LEGAL WRITING

LEGAL WRITING
• Being able to read and write is a very important part of becoming a
successful law student and an effective legal practitioner.
• Legal writing is any kind of writing that an individual does as a law
student or legal practitioner.
• Types of writing include: research memos, letters of advice, legal
opinions, contracts, wills, assignments etc.
• Definition also includes judgments handed down by the courts.
• Definition is also expanded to include broad range of legal writing e.g
the critical analysis of the law by legal academics and students.
 REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD ESSAY
• There are three main steps in writing an essay at university level.
• Meaning of a good essay- one of the most important things about an
essay is that it is a test of whether you know and understand the
subject.
• A good essay also requires one to be able to research properly and to
organise your research in a well-structured and well- written piece of
academic writing that is supported by relevant authority.
• A good essay should be clear to the point, arranged in a logical order,
and offer the readers information that is of interest.
 THE MAIN STEPS IN WRITING
ESSAYS
• Writing an essay involves the three main steps:
• a) Reading
• b) Planning
• c) Writing
• 1) Analyse the essay title (think about each of its parts and what it is asking)
• 2) Find the material to read
• 3) Read actively, and make notes
• 4) Think about the material and plan your argument
• 5) Write the essay
• 6) Edit and proofread your work
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ESSAYS
a) Analysing the Title
• It is important to study and analyse the title of the essay you are required
to write, because the title will affect the research you need to do, the notes
you will make and your understanding of what you are being asked to do.
What is the Central issue?
• When you read a law essay title, ask yourself: what is the central issue or
main problem here?
• An essay question will usually involve one key issue, or central problem
• You must identify this central issue or problem and focus your essay on it.
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• When discussing your central issue or solving the main problem, you
will probably need to discuss a few subsidiary issues along the way.
• These are connected to the main issue, but are less important
Understand the Instructions
• Once you have read the essay question carefully and have identified
the main and subsidiary issues, ask yourself what your lecturer is
really asking you to do.
• Pay particular attention to the direct instructions and make sure that
you understand what you have to do. Some typical essay instructions
include the following:
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ESSAYS
• a) compare: compare means to look at the similarities and differences
between two (or more) aspects.
• b) Contrast: means to look particularly at the differences between two (or
more) aspects.
• c) critically analyse: means to break down the subject into its components
(separate parts), explain how all these relate to each other, and then give
your own judgment of its strengths and weaknesses, based on clear
reasons, supported by evidence.
• d) Critique: is similar to critical analysis, and means to discuss something
critically. You have to evaluate and give your judgment about the law or
legal opinions or theories, and back up your judgment of its strength and
weaknesses, based on clear reasons, supported by evidence.
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ESSAYS
• e)Discuss: means to examine the issue in detail from various points of
view, reaching your own conclusions, based on clear reasoning. This is
one of the most common essay instructions.
• f) Describe: means to give a detailed and comprehensive account of
something in a logical order, which means that you must consider all
the aspects of the problem as a whole.
• g) Explain: is to describe the subject, focusing on ‘how’ or ‘why’,
looking at the reasons and implications of the statement made.
• h) Illustrate: means to provide examples (in law essays, these will
usually be examples from cases.
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• i) Summarise: this is to give a concise account of the most important
points- in other words, an account that is brief and to the point.
• j) Advise: this is to set out and discuss the relevant law, applying it to
the facts at hand, and recommending the best way to proceed.
 THE MAIN STEPS IN WRITING
ESSAYS
• b) Finding Materials to Read
• You cannot write an essay without reading up on the subject and on
the issues presented by the question.
• Where do you start? and where do you find the relevant sources?
• Using a prescribed reading list: Sometimes your lecturer will tell you
what to read for your essay.
• All you have to do is to find this material in the library or in your
course reader.
• All the prescribed readings are useful, relevant, and important for
answering essay questions
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• Independent research: Sometimes, instead of giving you a prescribed reading list
for the essay, your lecturer will expect you to go to the library and find the
material on your own.
• In this case, you might find it helpful to read through the relevant sections in your
prescribed textbooks, just to give yourself a broad overview of the subject you
are required to research.
• Finding the most important source or material- when you have to do
independent research, finding reading material is an important part of your
project, and your essay will be assessed partly on the basis of what you have
been able to find.
• Make sure that you are able to identify and find the most important sources in
this area of law.
• Your essay must consider the views of the most authoritative or leading
scholars in the field, and must discuss the most important and influential cases.
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ESSAYS
c) Active Reading and Making Notes
•Once you have collected your reading material, it is time to sit down
and read actively and then make notes on what you have read and
what you have understood.
Active Reading
•Active reading involves at least three important steps:
•a) scanning
•b) close or analytical reading
•c) rereading the text
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ESSAYS
Making Notes
•Making notes and making summaries of the readings helps you to focus on the
material.
•Your notes should be relevant to your essay and be geared to your needs.
•Using your own words: Try to use your own words as a far as possible, rather than
quoting word for word from the original text.
•When you express someone’s ideas in your own words, you force yourself to think
about these ideas and you can check whether or not you understand what the
author is saying.
•When you finally write your essay, you will have to attribute the ideas to the
author concerned by using a citation to show where you found this information.
•This will help you to avoid plagiarism.
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ESSAYS
• Direct quotations: sometimes the author will use a phrase that you are
unable to reword, or which you want to retain.
• If you quote phrases of three or more words, you must treat these as
quotations, and set them out in quotation marks.
• Sometimes, the author may express her or himself so well that you cannot
change the expression without losing its power and effect.
• In such cases, you may choose to quote longer sections directly.
• These direct quotations can be useful for emphasising the precise point of
law on which you are building your argument.
• Make sure that you enclose the sentences or phrases in quotation marks
and note the author, source and page number.
• Long quotes should be identified.
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• d)Thinking and Planning: your essay should not just be a collection
of notes, no matter how well they cover the subject matter or how
well they are written.
• You have to develop a logical and persuasive argument – in other
words, you must write in such a way that your reader can clearly see
and accept your point of view.
• Making a text map: At this stage of the essay-writing process, many
students find it helpful to make some kind of text map, which sets out
their argument and the logical way in which they plan to develop it.
• To make a text map, start by concentrating on your main argument.
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• How to develop an argument: once you have set out your mind maps
you need to start thinking about the order in which you are going to
discuss the various elements.
• Remember that the key to writing a good essay is the development of
an argument.
• It is not enough to discuss all important points- you must contribute
to your overall argument.
• At this stage you should try to think of the most logical and
persuasive order in which to set out your points.
 THE MAIN STEPS IN WRITING
ESSAYS
• e) Writing a Law Essay
• Once you have planned the shape of your essay, you are ready to
begin writing.
• Remember that writing up is a very important learning activity.
• It forces you to sharpen your thoughts and to express them clearly
and logically.
• You might discover, for instance, that you are a little vague, unclear
or confused about certain issues.
• You will then have to return to your reading material and improve
your understanding.
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ESSAYS
• Dealing with Writer’s Block: students sometimes experience writer’s
block, which means that no matter how hard they try they cannot
seem to get started on the writing phase of their essay.
• If this happens to you, remember that you can start anywhere- you
could, for example, begin by writing the sections you find easiest and
most interesting, and come back to the more difficult or boring parts
later.
• These sections might seem less difficult once you already have
something down on paper.
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ESSAYS
• The importance of writing clearly: it is extremely important that you write
clearly and precisely.
• Your essay is supposed to persuade the reader that your point of view is
correct.
• You are not going to convince anyone of your argument if your writing is
careless, confusing and difficult to follow.
• Your essay is also a test of how well you the subject.
• If your writing is vague and confusing, your lecturer will think you are
confused and that you do not understand the subject matter properly.
• Make sure that you exactly what you want to say, and then make the
effort to express yourself clearly.
• The best writing is often clear and simple.
THE MAIN STEPS IN ESSAY WRITING
• The rules of grammar: observe the basic rules of grammar.
• These rules will improve the clarity and readability of your writing.
• The grammar check on your word-processing package can be very
helpful, but it is not perfect, and you might often disagree with it.
• Many dictionaries include grammar guidelines, but if you struggle
with English grammar, it might be worth buying a grammar guide.
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ESSAYS
• The importance of organising your essay clearly
• It is extremely important to organise your essay in a logical order so that
the reader can follow your argument easily.
• Remember that you are trying to persuade the reader of your point of
view.
• You will not be able to persuade or convince the reader if they are not able
to follow your argument and do not understand why you are discussing a
particular issue or making a particular point.
• Keep in mind too, that your essay is a test of how well you can organise
your thought and information into a convincing and logical piece of work
that persuades the reader you are right.
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ESSAYS
• Your Introduction: the road map for your reader
• Your essay must begin with an introduction.
• It does not have to be long-often a single paragraph will be enough,
but in it you must set out the problem or question to be discussed,
identify the main issues, and explain how you will approach the topic.
• A good introduction will have three elements
• (a) it will set out the topic or problem
• (b) it will set out your thesis (argument)
• (c) it will outline the basic structure of your essay
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ESSAYS
• Think of your introduction as a road map to your essay.
• You are explaining to the reader where you are going and how you
are going to get there.
• Usually, it is easier to write your introduction after you have already
written the body of your essay.
• By this stage you would have polished your argument and finalised
your structure.
• You should also try to make your introduction as interesting as
possible.
• Tempt the reader to read on.
THE MAIN STEPS IN ESSAY WRITING
• The Body of the Essay
• Body of essay consists of several paragraphs which develop your argument.
• Each paragraph should contain one main idea or point, expressed very
clearly and simply, backed up with evidence and or illustrated by examples.
• This main idea usually appears at or near the beginning of the paragraph.
• Make sure that sentences in your paragraph are all related to the
paragraph’s main idea and arranged in a logical sequence.
• Your paragraphs must be arranged in logical order and must flow from one
to the next.
• The best to achieve the flow is to use linking words or phrases.
• Use plain language
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ESSAYS
• Make use of headings
• Make use of authority
• Legal authority
• Citing primary and secondary sources
• Citing authoritative authority
• Using footnotes
• Citing cases
• Citing legislation
• Citing books
• Citing chapters in a book
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• Conclusion
• The conclusion to your essay should not come as a surprise to your reader
because you should have been developing your argument throughout the
body of the essay.
• In your conclusion you simply set out explicitly all the arguments you have
made in the body of the essay.
• Refer back to the essay title and to the problem you set out to solve.
• Mention the main points you proved in your body of your essay and show
how these lead logically to your conclusion.
• Never introduce any new material in the conclusion.
• Your conclusion must be similar to your introduction and must in no way
contradict each other.
 THE MAIN STEPS IN ESSAY WRITING
• Editing and Proofreading
 WRITING TIPS RULES
• 1. Have a Point
• In order to write a good legal analysis, you've got to have a point
(that is, a thesis) you want to make.
• Avoid being too descriptive
• Analyse as opposed to survey
• Avoid showing ambivalence about the issue
• Advance your argument instead of writing about so many things
 WRITING TIPS RULES
• 2. Get to the Point
• Tell your reader what the point is in your first paragraph, if possible,
or at the most by the end of the second page.
• Not on page twenty or thirty.
• Remind your reader of your argument using section titles and
transitional sentences.
• Think of your thesis as the spice of your paper. Just as you would not
put all the spice for your dinner into your dessert.
 WRITING TIPS
• 3. Adopt a structure for your analysis:
• Integrate the facts,
• Court analysis, and
• Policies into the body of your argument
• 4. Avoid `artificial structure’. Break analysis up Into its component
parts and develop them separately, but in an organised way
• 5. Adopt a measured tone - a good writer gains credibility by
maintaining a tone which is generally calm, reasonable, and sincere.
You might want to check that your submission is accurate, insightful,
straightforward, objective.
 WRITING TIPS
• 6. Be concrete and simplify whenever possible.
• 7. Write a strong introduction to the paper.
• 8. Use meaningful titles to introduce each section of your paper.
• 9. Make your case discussions as thorough and yet brief as possible.
• 10.Have a strong opening line into case discussions.
• 11. Make Transitions Smoothly.
• 12. Resolve issues as you go along and at the end of the paper.
• 13.Make Use of Footnotes for a Variety of Purposes.
• 14. Never end a paragraph or a section with a quotation.
• 15. Keep Your Quotations Short and to the Point.