Legal writing and analysis

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Legal Writing and Analysis, Fourth Edition, is a concise text that still has all of the clarity of Linda Edward's writing style and process-based approach. In a sequence that mirrors legal practice, students learn to read and analyze the law; discuss and write about legal issues; compose office and email memos, professional correspondence, and briefs; and prepare oral arguments. This book teaches students how to use analogical reasoning, in addition to rule-based and policy-based reasoning, as a tool for synthesizing cases, how to organize a legal discussion using analysis and reasoning, and how to use precedent in persuasive legal writing, particularly with regard to cases.

Key Features of The New Edition:

Thoroughly updated Discusses how to write an office memo via email Demonstrates how to use the optional "deep issue" format when writing issue statements Features expanded coverage of analogizing and distinguishing cases Adds updates to the citation rules, consistent with current citation authorities

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• Preface p. xvii
• Acknowledgments p. xix
• Part 1 Lawyers and the Legal Landscape p. 1
• 1 Overview of the Lawyer's Role p. 3
• I Writing and a Lawyer's Roles p. 3
• II Overview of a Civil Case p. 5
• III Ethical Duties p. 5
• IV Legal Citation p. 8
• A Plagiarism p. 9
• B When to Cite p. 11
• 2 The Legal System, the Common Law Process, and Kinds of Authority p. 13
• I The Structure of Court Systems p. 13
• A The Federal Court System p. 13
• B State Court Systems p. 14
• II The Functions of Trial and Appellate Courts p. 15
• A The Functions of Trial Courts p. 15
• B The Functions of Appellate Courts p. 16
• III The Common Law Process p. 17
• A Stare Decisis p. 17
• B Holdings p. 18
• C The Breadth of Holdings p. 19
• D Holdings Versus Dicta p. 21
• IV The Weight of Authority p. 23
• A Primary Authority Versus Secondary Authority p. 23
• B Mandatory Authority Versus Persuasive Authority p. 25
• C Other Characteristics Affecting the Persuasive Value of Cases p. 26
• Part 2 Reading and Analyzing the Law p. 29
• 3 Briefing and Synthesizing Cases p. 31
• I Introduction to Case Briefing p. 31
• II A Format for Case Briefing p. 32
• III Synthesizing Cases p. 36
• A Using Consistent Cases A. Sample Case Brief p. 37
• B Reconciling Seemingly Inconsistent Cases p. 37
• 4 Interpreting Statutes p. 45
• I Reading Statutes p. 45
• II Identifying Issues p. 49
• III Interpreting the Statute's Language p. 51
• IV Canons of Construction p. 52
• 5 Forms of Legal Reasoning p. 55
• I Rule-Based Reasoning p. 55
• II Analogical Reasoning (Analogizing and Distinguishing Cases) p. 56
• III Policy-Based Reasoning p. 58
• IV Principle-Based Reasoning p. 59
• V Custom-Based Reasoning p. 59
• VI Inferential Reasoning p. 60
• VII Narrative p. 62
• Part 3 Writing the Discussion of a Legal Question p. 65
• 6 The Writing Process and Law-Trained Readers p. 67
• I The Writing Process p. 67
• II Law-Trained Readers p. 71
• A Focus on the Reader p. 71
• B Attention Levels p. 72
• C Road Maps p. 73
• D Readers as Commentators p. 74
• E Judges as Readers p. 74
• F Law Professors as Readers p. 77
• 7 Large-Scale Organization: Creating an Annotated Outline p. 79
• I Rule Structures p. 79
• II Creating an Annotated Outline p. 85
• A The First Level: The Legal Questions You Have Been Asked to Address p. 85
• B The Second Level: Governing Rules p. 85
• C The Third Level and Beyond: The Rule's Structure p. 86
• D Omitting Issues Not in Dispute p. 87
• E Uncertainty About Which Rule Your Jurisdiction Will Adopt p. 87
• F Annotating Your Outline p. 88
• 8 Small-Scale Organization: Explaining the Law p. 91
• I An Overview of the Paradigm for Legal Analysis p. 91
• II Stating the Conclusion p. 92
• III Stating the Governing Rule p. 93
• IV Explaining the Rule: Five Components p. 94
• V Guidelines for Rule Explanation p. 95
• VI Organizing a Pure Question of Law p. 97
• 9 Small-Scale Organization: Applying the Law p. 103
• I Two Approaches to Writing the Application Section p. 103
• E Content of Rule Application p. 104
• III Common Trouble Spots in Rule Application Sections p. 106
• IV Evaluating Your Draft p. 109
• 10 Discussing Multiple Issues: Putting It All Together p. 113
• I Ordering for Your Reader p. 113
• A Accounting for Elements Not at Issue p. 113
• B Selecting an Order for the Remaining Issues p. 114
• II Umbrella Sections p. 115
• III The Conclusion p. 118
• IV Editing Subsection Lengths p. 118
• V Variations of the Multi-Issue Paradigm p. 119
• 11 Deepening Your Analysis p. 121
• I Using Policies and Principles in Rule Explanation p. 121
• II Using Analogical Reasoning in Rule Application p. 124
• A Deciding Which Similarities and Differences Are Significant p. 124
• B Choosing a Format for Your Case Comparison p. 125
• HI Using Factual Inferences in Rule Application p. 128
• Part 4 Predictive Writing p. 131
• 12 Writing an Office Memo p. 133
• I The Function of an Office Memo p. 133
• II An Overview of the Memo Format p. 133
• III Drafting the Heading p. 135
• IV Drafting the Question Presented p. 135
• V Drafting the Brief Answer p. 139
• VI Drafting the Fact Statement p. 141
• A Fact Selection p. 141
• B Organization of Fact Statement p. 142
• VII Drafting the Conclusion p. 145
• VIII Writing an Email Memo p. 147
• 13 Writing Professional Letters and Emails p. 149
• I General Characteristics of Professional Letter Writing p. 149
• II Letters to Clients p. 152
• A General Considerations p. 152
• B Advice Letters p. 152
• C Status Letter p. 154
• III Letters to Other Lawyers p. 154
• A General Considerations p. 154
• B Demand Letters and Responses p. 156
• C Confirming Letters p. 156
• IV Transmittal Letters p. 157
• V Emails p. 159
• Part 5 The Shift to Advocacy p. 165
• 14 Introduction to Brief-Writing p. 167
• I Ethics and the Advocate's Craft p. 167
• II Judges, Briefs, and Persuasion p. 170
• III The Components of a Trial-Level Brief p. 172
• IV The Components of an Appellate Brief p. 175
• 15 Questions Presented and Point Headings p. 179
• I Writing the Question Presented p. 179
• II Point Headings p. 184
• A Identifying Point Headings p. 184
• B Drafting Point Headings p. 187
• C Editing Point Headings for Readability and Persuasion p. 189
• D Identifying Subheadings p. 193
• 16 Writing the Argument Section p. 195
• I Arguments for Different Kinds of Legal Issues p. 195
• A A Pure Question of Law p. 195
• B An Issue of Statutory Interpretation p. 196
• C An Issue of Common Law Case Synthesis p. 196
• D A Case of First Impression on Your Jurisdiction p. 197
• E Seeking a Change in the Law p. 198
• F An Issue Applying Law to Fact p. 198
• II Honing Your Argument for the Court's Rule p. 199
• A The Trial Judge p. 199
• B Appellate Judges and the Appellate Process p. 199
• III Reminders About Organization p. 200
• IV Using Case Comparisons to Support Your Argument p. 203
• V Rebutting Your Opponent's Arguments p. 205
• 17 Standards of Review p. 207
• I Categories of Trial Court Decisions p. 207
• II Advocating a More Favorable Standard of Review p. 211
• III Conforming Headings to the Standard of Review p. 213
• 18 Writing a Fact Statement p. 217
• I Fact Ethics, Readers, and the Conventions of Fact Statements p. 218
• A Fact Ethics p. 218
• B The Conventions of a Statement of Facts p. 218
• II Developing a Theory of the Case and Selecting Facts p. 220
• A Developing a Theory of the Case p. 220
• B Selecting and Citing to Facts p. 221
• III Organization p. 222
• A Formats p. 222
• B Procedural History p. 223
• IV Techniques for Persuasion p. 223
• A General Principles p. 223
• B Large-Scale Organization p. 224
• C Paragraph Organization p. 225
• D Techniques with Sentences p. 226
• E Other Small-Scale Techniques p. 227
• Statement of Facts on Behalf of Carrolton p. 230
• Statement of Facts on Behalf of Watson p. 231
• 19 Using Legal Theory to Sharpen Your Arguments p. 235
• I Natural Law p. 236
• II Formalism p. 237
• III Legal Realism p. 240
• IV Legal Process p. 243
• V Fundamental Rights p. 244
• VI Law and Economics p. 246
• VII Critical Legal Theory p. 248
• VIII The Jurisprudence of Legal Writing p. 249
• Part 6 Style and Formalities p. 251
• 20 Citations and Quotations p. 253
• I Citation in Legal Writing p. 253
• II Citation Form p. 255
• A Using the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation p. 255
• B Using the Bluebook p. 256
• C Several Key Concepts p. 257
• D Introduction to Citation Form p. 259
• E Matching the Citation to the Text p. 261
• F Citing with Style and Grace p. 262
• G Editing Citation Form p. 264
• III Quotations p. 271
• A When Quotation Marks Are Required p. 271
• B Choosing to Use Quotation Marks p. 273
• C Overquoting p. 273
• D The Mechanics of Quoting p. 274
• E Editing Quotations p. 276
• 21 Paragraphs, Sentences, and Style p. 279
• I Paragraphing p. 279
• II Choose Strong Subjects and Verbs p. 282
• A Active Voice p. 282
• B Nominalizations p. 284
• C Throat-Clearing p. 285
• D Sentences Beginning with Forms of "It Is" or "There Is" p. 286
• III Avoiding Wordiness p. 287
• A Revise Phrases That Can Be Replaced by a Single Word p. 287
• B Avoid Legalese p. 288
• C Avoid Redundancies p. 289
• D Avoid Intensifiers p. 289
• IV Other Characteristics of Good Style p. 289
• A Keeping the Subject and Verb Close Together p. 289
• B Avoiding Long Sentences p. 290
• C Unnecessary Variations p. 291
• D Parallelism p. 291
• V Gender-Neutral Writing p. 292
• A Techniques for Nouns: Elimination or Substitution p. 293
• B Techniques for Pronouns p. 293
• C Techniques for Proper Names and Titles p. 294
• Part 7 Oral Advocacy p. 297
• 22 Oral Argument p. 299
• I The Purpose of Oral Argument p. 299
• II Formalities and Organization of Oral Argument p. 300
• A Preliminary Formalities p. 300
• B The Appellant's Argument p. 300
• C Argument of Co-Counsel for the Appellant p. 301
• D The Appellee's Argument p. 301
• B Argument of Co-Counsel for the Appellee p. 302
• F Concluding the Argument p. 302
• G Rebuttal p. 303
• III The Content of Argument p. 303
• A The Standard of Review p. 303
• B The Burden of Proof p. 303
• C The Trial-Level Procedural Posture p. 304
• D Themes p. 304
• IV Preparation p. 305
• A The Record p. 305
• B Outline Your Argument p. 305
• C Prepare Your Polder p. 305
• D Script the Entire Opening, the Conclusion, and Your Prepared Rebuttal p. 306
• E Practice p. 306
• P Visit the Courtroom p. 306
• V Handling Questions from the Bench p. 306
• A Anticipate Questions p. 307
• B Attitude p. 307
• C Recognize Types of Questions p. 307
• D Listen Carefully to the Question p. 308
• E Clarify the Question p. 308
• F Begin with a Clear, Direct Answer p. 308
• G Returning to Your Prepared Presentation p. 308
• H Handling Questions on Your Co-Counsel's Issue p. 308
• I Handling a Question for Which You Do Not Have an Answer p. 309
• J Agreeing When You Can p. 309
• K Referring to Earlier Questions or Comments from the Bench p. 309
• VI Presentation p. 310
• A Dress p. 310
• B Body, Hands, and Eyes p. 310
• C Voice p. 310
• D References p. 310
• E Nervousness p. 310
• Appendices p. 311
• Appendix A Sample Office Memorandum p. 313
• Appendix B Sample Trial-Level Brief p. 319
• Appendix C Sample Appellate Brief p. 325
• Appendix D Sample Letters p. 341
• Appendix E Cases p. 349
• Index p. 359