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 52
B Reading and Understanding a Statute 52
C How Do Courts Interpret Statutes? 57
D Briefing Cases and Close Case Reading 58
1 Briefing a Case 58
2 Studying a Case 60
3 Breaking Down a Case 61
Chapter 6 The Office Memorandum: Components 77
A Parts of an Interoffice Legal Memorandum 77
1 The Heading 79
2 The Issue or Question Presented 79
3 The Brief Answer or Summary 83
4 The Facts 84
5 The Discussion 85
6 The Conclusion 86
Chapter 7 Writing the Discussion Section of an Interoffice Memorandum 87
A How to Organize the Information 88
1 Make an Outline 89
2 Format 90
3 Process 90
B A Step-by-Step Approach to Making an Outline 90
C Explaining the Law in a Discussion 94
1 The Roadmap (AKA Global) Paragraph 94
2 Explaining the Law Using Case Examples 96
3 A Step-by-Step Approach to Writing the Explanation of the Law 97
D Applying the Law in a Discussion 99
E Organization: Internal Paragraph Structure 103
1 Writing the Paragraph's First Sentence 104
2 Using Parallel Structure 105
Chapter 8 Client Letters 107
A Client Letters 107
1 Organization 107
2 Content 109
3 Retainment Letters 109
B E-mail Correspondence Format 109
C E-mail Correspondence Substance 110
D A Final Cautionary Message 111
Chapter 9 Revising 113
A Large-Scale Revising 113
B Internal Paragraph Revising: Reverse Outline 114
C Micro Revising: Grammar and Mechanics 115
Part III Case File 2 119
Chapter 10 Introduction to Case File 2 121
A The Process for Completing Case File 2 Memorandum 122
B Understand the Facts of Mavis' Case 130
1 An Approach to Note Taking 130
2 Read and Study Relevant Statute and Cases 131
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 159
A Gathering the Facts 159
B Using the Facts to Generate Search Terms for Research 160
C Organizing Cases and Identifying Which Cases to Use 161
D Start Writing the Discussion Section 161
E Writing a Normative or Policy Analysis 162
F Revisions 163
Appendix 167
Index 177
