Just memos

Part Ⅰ A Foundation for Legal Writing 1

Chapter 1 An Overview of the United States Legal System 3

1.1 The Three Branches of Government 4

1.1.1 The Executive Branch 4

1.1.2 The Legislative Branch 4

1.1.3 The Judicial Branch 5

a.The Hierarchical Nature of the Court System 5

b.The Federal Courts 7

c.State Courts 10

d.Other Courts 11

1.2 The Relationship Between the Federal and State Governments 11

1.2.1 A Short History 12

1.2.2 The Relationship Between Laws Enacted by Congress and Those Enacted by the State Legislatures 12

1.2.3 The Relationship Between Federal and State Courts 14

1.2.4 The Relationship Among Federal, State, and Local Prosecutors 14

1.3 A Final Comment 15

Chapter 2 An Introduction to Common and Enacted Law 19

2.1 Common Law 19

2.2 Enacted Law 21

2.3 Mandatory Versus Persuasive Authority 23

2.3.1 Which Jurisdiction's Law Applies? 24

2.3.2 What "Law" Will Be Binding on the Court? 24

Chapter 3 Reading and Analyzing Statutes and Cases 27

3.1 Good Lawyers Are Good Readers 28

3.2 Good Legal Readers Read and Reread Material Until They Are Sure They Understand It 29

3.3 Good Legal Readers Engage in Both Analysis and Synthesis 31

3.4 Good Legal Readers Place the Statutes and Cases They Read into Their Historical, Social,Economic, Political, and Legal Contexts 32

3.5 Good Legal Readers "Judge" the Statutes and Cases They Read 33

3.6 Good Legal Readers Read for a Specific Purpose 35

3.7 Good Legal Readers Understand That Statutes and Cases Can Be Read in More Than One Way 36

Part Ⅱ Objective Memoranda and Client Letters 37

Chapter 4 The Objective Memorandun:Its Purpose,Audience,andFormat 39

Chapter 5 The First Memorandum 51

5.1 Getting the Assignment 52

A.Prewriting 54

5.2 Preparing a Research Plan 54

5.2.1 Determine What Law Applies 54

5.2.2 Draft a Preliminary Issue Statement 55

5.2.3 Select the Sources You Want to Check 56

5.3 Researching the Problem 57

5.4 Knowing When to Stop 74

5.5 Keeping Track of What You Have Found 74

5.6 Understanding What You Have Found 76

B.Drafting 80

5.7 Drafting the Heading 81

5.8 Drafting the Statement of Facts 82

5.8.1 Decide What Facts to Include 82

a.Legally Significant Facts 82

b.Emotionally Significant Facts 84

c.Background Facts 84

d.Unknown Facts 84

5.8.2 Select an Organizational Scheme 85

5.8.3 Present the Facts Accurately and Objectively 87

5.8.4 Checklist for Critiquing the Statement of Facts 88

5.9 Drafting the Issue Statement or Question Presented 89

5.9.1 Decide How Many Issue Statements You Should Have and the Order in Which They Should Be Listed 89

5.9.2 Select a Format 89

a.Reference to Applicable Law 90

b.The Legal Question 91

c.Legally Significant Facts 91

5.9.3 Checklist for Critiquing the Issue Statement 93

5.10 Drafting the Brief Answer 94

5.10.1 Checklist for Critiquing the Brief Answer 95

5.11 Drafting the Discussion Section: An Introduction 96

5.12 Drafting the Discussion Section: Selecting an Organizational Plan 96

5.12.1 Present the General Rule 100

a.Single Statutory Section 100

b.Multiple Statutory Sections 101

c.Statutes Plus Cases 102

5.13 Drafting the Discussion Section: Raising and Dismissing the Undisputed Elements 104

5.14 Drafting the Discussion Section: Discussing the Disputed Elements 105

5.14.1 Set Out the Specific Rule 106

5.14.2 Describe the Analogous Cases 107

a.Selecting Analogous Cases 107

b.Presenting the Analogous Cases 107

c.Presenting Each Side's Arguments 110

5.14.3 Predict How the Court Will Decide the Element 116

5.15 Avoiding the Common Problems 117

5.15.1 Speak for Yourself 117

5.15.2 Lay It Out 117

5.15.3 Show How You Reached Your Conclusions 119

5.15.4 Use Terms Consistently 121

5.15.5 See More Than the Obvious 122

5.15.6 Checklist for Critiquing the Discussion Section 122

5.16 Drafting the Formal Conclusion 123

5.16.1 Checklist for Critiquing Conclusion 125

C.Revising 125

5.17 Checking Content 126

5.17.1 Have You Given the Attorneys the Information They Need? 126

5.17.2 Is the Information Presented Accurately? 127

5.17.3 Is the Information Well Organized? 128

5.17.4 Are the Connections Explicit? 132

a.Roadmaps 132

b.Signposts, Topic Sentences, and Transitions 133

c.Dovetailing 134

D.Editing 135

5.18 Editing and Proofreading 136

5.18.1 Editing 136

a.Writing Effective Sentences 136

b.Writing Correctly 143

5.18.2 Proofreading 143

5.19 A Note About Citations 144

5.20 Final Draft of Memo 144

Chapter6 The Second Memorandum 151

6.1 Getting the Assignment 151

6.2 Preparing a Research Plan 154

6.2.1 Draft the Preliminary Issue Statement 154

6.2.2 Determine What Law Applies 154

6.2.3 Deciding Which Sources to Check 155

6.3 Understanding What You Have Found 158

6.4 Constructing the Arguments 168

6.5 Drafting the Statement of Facts 171

6.6 Drafting the Issue Statement 172

6.7 Drafting the Brief Answer 173

6.8 Drafting the Discussion Section 174

6.8.1 Plan the Discussion Section 174

6.8.2 Use an Integrated Format 178

6.8.3 Introduce and Set Out the General Rules 178

6.8.4 Present the Analogous Cases 187

a.Integrating the Descriptions of the Analogous Cases into the Arguments 187

b.Using Parentheticals 189

c.Other Reminders 192

6.8.5 Present Each Side's Arguments 195

a.Organizing the Arguments 195

b.Setting Out the Arguments 196

6.8.6 Avoid the Common Problems 200

6.9 Revising for Conciseness and Preciseness 205

6.9.1 Writing Concisely 206

6.9.2 Writing Precisely 207

a.Select the Correct Term 207

b.Use Terms Consistently 208

c.Make Sure Your Subjects and Verbs Go Together 209

d.Compare or Contrast Like Things 209

Chapter 7 The Opinion Letter 217

7.1 Audience 217

7.2 Purpose 217

7.3 Conventions 218

7.3.1 The Introductory Paragraph 219

7.3.2 Statement of the Issue 220

7.3.3 Opinion 220

7.3.4 Summary of the Facts 221

7.3.5 Explanation 221

7.3.6 Advice 222

7.3.7 Concluding Paragraph 222

7.3.8 Warnings 222

7.4 Writing Style 223

7.5 Tone 223

7.5.1 Checklist for Critiquing the Opinion Letter 225

7.6 Sample Client Letters 226

Glossary of Terms 231

Index 237