Legal Writing Course Syllabus Weekly Sessions 2023-2024

LEGAL WRITING An introduction of legal writing techniques; it involves applied legal

bibliography, case digesting and reporting analysis, legal reasoning and preparation of
legal opinions or memoranda.
This involves the fundamentals of reading, writing , research and conceptual thinking
to develop the student’s ability to produce papers, legal discourse, dissertation or
pleadings through exercises requiring intensive reading, analyzing cases and adopting
appropriate legal remedies.

PART 1
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION – Reference #3
A. Law as a Noble Legal Profession
1. Director for Religious Affairs v. Bayot, 74 Phil. 579
2. Khan V. Simbillo, Jr., August 19, 2003
B. Why do you want to become a lawyer?
C. How to Be a Lawyer by Dean Fortunato Gupit
1. DECS v. San Diego, 180 SCRA 533
2. In re: Cunanan, 94 Phil. 534 Bar Flunkers Case
D. History of Philippine Bar Examinations – internet sources

CHAPTER II. PARTS OF A SENTENCE AND BASIC GRAMMAR- Reference #16

A. Parts of a Sentence
B. Purpose of Having a Good Grammar
C. Important Grammatical Terms
D. Grammar and Usage

CHAPTER III. GUIDE TO CORRECT PUNCTUATIONS

A. Definition
B. Purposes
C. Kinds of Punctuation Marks
D. Uses
CHAPTER IV. CAPITALIZATION, ITALICS, BOLDFACE, UNDERSCORING
 A. Capitalization Rules
B. Italicization Rules
Cases:
1. Microsoft Corporation v. Rolando Manansala
2. Codoy v. Ramonal August 12, 1999
Shall in a statute commonly denotes imperative obligation and is inconsistent
with the idea of discretion and that the presumption is that the word “shall”
when used in a statute is mandatory
3. Capati v. Ocampo April 30, 1982
The word may is usually permissive not mandatory.
4. Astorga v. Villegas April 30, 1974
5. Coleongco vs. Regalado December 29, 1952
6. SSS vs. City of Bacolod July 21, 1982
Adjectives can be used as an id to interpret a law; property – noun; owned-
verb
7. ABBOT Lab v. Agrava May 21, 1952
A tense can be used to interpret the meaning of the law
8. People v. Zulueta August 30, 1951
The words and phrases enclosed by brackets may refer to deletions,
transpositions and rephrasing made in an amended information
9. Republic v. SANDIGANBAYAN
A preposition can be used as an id to interpret a law
10. CREDO vs. NLRC Nov. 29, 1988
A comma can be used to interpret the real meaning and intention of the law
11. Republic v. Delos Angeles Oct. 4, 1991

Practical Exercise
Objectives:
a. Introduce to law students legal words that they will encounter in their study of the
law, rules and jurisprudence.
b. Help non-lawyers to understand legal phrases, and guide lawyers in explaining to
non-lawyers these jargons in common terms .
Task:
a. Define the given 250 legal jargons.
b. Use each in a sentence.
c. The assignment must be in your own handwriting, numbered and written on a
 notebook.
d. The work will be graded based on substance and form.

CHAPTER V. TECHNICAL LANGUAGE – Reference #6

A. Definition of Terms
B. Legalese/Jargon
C. Ordinary Words with Legal Meaning
D. Legal Writing Habits to Avoid
E. Words and Expressions Confused and Misuse

CHAPTER VI. LEGAL WRITING IN THE PHILIPPINES

A. Law and Legal Writing in the Philippines
1. Language of the Law
a. Secs. 6-9, Art XIV, 1987 Constitution
b. Sec. 10, Rule 138, Rules of Court
c. People v. Tomaquin, Jr., July 2, 2004
2. Legal Writing
a. Definition
b. Types
3. Types of Legal Writing
a. Legal Analysis
b. Legal Drafting
4. Elements of Good Legal Writing
a. Simplicity
b. Clarity
c. Persuasiveness
B. Expanding the Role of Philippine Languages in the Legal System: The Dim
Prospects by Isabel Pefianco Martin http://journals.ateneo.edu.ph

Consultation and Writing Exercises:

Drafting of Letter to the Client

CHAPTER VII. LAWS

A. Definition of Laws
 B. Characteristics of Laws
C. Sources of Laws
D. Effectivity of Laws
1. Art. 2, Civil Code
2. Tañada v. Tuvera, 136 SCRA 27 (April 24, 1985)
3. Tañada v. Tuvera, 146 SCRA 446 (Dec. 29, 1986)
4. Umali v. Estanislao, 209 SCRA 446 (May 21, 1992)
5. Farinas v. Executive Secretary, 417 SCRA 503 (Dec. 10, 2003)

Writing Exercises:

1. Demand Letter
2. Complaint for Collection of Sum of Money
3. Jurisdiction of courts, where to file
4. Verification and Certification of Non-Forum Shopping

CHAPTER VIII. STATUTORY LAW

A. Statutory Law, defined
B. Statutes, defined
C. Classes of Statutes
1. Constitution
2. Treaty
3. Statutes Proper
a. Title of Statute
Lidasan v. COMELEC 21 SCRA 496 (1967)
b. Enacting Clause
c. Preamble
Aglipay v. Ruiz, 64 Phil. 201
People v. Purisima, November 1978
d. Purview or Body
e. Separability Clause
4. Court Rules
5. Rules and Regulations
6. Ordinances

Writing Exercises
 1. Answer to the Complaint
2. Affidavit

CHAPTER IX. CASE LAW

A. Case Law, defined
B. Classification of Case law
C. Case Reporting
1. Parts of Case Reports
2. The Official Gazette
3. Philippine Reports
4. Supreme Court Reports Annotated
5. Others
D. Res Judicata
E. “Law of the Case”
F. Judicial Precedents or Stare Decisis
1. Silva v. Mationg, 499 SCRA 724 (Aug. 28 2006)
2. Nepomoceno v. City of Surigao, 560 SCRA 41 (2008)
3. Ayala Corporation v. Risa-Diana RDC, 346 SCRA 663 (2000)
4. Siliman University v. Fontelo-Paalan, 526 SCRA 759 (2007)
5. China Airlines v. Chiok 407 SCRA 432

Submission of Legal Terms

11th Session- MIDTERMS

Writing Exercises
Position Paper
Goal:
Convince the reader that the author’s opinion or stand about an issue is valid and your
position is the correct view.
Task:
Each student will be given, by drawing of lots, an argumentative essay topic to work on.
References:
Internet sources such as www.thoughtco.com
5 Steps to Write a Strong Position Paper
How to Write an Argument
www.sfu.ca
Writing a Position Paper
 PART 2
Reference
J. Roberto A. Abad, Fundamentals of Legal Writing 2009 or latest ed
CHAPTER XIII. A REVIEW OF BASIC LEGAL WRITING
A. Legal Dispute
B. Stages of Writing
1. Pre-work
i. Facts of the case
ii. Applicable Rule and Law
iii. Issues
iv. Argument
v. Prayer
2. Write-up
C. Ethical and Legal Considerations
1. Plagiarism
(In Re: In the matter of charges of Plagiarism against Associate Justice Mariano
del Castillo, A.M. No. 10-7-17-SC, Oct. 12, 2010 and Feb. 8, 2011)
2. Fair Use Doctrine, Intellectual Property Code
Sec. 185. Fair use of a Copyrighted Work.-
3. Code of Professional Responsibility
Rule 10.02- A lawyer shall not knowingly misquote or misrepresent the contents
of a paper, the language or the argument of opposing counsel, or the text of a
decision or authority, or knowingly cite as law a provision already rendered
inoperative by repeal or amendment, or assert as a fact that which has not been
proved
French Oil Mill Machinery v. CA, Sept 11, 1998
Allied Banking Corp. v. CA and Galanida, No. 18, 2003
Hueysuwan –Florido v. Atty. James Benedict Florido, A.C No. 5624. January 20,
2004

CHAPTER XIV. GETTING THE FACTS OF THE CASE

1. Facts of a case
2. Random notes versus summary
3. Facts seen through the issue
4. Relevant facts extracted
CHAPTER XV. KNOWING THE APPLICABLE RULE
1. Sources of law or rule
2. Facts reexamined
3. Writing Exercises
CHAPTER XVI. GETTING INTO THE ISSUES
1. Issues in multiple legal dispute
2. Subordinate controlling issues
3. Relevant and irrelevant issues
4. Factual and legal issues
5. Correct statement of the issues
6. Threshold issues
7. Writing Exercises

CHAPTER XVII. ROUGHING OUT THE ARGUMENT

1. Anatomy of a legal argument
2. Key fact in rules
3. Case fact
4. Roughed out arguments
5. Arguments that build up
6. Arguments that destroy
7. Pre-work reviewed
8. Writing exercises
CHAPTER XVIII. INTRODUCING THE ISSUES
1. Need for introduction
2. Sufficiency of introduction
3. The statement of the case
4. The statement of facts
5. Short introductions
6. Writing exercises
CHAPTER IX. WRITING AN ARGUMENT
1. Jump off points
2. Three statements of an argument
3. Persuasive arguments
4. Convincing rule statement
5. Convincing fact statement
6. Correct conclusion statement
7. Positioning variation
 8. Building blocks of arguments
9. Omitted statement
10. Closing statement
11. Writing exercises

CHAPTER X. TIGHTENING YOUR WORK

1. Language problems
2. Needles words
3. Active versus passive voice
4. Third person speaks
5. Block quotations
6. Writing exercises
CHAPTER XI. WRITING CLEARLY
1. Right connectives
2. Abstract versus concrete writing
3. Substitute names
4. Headings
5. Writing exercises
CHAPTER XII. WRITING LEGALESE
1. Legal clichés
2. Old English
3. Sounding formal
4. Cheap words
5. Self-praise
6. Sentence length variety
7. Writing exercises

- FINAL EXAMINATION and

- Submission of POSITION PAPER

References:
1. 1987 Philippine Constitution
2. J. Roberto A. Abad, Fundamentals of Legal Writing, 2009
3. J. Jorge R. Coquia, Legal Proffesion, 1999
4. Dean Fortunato Gupit, Jr.,, Law and Legal Writing in the Philippines
5. Francisco O. Javines, Legal Writing :Logic and Aanguage in Law, 1997
6. Dean Gil Marvel P. Fabucanon , Legal Writing : A Competency-Based Approach
2010
7. Mauricio C. Ulep, Basic Legal Writing , 2002
8. Supreme Court rules and decisions
a. Official Gazette
b. Philippine Reports
c. Supreme Court Reports
d. Internet sources