A short guide to writing about law

This brief writing guide teaches students--not lawyers--how to write about law, a complex professional discourse that has begun to appear in a variety of undergraduate courses including political science, criminal justice, sociology, and interdisciplinary fields such law and literature. This Short Guide offers an accessible introduction to the rhetoric of law, legal opinions and statutes, and wide-access online search engines for conducting legal research.

• 1 Writing about the Law
• Why Write about the Law?
• The United States Legal System
• Rhetoric and the Law
• Lawyers as Rhetoricians: the Sophists
• Genres of Oratory
• Rhetorical Analysis: the Rhetorical Triangle
• Rhetorical Analysis: Rhetorical Appeals
• Making a Valid Argument: Syllogisms and Fallacies
• Writing a Formal Rhetorical Analysis
• What Is the Context?
• Who is Talking?
• Are the Arguments Valid?
• Are You Moved?
• Rhetorical Analysis Checklist
• 2 Reading and writing Case Briefs
• What is a Case Brief?
• Case Name and Citation
• Issue
• Facts
• Holding
• Reasoning
• Dissenting and Concurring Opinions
• Legal Arguments: Topoi
• Precedent
• Legislation
• History
• International or Comparative Law
• Morality
• Public Policy
• Science
• Formatting a Case Brief
• Case Brief Checklist
• 3 Frameworks for Legal Scholarship
• Classical Framework
• Introduction: Exordium
• Background Information: Narration
• Manageable Parts: Partition
• Supporting Arguments: Confirmation
• Possible Objections:Refutation
• Conclusion and Course of Action:Peroration
• C-Rac Framework
• Conclusion
• Rule
• Application
• Conclusion
• Scholarly Framework
• Thesis
• Supporting Arguments
• Evidence
• Counterarguments and Rebuttals
• Conclusion
• Creating and Supporting a Thesis
• Creating a Thesis
• Supporting a Thesis
• Discovering Evidence
• Primary v. Secondary Sources
• Scholarly v. Non-Scholarly Sources
• Counterarguments and Rebuttals
• Writing an Argument Outline
• Step One: Supporting Arguments
• Step Two: Evidence
• Step Three: Arrangement and Transitions
• Argument Outline Checklist
• 4 Doing Legal Research
• Principles of Legal Research
• The Citation Trail
• Precision
• Online Legal Research Tools
• LexisNexis Academic
• HeinOnline
• Oyez and Justia
• Findlaw.com
• Library of Congress Law Library
• Cornell University Legal Information Institute (LII)
• Wikipedia
• State Courts Sites
• Government Printing Office (GPO)
• 6 Using Sources
• Rhetorical Purposes of Citation
• Gain Authority
• Give Credit
• Research Trail
• Basic Citation Framework
• Three Parts: Signal, In-text Marker, Reference Entry
• Legal Sources in MLA
• Integrating Sources
• Who's Talking?
• Signal Words
• Sample Student Paragraph
• Citing Primary Legal Documents
• Court Opinions and other Documents
• Legislative Materials
• International Laws
• Foreign Laws
• Executive Materials
• Treaties
• Try it: Researching and Citing Legal Sources
• 6 Writing Effective Paragraphs
• Introductory Paragraph
• Hook
• Context
• Thesis
• Methodology
• Assess a Student's Introduction
• Background Paragraphs
• Assess a Student's Background Paragraph
• Issue Paragraphs
• Topic Sentence
• Support from source
• Summarize/Interpret/Apply (SIA)
• Transition
• Assess a Student's Issue Paragraph
• Conclusion Paragraphs
• Analyze an Introduction
• 7 Peer Workshops and Revision
• Quirks of Legal Discourse
• Paired Synonyms
• Prepositional Phrases
• Nominalized and Passive Verbs
• "Precedent"
• Introducing a Case
• Tips for Strong Scholarly Writing
• Topic Sentences & Signposts
• "Clearly"
• Editorial Hyperbole
• Clichÿs
• Formatting Problems
• Revision
• Start Early
• Create Fresh Eyes
• Use a Revision Checklist
• Revision Checklist
• Get Help from a Friend
• Peer Workshops
• Keep Time
• Read Out Loud
• Give Praise and Criticism
• Specificity
• Editorial Abbreviations
• Workshop Checklist
• 8 Sharing Your Research
• Oral Presentations
• Think About Rhetoric
• Organization
• Presentation Software
• Tips
• Publishing Your Research
• Research the Journals
• Write an Abstract
• Write a Cover Letter
• Submitting to a Journal via Email