SAKAY, JEANEFER L.

REFLECT Writing a Student Article

SET OF QUESTIONS:
a. Title, Author, Date and Place of Publication of Article
b. Summary Outline of the Article (Include important doctrines, laws, facts and process of
development of a journal article)
c. How is this article relevant in our subject, Academic Legal Writing and Research? Illustrate.
d. How will this article help you in your law career? Expound.
e. Other reflections, realizations, comments, if any.
ANSWERS:
a. Writing a Student Article, June 1998, Journal of Legal Education, Volume 48, Number 2.
b. Summary Outline:
I. Choosing a Claim – Some of the wise minds said that to start something is to take the
first hardest step. In order to write a good article is to know first what is the reason for you to
write an article. Should you wish to write an informative or a persuasive article. Once figured
out, you may need to emphasize what are you trying to prove or what does your readers gain
from reading your article.
II. Organizing the Article – Since we have established what are we going to write and
have chosen if we want to write an article informing the readers, we should lay down the facts
and applicable laws to support our claim. Since our article must be informative and accurate, we
may have to include the provisions under the Constitution, being the fundamental law of the land
to which all existing laws must conform.
III. Writing – Some experts would say that the errors in the article sometimes are caught
by another eye, or the reader. The key to a good article written is an offspring of persistence and
continuous improvement with trial and error.
IV. Converting Practical Work - such as Law Firm Memos - into Student Articles - The
four-step approach namely: Extract, Deepen, Broaden, and Connect. Under the first step, in
writing an article, we often use and supply facts which are irrelevant and immaterial to support
our claim. The key or tip provided in the article is to extract the important and essential facts and
applicable laws existing to establish our claim and to have a valuable addition to the article we
are working on.
 Under the second step, to make our article worthy of precious time to have read is not to
complicate the contents and our claim. It is to enrich and deepen the information our readers can
obtain when reading our article. These may include the questions we can answer by expressing
our field of expertise and a stand to the claim supported with facts and laws applicable. The third
step speaks of, broadening or expanding the horizon of the readers. Our topic should not be
limited to a law student reader but should be able to be presented in a view of more audience in
different field. Like for example, what can a business man can gain by reading our article, this
should have been considered that our aim is to widen the scope of our topic by including the
interests of others. The last step and I think is the most fragile that we need to carefully look at is
how we should connect to our audience. After learning our audience and focusing our claim, and
intensifying the topic by offering some questions to be answered in our article supported by facts
and laws applicable. It is our primary goal that we establish a connection to our readers by
writing an article that would benefit them in their chosen paths. In summary, our article must be
a worthy future reference potential approaching realistic, understandable and reliable.
V. Publishing – The one of the threats to start disseminating our article created is to know
how to market. There are a lot of competitions as to the articles with good insights can be
published. The tip provided herein, is that to know our edge and advantages and to never limit
your worth. If we want others to think that we are worthy then we have to start to ourselves to
think and act that we are worthy.
VI. Publicizing – The key to market your work is you. There are ways to publicize your
article by not spending so much money to disseminate them. A tip provided herein is to provide
an extra copy and patiently distribute them with your colleagues. You don’t have to spend large
amount of money instead you can take great effort wisely and work on your connections.
VII. Summary – In summary, to produce a good article is to be certain with your claim,
read references and have your vocabulary and knowledge expand. Have a good reference book
be it the dictionary or the constitution or maybe an old law journal or article for you can learn a
lot while writing and creating your own literary piece. A good advice as well would be to make
you article, certain but not offensive, simple but not common, and creative but realistic.
c. This article is relevant to our subject to the extent of helping students to understand how to
express their thoughts and understanding as a law student by providing a clear, concise and
convincing based on facts point of views.
d. This article would help me in my law career by guiding me and giving me tips to improve my
writing skills.
Writing Skills is having the ability to write well lays a solid foundation for all the
documents, a lawyer must write such as arguments, contracts, and legal letters. A written
communication is a primary way that information is distributed and recorded. Clear, concise
writing removes ambiguity, making intentions known. The legal system requires most
communication to be in writing and has very strict guidelines for accuracy. If a lawyer is unable
to communicate well in writing, it may result in misunderstandings at the least, and damage to
the client at the worst, leaving an innocent man be tried and suffer and the guilty one escape
justice from his wrong doings.
e. Realization/Comments:
“The pen is mightier than the sword”. This is one of the well-known saying that has
a very good meaning to our profession. It is to communicate. Its power and strength comes from
the ability to write and be understood. In a legal profession, we are not define by what we are or
who we are, for we are a class of our own. We are playing a vital role with complexity in our
society. A class which is defined by its own character. One of the powerful weapons of a person
in a legal field is his/her mind made to convince, and his/her writing or speaking skills to
persuade. Technology may be of a great help, but the knowledge of a person who can write his
thoughts, express his ideas and communicate and be understood because he can write well are
the proof that technology cannot endure to exist without the ability of a man to think and write.