Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xvii
Part I Legal Writing: Learning a New Language 1
Chapter 1 Introduction 3
A We're Not in Kansas Anymore 3
B Your Legal Writing Class 4
C Citation? I Have to Learn That Too? 4
D What Do I Need to Do to Succeed at Legal Writing? 5
E How This Textbook Is Organized 5
Chapter 2 How (and Why) Do Lawyers Communicate? 7
A Writing to Explain: The Predictive Analysis 7
B Writing to Interpret: Writing About Law 12
C Writing to Persuade: The Persuasive Memorandum or Brief 15
D Writing to a Client: Communicating to a Layperson 19
Chapter 3 Where Does the Law We Use Come From? 23
A The Executive Branch 25
1 The Federal Executive 25
2 The State Executive 26
B The Legislative Branch 26
1 Federal Laws 26
2 State Laws 26
C The Judicial Branch 26
1 Overview 26
2 The Federal Court System 27
3 The State Court System 29
Chapter 4 How We Use the Law: Hierarchy of Law 31
A Primary Sources of Law 31
1 Constitutions 32
2 Statutes 32
3 Regulations 32
4 Judicial Opinions 32
5 Mandatory Versus Persuasive Authority 33
B Secondary Sources of Law 36
C International Law 36
Part II Case File 1 37
Chapter 5 Introduction to Case File 1 39
A Addressing the Client's Problem 50
B Case File 1: Reading and Understanding a Statute 51
C How Do Courts Interpret Statutes? 53
D Case File 1: Briefing Cases and Close Case Reading 54
1 Briefing a Case 54
2 Studying a Case 57
3 Breaking Down a Case 58
Chapter 6 The Office Memorandum: Components 73
A Parts of an Interoffice Legal Memorandum 73
1 The Heading 75
2 The Issue or Question Presented 75
3 The Brief Answer or Summary 78
4 The Facts 80
5 The Discussion Section 81
6 The Conclusion 82
Chapter 7 Writing the Discussion Section of an Interoffice Memorandum 83
A How to Organize the Information 84
1 Make an Outline 85
2 Format 86
3 Process 86
B A Step-by-Step Approach to Making an Outline 86
C Explaining the Law in a Discussion 90
1 The Roadmap (AKA Global) Paragraph 90
2 Explaining the Law Using Case Examples 92
3 A Step-by-Step Approach to Writing the Explanation of the Law 93
D Applying the Law in a Discussion 95
E Organization: Internal Paragraph Structure 99
1 Writing the Paragraph's First Sentence 100
2 Using Parallel Structure 101
Chapter 8 Client Letters 103
A Client Letters 103
1 Organization 103
2 Content 105
3 Retainment Letters 105
B E-mail Correspondence Format 105
C E-mail Correspondence Substance 106
D A Final Cautionary Message 107
Chapter 9 Revising 109
A Large-Scale Revising 109
B Internal Paragraph Revising: Reverse Outline 110
C Micro Revising: Grammar and Mechanics 111
Part III Case File 2 117
Chapter 10 Introduction to Case File 2 119
A Tire Process for Completing Case File 2 Memorandum 120
B Understand the Facts of Matthew's Case 128
1 An Approach to Note Taking 128
2 Read and Study Relevant Statute and Cases 129
Chapter 11 A Closer Look at Hierarchy of Authority in Context 133
Chapter 12 Developing the Rules in a Multi-Issue Case 137
Chapter 13 Counter-Analysis 141
Part IV Case File 3 145
Chapter 14 Introduction to Case File 3 147
Chapter 15 Applying the Skills You Have Learned 155
A Gadrering the Facts 155
B Using the Facts to Generate Search Terms for Research 156
C Organizing Cases and Identifying Which Cases to Use 157
D Start Writing the Discussion Section 157
E Writing a Normative or Policy Analysis 158
F Revisions 159
Appendix 163
Index 167
