Lawyers are accustomed to introducing a new topic at the end of a paragraph. Avoid that. Help the reader by making this sentence the subject sentence of the next paragraph. Notice how the last sentence of the first paragraph focuses on “exceptions” and the second paragraph merely lists them. While good structuring is a necessary part of any drafting, legal writing requires an almost perfect logical organization. Fortunately, the inherent logic and hierarchy of legal rules used will provide this organization for you. As long as you understand how the rules relate to each other. The use of paragraphs is an essential tool in any type of non-fiction. By ordering your paragraphs, you give the reader a roadmap to organize your ideas. While each information session should be tailored to your client`s case, you don`t have to reinvent the wheel if you don`t have to.
It is relatively common for lawyers to reuse certain sentences or terms (or even entire sections) of briefs when the legal issues are the same in all cases. The danger, of course, is to quote an authority that was a good law, but is no longer good. Even if you`ve managed to reuse a particular short section over and over again, it`s still a good idea to run your briefing before filing it via the West Checkin Writing Assistant. This tool uses KeyCite directly in your word processing application so you can quickly determine if the law you cite is still good. For each legal question, start with a solid introduction that states why that legal question is relevant to the facts in question, any sub-elements of that question, and, finally, the logical conclusion you want your reader to come to when reading your argument. With the exception of conclusions at the beginning and end of the point, which may require only one or two sentences, a proponent develops the other parts of the paradigm by means of one or (usually) more than one paragraph for each part. It is crucial that each paragraph develops a single concept (thesis); The following paragraphs should have a demonstrable connection to this concept – provide an additional illustration of it, broaden it, contrast it, or move to a related but different category of ideas. Here are three examples of introductory paragraphs. They have been rewritten several times to illustrate the difference between excellent, right and wrong answers. To read the examples carefully, click on the images below.
Finally, read your topic sentences to make sure the paragraphs (and the point everyone is making) make sense. Introductory sentences should, as Garner puts it, “guide the reader through your argument.” Make sure that a particular paragraph contains only the ideas and information covered by the set of topics. If a sentence is not directly related to this topic, omit it, move it to another paragraph or paragraph, or rewrite the defined topic to expand its scope. You may remember from your first composition class in English that a sentence announcing the main point of the paragraph is called a thematic sentence. It`s usually a good idea to put this sentence at the beginning of the paragraph. The rest of the sentences in the paragraph should then support the main point expressed in the topic sentence. Good thematic phrases keep readers oriented and help them read and understand quickly. Each standard legal order has a few basic elements: Check the integrity of a paragraph by following the advice of Richard Marius, author of A Writer`s Companion (1985). See if the first sentence of the topic “mentions something that is repeated by the second sentence, and see if the third sentence mentions something that was there” in the sentence of the subject or in the second.
Legal writing differs from most other forms of writing in the extraordinarily high accuracy and efficiency required in legal communication. Such accurate communication requires huge amounts of legal research, which may seem impossible (at first glance) to condense into a research paper, let alone a small memo. This is where the art of effective writing comes into play, allowing the author to condense complex legal arguments into an understandable whole. In this paradigm of legal argumentation, the synthesis of rules brings together common currents of ideas from several cases. A synthesis of rules generally draws several streams of ideas from case law; A complete articulation of the ruler includes all these threads; Here, the ideas of the rule should be formulated in general terms, without going into the details of the cases. The rule proof illustrates and explains the ideas that the rule synthesis formulates more generally by addressing the facts, attitude and reasoning of the cases cited in the rule summary. A thesis sentence at the beginning of a paragraph should incorporate each of the ideas or theses dealt with in the summary of the rule into the proof of the rule. The thesis theorem is the link between the synthesis of rules and proof. Use the following guides to improve your legal writing skills and improve the readability of your logical arguments and make sure those arguments lead your audience to the logical conclusion. The RAIC method is the standard format for legal writing because the RAIC format forces authors to divide dense logical arguments into smaller, more understandable components.
Instead of providing the audience with a dense logical argument, the RAIC method will first introduce the reader to the legal issues at stake, provide the legal rules necessary to assess those legal issues, and then apply those legal rules to the facts of this case; and thus leads the reader to a logical conclusion. However, every legal issue is different, and some do not fit well with a predefined formula like the RAIC. Therefore, the RAIC should only be used as a guideline for writing (unless, of course, your professor decides otherwise). Learn more about the RAIC method Think of a paragraph as a unit of thought. Since a new paragraph usually signals a change in orientation, readers expect an opening sentence that lets them know what the new paragraph will be about. Will it introduce another facet of the topic, or will it expand on a facet already introduced, or will it introduce a new theme? Problem testing requires you to advise a part based on the analysis of a given scenario or problem. You need to identify legal issues and apply the relevant law. For more information about resolving legal issues, see this resource.