Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. How Attorneys Communicate
I. What Is an Objective Analysis?
II. How Do I Present My Analysis?
A. An Office Memorandum
1. The substance of a memorandum
2. The form of a memorandum
B. An Email
1. The substance of an email
2. The form of an email
III. How Do I Convince an Attorney My Analysis Is Sound?
A. Know Your Client and Your Client’s Question
B. Research Thoroughly
C. Organize
D. Draft and Revise
E. Edit and Polish
F. Think Recursively
IV. What Happens Next?
Practice Points
Chapter 2. Sources and Systems of the Law
I. Sources of the Law
A. The Legislature
1. Statutes
2. Legislative history
B. The Executive Branch
1. Regulations
2. Executive orders
C. The Judiciary
II. Weave a Tapestry of Law
III. Systems of the Law
A. Jurisdiction
B. Hierarchical Court Systems
1. Hierarchy in the federal courts
2. State court hierarchies
3. Side-by-side court systems
C. Stare Decisis
D. The Effect of These Three Principles
Practice Points
Chapter 3. Reading for Comprehension
Section 3.1 Reading Statutes
I. The Structure of a Statute
II. Reading Statutes for Comprehension
A. Get Context
B. Skim the Most Pertinent Statutory Sections
C. Read the Statute Critically
1. Investigate how the statute is likely to work
2. Identify the statute’s component parts
Practice Points
Section 3.2 Reading Judicial Opinions
I. The Structure of a Judicial Opinion
A. Preliminary Information
1. The caption
2. The citation
3. The publisher’s enhancements
a. synopsis
b. Headnotes
4. The author of the opinion
B. The Facts
1. Historical facts
2. Procedural facts
C. The Court’s Analysis
1. The issue or issues
2. The rule of the case
3. The holding or holdings
4. Reasoning
5. Dicta
6. The judgment or disposition
D. Concurring and Dissenting Opinions
II. Reading a Judicial Opinion for Comprehension
A. Get Context
B. Skim the Case
1. Determine relevance
2. Print relevant cases
3. Get an overview of the case
C. Read the Opinion Critically
III. Preparing Case Briefs
Practice Points
Chapter 4. Finding Your Arguments
I. Identify the Governing Rule
A. A Statute as the Governing Rule
B. Common Law as the Governing Rule
C. A Synthesized Rule as the Governing Rule
II. Inventory the Governing Rule
A. Elements and Elemental Analyses
B. Steps and Prong Tests
C. Factors and Balancing Tests
D. Totality of the Circumstances Test
E. Red Flag Words
F. Diagramming the Governing Rule
III. Divide the Governing Rule into Legal Arguments
A. Elements Become Individual Legal Arguments
B. Factors as Legal Arguments: Some Choices
C. “Thinking Like a Lawyer”
Practice Points
Chapter 5. Organizing Your Legal Authority
I. Step 1: Track Your Research
A. Case Notes
B. Case Charts
II. Step 2: Organize by Element or Factor
A. Divide a Case by Element or Factor
B. Gather Information by Element or Factor
1. Charts
2. Outlines
3. Mind Maps
III. Step 3: Prepare to Write
A. Outlines
B. Mind Maps
IV. Write for Your Audience
Practice Points
Chapter 6. One Legal Argument
Chapter 7. Explaining the Law
Section 7.1 Explaining the Law: Rules
I. The Role of Rules
II. Finding the Rules
A. Explicit Rules
B. Implicit Rules
1. When to synthesize an implicit rule
a. example 1: Finding an implicit rule from consistent decisions
b. example 2: Finding consistency in seemingly inconsistent cases
c. example 3: Bringing parts together to form a whole
2. Dare to explicitly state an implicit rule
III. Writing the Rules
Practice Points
Section 7.2 Explaining the Law: Case Illustrations
I. The Role of Case Illustrations
A. Clarifying Rules
B. Proving Rules
C. Foreshadowing the Application
D. Representing Legal Principles
II. The Parts of a Case Illustration
A. The Hook
B. Trigger Facts
C. The Court’s Holding
D. The Court’s Reasoning
E. Order of the Parts
F. The Length of Case Illustrations
III. Determining Whether a Case Illustration Is Necessary
IV. Using Case Illustrations
A. Parameters of Behavior
B. Threshold of Behavior
V. Choosing Prior Cases
VI. Organize Around Legal Principles
VII. The Order of Case Illustrations
Practice Points
Section 7.3 Explaining the Law: Citing and Avoiding Plagiarism
I. Common Citation Questions When Explaining the Law
II. Avoiding Plagiarism When Explaining the Law
Chapter 8. Applying the Law
Section 8.1 Applying the Law: Rule-Based Reasoning
I. When to Use a Rule-Based Analysis
II. Crafting a Rule-Based Analysis
Practice Points
Section 8.2 Applying the Law: Analogical Reasoning
I. When to Use Analogical Reasoning
II. How to Construct an Effective Analogy
A. State Your Point
B. Construct Your Comparison or Distinction
1. Determine which facts make your client’s case similar to or different from the prior case
2. Describe facts from your client’s case in concrete detail
3. Determine the trigger facts from the prior case that need to be recalled
4. Introduce no new information about the prior case in your analogy
5. Help your reader see the comparison
C. Explain Why the Comparison Matters
Practice Points
Section 8.3 Applying the Law: Using Rule-Based and Analogical Reasoning Together
Practice Points
Section 8.4 Applying the Law: Counter-Analyses
I. The Role of a Counter-Analysis
II. Crafting a Complete Counter-Analysis
A. Identify Each Viable Counter-Analysis
B. Explain the Counter-Analysis
C. Explain Why a Court Is Unlikely to Adopt the Counter-Analysis
D. Return to Your Initial Conclusion
E. Examples of Counter-Analyses
III. When a Complete Counter-Analysis Is Not Necessary
A. When No Compelling Alternative Analysis Exists
B. When Addressing a Minor Factual Weakness
IV. Where to Include a Complete Counter-Analysis
V. Where to Include the Law Supporting the Counter-Analysis
Practice Points
Section 8.5 Applying the Law: Organizing Your Application of the Law
Practice Points
Chapter 9. Beginning and Ending One Legal Argument
I. Using a Conclusion or Issue Statement to Begin a Legal Argument
II. Using a Conclusion to End a Legal Argument
III. Drafting Conclusions
Practice Points
Chapter 10. Policy
I. When to Include Policy in a Legal Argument
II. Identifying Legislative Policy in a Statute
A. Policy Codified in a Statute
B. Policy Recorded in Legislative History
C. Legislative Policy Discussed in a Judicial Decision
III. Identifying Judicial Policy in the Common Law
IV. Where to Include Policy in Your Legal Argument
Practice Points
Chapter 11. Statutory Analysis
I. Statutory Analysis: A Multi-Step Process
II. Reading the Statute
III. Interpreting the Statute
A. Understanding Methodologies
B. Sources of Evidence
1. Intrinsic evidence
a. text and the plain meaning rule
b. text and context
c. textual canons of construction
d. Cases
2. Extrinsic sources
a. Cases
b. Agency interpretations and regulations
c. Legislative history
d. non-textual canons of construction
e. other sources
IV. Drafting a Statutory Analysis
Practice Points
Chapter 12. The Discussion Section: Introducing and Connecting Legal Arguments
I. Introduce Your Legal Issue: The Roadmap Section
A. State Your Conclusion to Your Client’s Legal Question
B. Explain the Governing Rule
1. State the governing rule
2. Explain how courts interpret or apply the governing rule
3. Provide necessary background information
C. Dispose of the Obvious and Uncontroversial (if Necessary)
D. Explain the Order and Assess the Strength of the Remaining Arguments (if Necessary)
E. Conclude Again (if Necessary)
II. Using Sub-Roadmap Sections
III. Creating Informative Point Headings
A. Make Point Headings “Work”
B. Restate the Conclusion After the Point Heading
C. Create Professional-Looking Point Headings
Practice Points
Chapter 13. Question Presented and Brief Answer
I. The Role of a Question Presented and Brief Answer
II. The Form of a Question Presented and Brief Answer
III. Writing a Question Presented
A. Structuring the Question Presented
1. Structuring a Question Presented with under/does/when
a. “under” the controlling law
b. “does/is/Can” this question or legal consequence occur
c. “when” these legally significant facts occurred
d. Vary the order of the three parts if it makes the question presented clearer
2. Structuring a Question Presented with statements and a question
a. describe the determinative facts in chronological order
b. describe the controlling law and pose the legal question
B. Tools for Drafting an Effective Question Presented
1. Create one Question Presented for each main issue in the memorandum
2. Describe the facts that will be determinative to the court
3. Describe determinative facts in concrete detail
4. Avoid legally significant phrases that assume the answer
5. Avoid “whether” when introducing your Question Presented
6. State the question concisely
IV. Writing a Brief Answer
Practice Points
Chapter 14. Statement of Facts
I. The Role of the Statement of Facts
II. Types of Facts to Include
III. Organizing Your Statement of Facts
IV. Reviewing for Thoroughness
V. Writing the Statement of Facts
VI. Examples
Practice Points
Chapter 15. Conclusion to the Memorandum
Practice Points
Chapter 16. Editing and Polishing
I. Edit Your Memorandum
A. Edit the Content of Each Legal Argument
1. Separate the explanation of the law from the application
2. Compare the explanation to the application and check for omissions and excess
a. Verify that ideas explained are applied
b. Remove elegant variation
c. Check the completeness of your case illustration
B. Edit the Organization of Each Legal Argument
C. Edit the Discussion Section for Context and Flow
1. Insert roadmaps and signposts
2. Check topic sentences
3. Check paragraph cohesion
4. Check transitions between arguments
II. Polish Your Memo
A. Strengthen Sentences
1. Find and revise overly long sentences
a. Revise sentences with too many ideas
b. Revise wordy sentences
2. Create clear subject-verb pairs
a. Bring subject and verb close together
b. Minimize passive voice
c. Minimize nominalizations
B. Proofread Your Work
C. Check Your Citations
III. Customize Your Editing Checklist
Chapter 17. Client Letters
I. The Types of Letters Lawyers Write
II. The Basic Parts of a Letter
A. Date
B. Return Address
C. Recipient Address
D. Subject Line
E. Salutation
F. The Body of the Letter
1. Opening paragraph
2. Background facts
3. Analysis
4. Options
5. Next steps
G. Closing
H. Confidentiality Warning
III. Editing and Polishing Your Letter
A. Create a Conversational, yet Professional Tone
B. Omit Legalese. Explain Legal Terms as Necessary.
C. Eliminate Errors
D. Choose a Traditional, Reader-Friendly Format
IV. Letters vs. Emails: Which to Send When?
Practice Points
Chapter 18. Professional Emails
I. Correspond Professionally
II. Decide Whether Email Is the Best Mode of Communication
A. Administrative Matters
B. Difficult Conversations
C. Legal Analyses
III. Crafting a Professional Email
A. The Basic Components of an Email
1. The recipients’ addresses
2. Subject line
3. Salutation
4. Body
5. Closing
6. Name and signature block
7. Confidentiality warning
8. Attachments
B. Creating an Effective Email Through Content, Tone, and Style
1. Keep the content short, clear, and readable
2. Keep the tone polite and professional
3. Keep the style formal
IV. Sending a Legal Analysis via Email
A. Using an Attached Memorandum vs. the Body of the Email
1. Consider your recipient’s needs and preferences
2. Consider the formality you wish to convey
3. Consider the length of your analysis
B. Crafting a Condensed Email Analysis
1. The introduction
2. The legal analysis
3. The closing
V. Stop and Think Before You Press Send
Practice Points
Chapter 19. The Transition from Objective to Persuasive Writing
I. Objective vs. Persuasive Writing
A. A New Perspective: The Advocate
B. A New Audience: The Judge
C. A New Format: The Brief
D. A New Focus: The Theme
II. The Parts of a Trial Brief: An Overview
III. The Caption
IV. The Introduction
V. The Statement of Facts
A. Organizing the Statement of Facts
B. Choosing Which Facts to Include
C. Refining the Statement of Facts
1. Place favorable facts strategically
2. Describe favorable facts in detail
3. Pair favorable facts with unfavorable facts
4. Avoid overstating or misrepresenting the facts
5. Avoid characterizing the facts
6. Identify individuals by their roles
7. Cite the facts
VI. The Argument
A. Organizing the Argument
1. Multiple claims
2. Multiple legal arguments
B. Developing Persuasive Rules
1. Step one: Determine your rule
2. Step two: Craft your rule strategically
C. Developing Persuasive Case Illustrations
D. Developing Counter-Analyses: Addressing Weaknesses from Your Client’s Perspective
E. Other Ways to Shape Your Argument
1. Use location strategically
2. Use assertive point headings
3. Create paragraph-level persuasion
a. thesis sentences
b. the middle of the paragraph
c. final sentences
4. Create sentence-level persuasion
a. Locate information strategically
b. use passive voice intentionally
c. use strong verbs to emphasize an action
d. use dependent clauses advantageously
e. scatter short sentences to add punch
VII. The Conclusion
VIII. Editing and Polishing Your Brief
Appendix A • Effective Memo: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Appendix B • Less Effective Memo: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Appendix C • Effective Complex Memo: Factor Analysis in a Workers’ Compensation Claim
Glossary
Index
