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    © All Rights Reserved
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    7 views88 pages

    Tabucanon Legal Writing PDF

    Uploaded by

    Wildestflower Leia

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 88
    CHAPTER! INTRODUCTION “the lenguage of law must not be foreign tothe ears “ftose who are i obey it?” — Learned Hand, judge and legal philosopher The lowyer’ greatest weapon is clarity, and its whsttone = dudge Prettyman Purpose: ‘Be ableto define legal writing, its types and categories. Bo able to name evamples within each category. 1. LEGAL WRITING ‘A. Definition — legal writing isthe kind of writing used, by lawyer, law professors, judges and other workers ip the fled of Jaw to express legni rights obligations and, ‘Types — leg writing may be informative, persuasive or fenctonal 1. Informative sriting. conveys information ou an fue involving the law or a person's legal rights. ‘This type of writing dose not take sides. Its coal. (uahiective communion x oeitine ee ‘tvalacds Examples: memoranda, letters to cients ‘and statement of cts in brief 2 Lect wRIING Acmpetne Based APproach available logal tools to support hs thesis. These may bo nin of rene fled incourhgxcton ofthe last, dessions of the Supreme Cat opinions_of logl suthorities on a sublet Examples: academic Tegal writing, motions, pleadings and argument soetion ofthe bie. 2. Punctional writing i designed fora spas. oF ‘onl inlaw ‘These are deeds, wail, contracts or ‘ras of la, and ordinanses which Ieeally bind {hose involved. Some specie format, ceremony or legal requirement may be present in ths type of writing. This type of writing need not be analysical hor persuasive. It is enoggh to be accurate and ‘complete yet understandable, II, TWO (2) BROAD CATEGORIES OF LEGAL WRITING AL Legal Analysis 1. Predictive Anelysis — ‘A predictive document deals with 2 legal page a — The fete and-fawe are analvaed ‘ed Seti deel The dears spo = {athe law (or jurisprodence'. and they are (atexprated according to the meaning of the, las, . . Prediction — Theonteomeaftheleeal question, whether positive or negative, is predicted Recommendation — The wrtar, based on the facts and lw, ‘thecirsumstances, Bxamples: opinion memorandum written {or senior partners and legal opinion letter for cents, : ‘The opinion may bein fevoror against the squgstion raised by the client Preditive documents belong to tho infor- ative type of legal writing. eof ation under couarrin a eRODUCTION 2 Persuasive Analysis ~ A persuasive document atlempis i» persuade 4 judge, arbiter or any other deciding authority ‘Bxamples pleadings, motions and bre B. Legal Drafting "This Is the functional type of legal writing. Here or use, an_iteady-avalable_templale found in Legal Pars ‘handbooks. Among the examples are: contracts, deeds (eg. of eae or mortgage) wills and testaments fr private persons, and laws, regulations and ordinances which bind the publie in general ‘Lagal drafting requires “legal authority. A separate subject n the law currieulam, “Legal Forme,” deals with legal drafting IIL. DEFINITION OF TERMS A. Memorandura— iterlly "tobe remembered is paper that explains and summarizes specific point of law far 2 judge for another attorney or ora client, Pleading — ‘The Gormal_presentation of claims and uianacs-by parties 0-4 lawsuit: The specific papers by ‘which te allegations of parties toa lawsbit are presented {in proper form: specifically the eomplaine of »plaintft fand te anauser of a dafondant plus any additional ‘responses to those papers that are authorized by law." Tan amorandum hing toe emembered ne Sn ranan ere more eal te tnd rom memo ino SS Seg ein tps ae oe om tients a So line Bommel Di ‘Shaleracaserndam let wate November 208 “Funes ictosarybeheitnnarse lst vised Nove @ 2000, Geigy anon Baga be pres el rola hemstes ta ‘Ral sd ejisioed tir Gt Tir woried wel noah in Un eal cout tn inthe oil out wr rd har ce tre tenant, he et ‘Stun ours Ling dana mae foray. Frm te eh te a {Sen tothe mide tater entry, to roel arta gan more se mor (Sand writ peings tha ot out port’ pon ace "a Ga warrine conpeteney Based Apc Motion — A.written or oral application made ta 2 court, scjudgetoobtaina mling oronder directing that aomeac} "The applicant is known the moving party, or the movant. Beamples: ‘A motion to dismiss asks the court to dismiss an action because the initial pleading, or complain, fails to Sate a cause of action oF claim for which the law orow'des ‘remedy. é ‘A motion for summary judgment, also known as motion for judgment or the pleadings, asks the court to make a judgment solely on the facts set zrth in the pleadings, without the secessty of tral. A eourt will grant @ summary judgment metion when the material facts ofthe ease ure not in dispute and all that remains to te determined are questions of aw. Brief — A yritten docu-rent drawn up by an atone fr, ‘party ina lawsisor by appearing pro se that cancsoly states the fllseings 1, issues ofa lawsuit; 1% facts that bring the partes to court 2, relevant laws that ‘can affect the subject of the pate; and 4. arguments that explain how the law applies to the particular facte 20 that the ease wil be decided in sf tome enor or impropric = {Gial A statement of the issues presented for review, © summary of how pertinent laws affect the fact, and a statement of the relief being requested are cesontal ‘loments of an appellate brief. The appelle's brief wil curren . semopueTioN ange thatthe lower court acted properly in its judgment ‘and request its afirmanee, while the appellants brie ‘ill attempt to convince the court to reverse or vacate the Tower cour’ judgment because i acted improperly.” CHAPTER II ‘SIMPLICITY “Plain language i, or should be, ever» bit as accurate and precise «a traditional legal writing. Its clearer ~ considerably clearer. It fs usually shorter and fanter. tt strongly preferred by readers. It ‘would greatly improve the image of lauyers” — Professor Joseph Kimble, Answering the Critzs of Plain Language "You are no ixs a lawyer for being understondadle” Christopher T.Late Purpose: Be able to write simply. The student is expected to: a) use short sentences, asa rule b) avoid wordy expreasions, cliches and ‘tautology; ©) avoid elaborating on the obview= yet to the point ‘s0oneat ¢) minimize the use of connectives and relative pronouns; ‘avoid convalnted word constructions and g) replace mlteylaLie terms with shorter, more understandable words. ELEMENTS OF LECAL WRITING ‘The elements of legal writing are: a) simplicity; b larity, and) persuasiveness A. Simplicity Simplicity in writing means to write plainly and simply. To observe the rales on “economy of expression,” ‘ach sentence must say what the writer means and means ‘hat the veriter wants to say. Conveluted words and ‘word-construetions mu be avoided. This is best done by preferring shorter sentences, and choosing shorter words Repetition must also be avoided as much as possible. carte 1 ‘SPuicery According to William Zinsser in his tips on waiting ‘well, clutler is a disease in writing The socrot of food writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest ‘component. Every word that serves no function, every Jong word that coald be a short word, overy adverb which carries the same meaning that i already in the verb, weakens the sentence, We are a society strangling in Tunneceseery words, circular constructions, pompous fils ‘and meaningless ‘Who can understand che viseous language of every- day American commerce and enterprve: to business lt- ter, the interofice memo, the corporatian report, the no- te: from the bank explaining its latst “simplified” state. ‘ment? What member o: an ineurance or medical pan ean decipher the brochure that tlls him what his cots and. ‘Renefita cae? What fathor or mother ean put together a chil’ ty on Christmas Eve or any other eve — from the fnstructons un the box? Our national tendency is to in- flate and thereby sound important. The srlne pilot who ‘wakes us to announce that he is presently anticipating Caperiencing considerable weather wouldnt dream of Saying that theresa storm ahead and it may get bumpy. ‘The oentence is leo simple ~ there must be something wrong witht? B. Uso short sentences Lawyers generally write in long sentences. A com plain, say, fr replerin may eontain paragraphs consist Ing af oniy one sentence. For example: “The herein plaintiff is willing ond ready to give « bond pursuant tothe Rules of Court ‘executed in favor ofthe defendant inthe instant ‘ase in an amount double the valuation ofthe “subject personal property above described, and forthe return ofthe sane property if the return rar W160, On Writing Wel An Informa Gude to Writing Nonteo, " _LpaL WRITING competency Bed Arne thereof be adjudge’, and for the payment to the same defendant of such amount as he may ‘recover from the plaintiff in the herein action.” ‘Thesenteree ahove contains 76 words inno les than 7 separate thoughts, Whereas a good sentence typically ‘conteins only one main thought in Jess than 25 words. By “yplctlly" means that a sentence may have more than ‘one thought. Its howev-r preferable to express anly one for at moat two though's in a statement. Long sentences make one's weting unwieldy and

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