Is legal writing so universal that it can fit everyone? Not really! You have to find which style is preferable for you within the limits of the allowed changes. Still, credibility is one of the priorities of such writing. All legal writing tips emphasize that it is necessary to ensure that the final paper is proofread and edited. Look here for support in this task. Proper grammar and flawless spelling do impress the audience and that is what we need in this case. Are you aware who your audiences are? Are they only the clients of your legal firm? Are they senior lawyers? This is only a partially appropriate answer.
You write your papers for the court, namely to the judge and numerous law clerks. Well, your aim is to make them satisfied with how you handle legal issues and present ideas. They view the brief you have composed and decide whether it is sufficiently persuasive and structured perfectly well. They do not believe that it is credible if you have written it with evident neglecting of the fundamental laws of legal documents. Also, it should provide explanations why the court is supposed to accept the case and make a decision in favor of the client. For those dealing with complex mergers and acquisitions, it’s crucial to hire an M&A attorney.
Legal writing: what is it?
All papers related to various legal matters belong to legal writing. They are motions, memos, briefs, and many others. The key purpose of such papers is typically to persuade the audience. The style and tone of the writer should be in line with the target audiences. A professional legal writer is capable of switching between plain language for the inexperienced clients and sophisticated legal one for the officials. All legal experts require good legal writing skills. Neither secretaries nor lawyers can do their work without profound knowledge of how to compose legal papers.
What are the main features of a legal brief? It should have an understandable objective, a logical flow of ideas, and clarity of thoughts. It should cover the reason for the client’s case and the needed remedy. Also, it should provide explanations why the court is supposed to accept the case and make a decision in favor of the client. Look through our expert guide for the law students and experienced lawyers to have solid knowledge of how to compose legal briefs.
Tip One. Organize Writing
Legal writing can be successful only if it is organized in a proper way. Use some visual clues to develop a roadmap for the paper as they will guide your reader. The first paragraph should introduce the subject. Do not forget about such transitional phrases as “in addition,” “moreover,” “however” and others to build relations between the paragraphs. A topic sentence is a must in every paragraph, and the blocks of text should look much clearer with headings and subheadings. There is no need to cover more than one topic in a paragraph. Consider that a concluding paragraph should sum up your paper. Readability of the paper and its effect on the readers depend on the effective organizational structure of your document.
Tip Two. Treat online information critically.
It is absolutely wrong to trust everything you can find on the web. Working on a legal brief, you should conduct thorough research and study all the answers given by the client. You may make use of such law books as American Jurisprudence or Corpus Juris Secundum as solid references.
Every time you are writing a legal paper, you have to check on the digests and indexes in those books. Your insights would be much more effective if you use a combination of data. Taking information both from the law books and online sources, you may reflect the ideas in the legal brief with the maximal efficiency and competence. Google books are the best option when it goes about online research.
Tip Three. Make up your own table of cases
You should give your Table of Cases or Table of Authorities after you have completed a table of contents. What you have to include is a list of authorities and cases cited in the paper.
- Group the authorities mentioned in the document by rules, cases, and statutes.
- Choose the ABC order for your list. Make sure that every authority includes a cross reference and a complete citation. Consider mentioning the page in the brief which refers to this particular authority.
- A table of authorities may not be included in a trial brief. You have to check on the rules of a certain court prior to compiling your brief.
Tip Four. Give an up-front summary of your conclusions
An up-front summary is a mandatory part of your legal paper, no matter whether it is a legal brief, an opinion letter, or a research memo. Typically, it includes such three aspects: key questions, answers to the questions, and justification for the given answers. Writing a draft of a brief or motion, you have to ensure that the key issue is on page one. You have to mention all the reasons why your client has to be a winner in this particular case. Try to write this part in a comprehensible manner so that everyone could see what you mean. Even your family and friends far from the legal writing should have no problem interpreting what you have written. It is a challenge for every legal writer! Working on a research memo, ensure that the question and the answer are given up front. Your conclusion should not be delayed until the final paragraph of your document. Do not assume that the audience will read through the paper, looking into every detail and trying to solve all the mysteries and problems like they do reading detective novels. It is recommended to open the paper with a statement of facts which makes everything look evident. It is not an effective approach to legal writing. Why isn’t it? The readers will get all the facts from the very beginning, but they will have no understanding of the issue. What you should do is to integrate some of the core facts into the statement of the raised issue.
Tip Five. Cut all confusing and unnecessary sentences
Do not confuse your readers with too lengthy sentences and vague ideas presented in lots of words. Ensure that you have read your paper again to delete all excessively complicated phrases and words. Have a look at the sentence: “In general, consensus of opinions can be redundant.” In this case the word ‘consensus’ is associated with your opinion. By its nature, it is general; so, there is no need to mention that again. So, it is reasonable to make a replacement of this phrase to make it look not repetitive. Go back to your paper after you have included all scenarios and terms into it. It is time to cut down all the sentences and even paragraphs. Choose the sentences that are unnecessary for presenting the core ideas. Make effective replacement of those sentences with easier ones. Ensure that every sentence and word is effective and suitable.
Tip Six. Automation is fine
Do not be afraid of automation. It will no way make your role less impactful. The tools of automation tools can enhance it. They make brief-writing more effective and more focused on strategy and persuasion. ‘Compose,’ can make sure that all the authorities and arguments are added quickly. ‘BriefCatch’ in its turn can do checking of the drafts and underline all errors in formatting and style.
Tip Seven. Leading from the top is a priority
This is a core tool that the legal writing tips mention among the most effective ones. Open the document by stating the most important features. Your readers should understand what to expect and how to get the information they need. This principle can be applied both on large scale and small scale. Lead your writing with your conclusions. Lead your paragraphs with summaries. Lead your sections with effective headings. Lead your emails with effective subject lines. Make your writing logical and effective!
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