......Page 77
II. Identifying Issues......Page 82
III. Interpreting the Statute’s Language......Page 84
IV. Canons of Construction......Page 87
5. Forms of Legal Reasoning......Page 89
I. Rule--Based Reasoning......Page 90
II. Analogical Reasoning (Analogizing and Distinguishing Cases)......Page 91
III. Policy-Based Reasoning......Page 93
IV. Principle-Based Reasoning......Page 94
V. Custom-Based Reasoning......Page 95
VI. Inferential Reasoning......Page 96
VII. Narrative......Page 97
Part Three: Writing the Discussion of a Legal Question......Page 101
I. The Writing Process......Page 102
A. Focus on the Reader......Page 107
B. Attention Levels......Page 108
C. Road Maps......Page 110
D. Readers as Commentators......Page 111
E. Judges as Readers......Page 112
F. Law Professors as Readers......Page 115
I. Rule Structures......Page 116
II. Creating an Annotated Outline......Page 123
B. The Second Level: Governing Rules......Page 124
C. The Third Level and Beyond: The Rule’s Structure......Page 125
D. Omitting Issues Not in Dispute......Page 126
E. Uncertainty About Which Rule Your Jurisdiction Will Adopt......Page 127
F. Annotating Your Outline......Page 128
I. An Overview of the Paradigm for Legal Analysis......Page 130
II. Stating the Conclusion......Page 132
III. Stating the Governing Rule......Page 133
IV. Explaining the Rule: Five Components......Page 134
V. Guidelines for Rule Explanation......Page 135
VI. Organizing a Pure Question of Law......Page 137
I. Two Approaches to Writing the Application Section......Page 145
II. Content of Rule Application......Page 146
III. Common Trouble Spots in Rule Application Sections......Page 148
IV. Evaluating Your Draft......Page 153
10. Discussing Multiple Issues: Putting It All Together......Page 156
B. Selecting an Order for the Remaining Issues......Page 157
II. Umbrella Sections......Page 159
IV. Editing Subsection Lengths......Page 162
V. Variations of the Multi-Issue Paradigm......Page 163
I. Using Policies and Principles in Rule Explanation......Page 167
II. Using Analogical Reasoning in Rule Application......Page 170
A. Deciding Which Similarities and Differences Are Significant......Page 171
B. Choosing a Format for Your Case Comparison......Page 172
III. Using Factual Inferences in Rule Application......Page 176
Part Four: Predictive Writing......Page 179
II. An Overview of the Memo Format......Page 180
III. Drafting the Heading......Page 182
IV. Drafting the Question Presented......Page 183
V. Drafting the Brief Answer......Page 188
A. Fact Selection......Page 191
B. Organization of Fact Statement......Page 193
VII. Drafting the Conclusion......Page 196
VIII. Writing an Email Memo......Page 199
I. General Characteristics of Professional Letter Writing......Page 201
A. General Considerations......Page 205
B. Advice Letters......Page 206
C. Status Letter......Page 207
A. General Considerations......Page 208
B. Demand Letters and Responses......Page 210
C. Confirming Letters......Page 211
IV. Transmittal Letters......Page 212
V. Emails......Page 214
Part Five: The Shift to Advocacy......Page 221
I. Ethics and the Advocate’s Craft......Page 222
II. Judges, Briefs, and Persuasion......Page 225
III. The Components of a Trial-Level Brief......Page 228
IV. The Components of an Appellate Brief......Page 232
I. Writing the Question Presented......Page 236
A. Identifying Point Headings......Page 243
B. Drafting Point Headings......Page 246
C. Editing Point Headings for Readability and Persuasion......Page 249
D. Identifying Subheadings......Page 254
A. A Pure Question of Law......Page 256
B. An Issue of Statutory Interpretation......Page 257
C. An Issue of Common Law Case Synthesis......Page 258
E. Seeking a Change in the Law......Page 259
F. An Issue Applying Law to Fact......Page 260
A. The Trial Judge......Page 261
B. Appellate Judges and the Appellate Process......Page 262
III. Reminders About Organization......Page 263
IV. Using Case Comparisons to Support Your Argument......Page 266
V. Rebutting Your Opponent’s Arguments......Page 269
I. Categories of Trial Court Decisions......Page 272
II. Advocating a More Favorable Standard of Review......Page 277
III. Conforming Headings to the Standard of Review......Page 279
18. Writing a Fact Statement......Page 283
A. Fact Ethics......Page 284
B. The Conventions of a Statement of Facts......Page 285
II. Developing a Theory of the Case and Selecting Facts......Page 286
A. Developing a Theory of the Case......Page 287
B. Selecting and Citing to Facts......Page 288
A. Formats......Page 289
B. Procedural History......Page 290
A. General Principles......Page 291
B. Large-Scale Organization......Page 292
D. Techniques with Sentences......Page 293
E. Other Small-Scale Techniques......Page 295
Statement of Facts on Behalf of Carrolton......Page 299
Statement of Facts on Behalf of Watson......Page 300
19. Using Legal Theory to Sharpen Your Arguments......Page 305
I. Natural Law......Page 306
II. Formalism......Page 308
III. Legal Realism......Page 311
IV. Legal Process......Page 315
V. Fundamental Rights......Page 317
VI. Law and Economics......Page 319
VII. Critical Legal Theory......Page 321
VIII. The Jurisprudence of Legal Writing......Page 323
Part Six: Style and Formalities......Page 326
I. Citation in Legal Writing......Page 327
II. Citation Form......Page 329
A. Using the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation......Page 330
B. Using the Bluebook......Page 332
C. Several Key Concepts......Page 333
D. Introduction to Citation Form......Page 335
E. Matching the Citation to the Text......Page 337
F. Citing with Style and Grace......Page 339
G. Editing Citation Form......Page 341
A. When Quotation Marks Are Required......Page 348
B. Choosing to Use Quotation Marks......Page 351
C. Overquoting......Page 352
D. The Mechanics of Quoting......Page 353
E. Editing Quotations......Page 355
I. Paragraphing......Page 358
II. Choose Strong Subjects and Verbs......Page 362
A. Active Voice......Page 363
B. Nominalizations......Page 365
C. Throat-Clearing......Page 367
D. Sentences Beginning with Forms of “It Is” or “There Is”......Page 368
A. Revise Phrases That Can Be Replaced by a Single Word......Page 369
B. Avoid Legalese......Page 370
D. Avoid Intensifiers......Page 371
A. Keeping the Subject and Verb Close Together......Page 372
B. Avoiding Long Sentences......Page 373
D. Parallelism......Page 374
V. Gender-Neutral Writing......Page 375
A. Techniques for Nouns: Elimination or Substitution......Page 376
B. Techniques for Pronouns......Page 377
C. Techniques for Proper Names and Titles......Page 379
Part Seven: Oral Advocacy......Page 380
I. The Purpose of Oral Argument......Page 381
A. Preliminary Formalities......Page 382
C. Argument of Co-Counsel for the Appellant......Page 383
D. The Appellee’s Argument......Page 384
G. Rebuttal......Page 385
C. The Trial-Level Procedural Posture......Page 386
D. Themes......Page 387
B. Outline Your Argument......Page 388
D. Script the Entire Opening, the Conclusion, and Your Prepared Rebuttal......Page 389
B. Attitude......Page 390
C. Recognize Types of Questions......Page 391
G. Returning to Your Prepared Presentation......Page 392
J. Agreeing When You Can......Page 393
C. Voice......Page 394
E. Nervousness......Page 395
Appendices......Page 396
Appendix A Sample Office Memorandum......Page 397
Appendix B Sample Trial-Level Brief......Page 404
Appendix C Sample Appellate Brief......Page 413
Appendix D Sample Letters......Page 432
Appendix E Cases......Page 443
Index......Page 456