Clear and Effective Legal Writing

Clear and Effective Legal Writing PDF Author: Veda Charrow
Publisher: Aspen Publishing
ISBN: 1454837853
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 509

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Book Description
In its Fourth Edition, Clear and Effective Legal Writing continues to give students a classic introduction to legal analysis and legal writing. Concise and accessible, the text focuses on memo and brief writing while reinforcing key writing skills. This proven teaching tool provides the student with excellent examples and numerous skill-honing exercises. Offering comprehensive coverage from case synthesis and case briefing to preparing Supreme Court briefs, this text: starts with an overview of legal analysis, and then walks students through the writing process: understanding context, organizing effectively, writing clearly and effectively, and reviewing and editing describes differences between legal language and ordinary discourse, and the linguistic theory underlying the origins of legal language seamlessly combines legal reasoning with legal writing and helps the student understand the relationship between the two provides straightforward rules for writing effective legal documents, with scores of examples of the good, the bad, and the humorous includes numerous exercises throughout the book to help students reinforce their skills dissects and annotates actual trial court memoranda and Supreme Court briefs highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each example provides an insightful interview with the Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States on what the Court expects to see in brief and the assistance that his office provides to all litigants appearing before the Court shows how to transform a memorandum into an advocacy document provides guidance for writing well in an appendix with overview of English sentence structure New to the Fourth Edition: updated examples throughout an updated legal process portion taking into account changes in law and updating examples a new set of Supreme Court briefs with annotations additional material addressing how the Internet is affecting court filings and formatting

Clear and Effective Legal Writing

Clear and Effective Legal Writing PDF Author: Veda Charrow
Publisher: Aspen Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
With examples drawn from legal writing and student papers, this guide walks students through the writing process and helps them refine their skills in exercises throughout the book. The Second Edition features a reorganized Part I, including three new chapters that help students gain proficiency in reading and analyzing legal materials so they can write more effectively. Part II includes a systematic approach to legal writing; understanding your context; getting organized; writing clearly; writing effectively; and reviewing and editing. Part III covers the process of writing a legal memorandum and an appellate court brief. This Second Edition includes two examples of memoranda, An interoffice memo and a memo of points and authority; a streamlined appendix that provides an overview of English sentence structure; and many enhanced writing exercises.

Mightier Than the Sword

Mightier Than the Sword PDF Author: C. Edward Good
Publisher: Legal Education, Limited
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description


Legal Writing in Plain English

Legal Writing in Plain English PDF Author: Bryan A. Garner
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022603139X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
“This easy-to-follow guide is useful both as a general course of instruction and as a targeted aid in solving particular legal writing problems.” —Harvard Law Review Clear, concise, down-to-earth, and powerful—all too often, legal writing embodies none of these qualities. Its reputation for obscurity and needless legalese is widespread. For more than twenty years, Bryan A. Garner’s Legal Writing in Plain English has helped address this problem by providing lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and legal scholars with sound advice and practical tools for improving their written work. The leading guide to clear writing in the field, this indispensable volume encourages legal writers to challenge conventions and offers valuable insights into the writing process that will appeal to other professionals: how to organize ideas, create and refine prose, and improve editing skills. Accessible and witty, Legal Writing in Plain English draws on real-life writing samples that Garner has gathered through decades of teaching. Trenchant advice covers all types of legal materials, from analytical and persuasive writing to legal drafting, and the book’s principles are reinforced by sets of basic, intermediate, and advanced exercises in each section. In this new edition, Garner preserves the successful structure of the original while adjusting the content to make it even more classroom-friendly. He includes case examples from the past decade and addresses the widespread use of legal documents in electronic formats. His book remains the standard guide for producing the jargon-free language that clients demand and courts reward. “Those who are willing to approach the book systematically and to complete the exercises will see dramatic improvements in their writing.” —Law Library Journal

Writing for the Legal Audience

Writing for the Legal Audience PDF Author: Wayne Schiess
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
This book teaches lawyers how to adjust their writing to accommodate twelve different legal audiences. Each chapter addresses a different audience for legal writing, including consumers, supervisors, and trial judges. First, each chapter defines the needs of a specific audience. Next, the chapter offers tips designed to improve legal writing for that audience. Finally, Schiess cites examples of poor legal writing and includes explanations of why the poor examples should be fixed and how to do it. Readers will find sentence structure advice, as well as advice on organization, tone, format, and document design. Using a short, clear, and easy-to-read format, this book is ideal for practicing lawyers or law students who want to improve their writing. "Wayne Schiess knows his stuff, and it shows in this superb book. Any lawyer or paralegal who wants to write better - and therefore succeed more of the time - should keep this book close at hand." -- Bryan A. Garner, President, LawProse, Inc. "A fine book filled with sound, progressive advice about writing for many different legal audiences. Schiess is squarely on the side of plain English--bless him. He will show you the way to better legal writing." -- Joe Kimble, Thomas Cooley Law School "Wayne Schiess makes many superb suggestions for improving your writing by considering your audience's needs and sensibilities." -- Richard K. Neumann, Jr., Hofstra Law School "The writing tips in this book work... It is easy to read, easy to use, and -- especially considering the type of book it is -- surprisingly enjoyable." -- TRIAL, January 2004

Legal Writing

Legal Writing PDF Author: Robert Edwin Bacharach
Publisher: American Bar Association
ISBN: 9781641056595
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"A magnificent book on writing. Drawing on the lessons from psycholinguistics and rhetoric, Judge Bacharach has written a remarkably practical book on how to write effectively. Judge Bacharach illustrates his points with very specific suggestions and countless examples from briefs from top lawyers and opinions of judges. I learned so much from this wonderful book." -- Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, Berkeley School of Law

Legal Writing and Analysis in a Nutshell

Legal Writing and Analysis in a Nutshell PDF Author: Lynn Bahrych
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781634602815
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Softbound - New, softbound print book.

Legal Writing by Design

Legal Writing by Design PDF Author: Teresa J. Reid Rambo
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781594608599
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The second edition of Legal Writing by Design remains unique in demonstrating how to transform thoughts into writing by explaining the link between thinking and writing. It doesn't just tell the reader to "argue by analogy" or to "apply the rule" -- it explains the design of the thinking involved in those processes and shows how to transform that design into writing. Through easily understandable hypotheticals, outlines, graphics, exercises, and writing samples, many garnered during the authors' combined forty-plus years of teaching legal writing and appellate advocacy to law students, Legal Writing by Design comprehensively demonstrates how to transform ideas into exceptional writing. It demystifies the writing process by explaining the design of (1) deductive and inductive reasoning, (2) analogical thinking, and (3) relevancy. Once that design is understood, writing becomes easy. Writing with liberal doses of humor, the authors provide clearly readable charts, examples, and templates throughout this second edition. All chapters include a chapter review, and many also provide writing prompts. In addition to chapters explaining the fundamentals of writing legal memos and briefs, Legal Writing by Design contains sections on (1) clear and effective writing; (2) the appellate process, including an easily understandable explanation of standards of review; (3) oral argument techniques and practice; (4) the writing and editing process; (5) case briefing; and (6) professionalism in the practice of law. Exercises corresponding to the principles explained are included throughout most chapters, with answers provided in a separate Teacher's Manual. Successfully used for over ten years by thousands of law school students, Legal Writing by Design is the perfect tool for anyone -- attorneys, legal assistants, pro se litigants, undergraduate students, or the public -- who seeks the ideal way to analyze issues, to write clearly, and to write persuasively.

Beyond the First Draft

Beyond the First Draft PDF Author: Megan McAlpin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781531027131
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Beyond the First Draft helps law students and lawyers approach the often difficult task of editing their own writing. The book starts with the fundamental idea that good writing is organized, vigorous, clear, and polished. Its ultimate goal is to help students and practitioners understand that good writing cannot be accomplished in a single draft; good writers must be good editors. Each chapter of the book is organized around one of the principles of good writing and begins with an editing checklist for accomplishing that principle of good writing. The book explains each item in the checklist, providing both students and lawyers with the instruction and straightforward editing tips that they need to become effective editors. Beyond the First Draft was written with law students, practitioners, and legal writing professors in mind. Its straightforward approach makes even those difficult-to-understand grammatical concepts accessible to everyone through frequent, easy-to-understand reminders, explanations, and examples. The updated second edition of the book includes a new introduction that helps writers think about the ways in which language evolves over time and puts the book's expanded coverage of pronouns into context. In addition, this new introduction will give professors and students alike the opportunity to think critically about the ways in which the formal written English of legal writing differs from both informal written and spoken English.

Legal Writing I and II

Legal Writing I and II PDF Author: Ben L. Fernandez
Publisher: Ben L. Fernandez
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 171

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Book Description
Legal Writing I & II; Legal Research and Writing & Introduction to Litigation Practice contains a brief discussion of all of the topics covered in a law school courses on legal writing, including a typical first semester course on legal research, analysis and writing an objective memorandum, as well as a second semester course on persuasion and writing an appellate brief, motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment. The discussion focuses on the basics of analogical reasoning and persuasion and leaves out the minutiae. Each topic is taken one step at a time, with each step building on the step before it. The sources of law are presented first, then legal research, and reading and analyzing cases and statutes. The book covers analogizing a case to a fact pattern and marshaling the relevant facts to the elements of a statutory rule next. And then first section of the book concludes with legal citation, CRAC and CREAC, and writing a legal research memorandum. The text also includes a lot of samples and examples of how the author would write a case brief, a legal memoranda and an appellate brief, as well as an appendix with charts, outlines and exercises students can use to practice these skills. Legal Writing I & II; Legal Research and Writing & Introduction to Litigation Practice covers all the skills students need to know to work at a law firm, and everything students have to learn to begin practicing in litigation department of a firm. The chapters of the book are as follows: 1.Sources of Law (Local Ordinances and Bylaws, State and Federal Law: Statutes, Regulations, Cases, Executive Orders, International Treaties, Compacts, and Agreements) 2.Legal Research (Secondary Sources, Researching Statutes, Researching Cases, Paper Research v. Computer Research) 3.Briefing Cases (Facts, Issue, Rule, Holding, Reasoning) 4.Applying Cases and Analogical Reasoning (Analogizing a Case to a Fact Pattern, Distinguishing a Case from a Fact Pattern) 5.Analyzing Statutes and Marshaling Facts (Determining a Statutory Formula, Definitions, Marshaling Facts to a Statutory Rule, Comparing a Case Interpreting a Statutory Rule to a Fact Pattern) 6.Citation (How to Cite Cases, How to Cite Statutes and Regulations, Quotations, Signals, Parentheticals, Reference Materials) 7.IRAC (Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion, Using “IREAC” when it is Necessary to Explain the Rule, Using “Ferrari Has Really Cool Race Cars” when it is Necessary to Analogize or Distinguish a Case, Synthesizing a Rule from Multiple Cases, Explaining and Applying a Rule with Multiple Cases) 8. Objective Legal Memoranda (Organization of a Research Memo, Sample Memo) 9. Other Examples of Legal writing (Client Letters, Exam Answers) 10. Improving Your Writing (Additional Tips and Resources) 11. Credibility in Persuasive Writing (the importance of writing well) 12. Bias (Implicit Bias, Microaggressions, Dealing with Bias in Others) 13. Ethical Rules for Advocacy (Competence, Diligent, Honesty and Fairness) 14. Civil and Appellate Procedure (Rules for the Form and Content of Briefs and Memos) 15. Requirements for Civil Motions and Standards of Review for Appeals 16. Persuasive Writing (Writing Persuasive Facts, Writing Persuasive Arguments) 17. Memoranda in Support of Motions (Applying the Rules of Civil Procedure to a Sample Memo) 18. Motion Session (Arguing a Motion Before a Trial Court Judge) 19. Appellate Briefs (Applying the Rules of Appellate Procedure to a Sample Brief) 20. Oral Argument (Arguing an Appeal before a Panel of Appellate Court Judges) In addition, there are numerous examples, exercises and sample documents in the appendix.