List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments xxiii xxv xxvii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL RESEARCH 1 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 1 A. INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING 2 1. The Role of the Paralegal in Legal Research and Writing 2 Why Do Paralegals Perform Research? 2 What Tasks Do Paralegals Handle in the Research and Writing Process? 2 B. INTRODUCTION TO THE U.S. LEGAL SYSTEM 3 1. The Organization of the Legal System 3 How Did the Federal and State Systems Originate? 4 2. Components of the Federal System and Governing Law 4 a. The Legislative Branch 4 How Is a Law Created? 5 b. The Executive Branch 5 c. The Judicial Branch 7 Who Can Bring an Action in Federal Court? 8 i. The Trial Courts 9 ii. The Appellate Courts 9 iii. The Supreme Court 10 xi
xii 3. Relationship Between Federal and State Governments 10 Can a Federal Court Decide an Issue of State Law? 10 What Effect Does a Federal Decision Have on State Law? 11 Are Federal and State Agencies Part of One Governing Body? 11 4. Organization of State Governments 11 What Are the Duties of the State Courts? 12 Can State Courts Decide Issues of Federal Law? 13 Chapter Summary 13 Key Terms 13 Exercises 14 CHAPTER 2 LEGAL AUTHORITIES AND HOW TO USE THEM 17 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 17 A. DETERMINATION OF GOVERNING LAW 18 1. Jurisdiction 18 What Factors Determine Which Jurisdiction Governs Your Case? 18 2. Precedent 18 3. Hierarchy of Authorities 19 a. Currency 19 b. Levels of Court 20 c. Conflicting Decisions between Circuits 21 d. State and Federal Decisions Concerning an Issue 22 e. Conflicts in Federal and State Authority 22 f. State Court Decisions 23 4. Dicta 23 5. Concurring and Dissenting Opinions 23 B. TYPES OF LEGAL RESOURCES 24 1. Primary Authority 24 How Do You Determine Whether a Case Is Mandatory or Binding? 24 2. Secondary Authority 26 3. Finding Tools 26 4. Hybrid Sources of Authority 27 5. Nonlegal Sources 27 C. USE OF AUTHORITIES OR SOURCES IN YOUR LEGAL WRITING 27 1. Essential Sources to Cite 27 2. Valuable Sources to Cite 28 3. Sources Never to Cite 28
xiii Checklist 28 In-Class Exercise 29 Chapter Summary 30 Key Terms 31 Exercises 31 CHAPTER 3 GETTING READY TO WRITE 35 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 35 A. WRITING GOALS AND HOW TO ACHIEVE THEM 36 How Do You Plan Your Communication and Revise It? 36 B. THE WRITING PROCESS 36 1. Preparing to Write: Purpose and Audience 37 How Do You Complete the Research Process and Make the Transition to Writing? 37 a. Purpose 37 What Is the Purpose of the Document? 37 b. Audience 38 To Whom Are You Speaking? 38 2. Drafting a Detailed Outline 39 How Do You Organize Your Ideas? 39 3. Revision: The Final Part of the Process 39 4. Example of Process Writing Techniques 40 Checklist 41 Chapter Summary 42 Key Terms 42 Exercises 42 CHAPTER 4 CLEAR WRITING AND EDITING 45 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 45 A. PURPOSE OF EDITING 46 B. PROCESS OF EDITING 46
xiv C. SPECIFIC ITEMS TO REVIEW WHILE EDITING 47 1. Diction 47 What Is Diction? 47 What Are Concrete Verbs? 47 How Do You Avoid Legalese or Legal Speak? 49 2. Voice 49 What Is the Difference Between Active Voice and Passive Voice? 50 3. Paragraphs 51 4. Sentences 51 5. Other Key Rules 51 Revision Checklist 52 Chapter Summary 53 Key Terms 53 Exercises 53 CHAPTER 5 WRITING BASICS 57 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 57 A. PUNCTUATION 58 1. Commas 58 2. Special Comma Rules 59 3. Semicolons 60 4. Colons 60 5. Parentheses 61 6. Double Quotation Marks 61 7. Single Quotation Marks 61 8. Apostrophes 61 B. MODIFIERS 62 C. PARALLEL CONSTRUCTION 62 D. SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT 63 E. RUN-ON SENTENCES 65 F. SENTENCE FRAGMENTS 66 G. THAT AND WHICH 66
xv Chapter Summary 66 Key Terms 67 Exercises 67 CHAPTER 6 CASE BRIEFING AND ANALYSIS 69 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 69 A. PURPOSE OF A CASE BRIEF 70 B. DIAGRAM OF A DECISION 70 In-Class Exercise 73 C. ANATOMY OF A CASE BRIEF 73 1. Citation 73 2. Procedural History 76 3. Issues 78 How Do You Determine the Legal Issue or Issues Presented When Examining a Client s Problem? 78 How Do You Draft a Statement of the Issue or Issues? 78 4. Holding 80 How Do You Draft a Holding? 80 5. Facts 81 What Are the Relevant Facts? 81 How Do You Organize Your Facts Statements? 83 6. Reasoning 84 7. Dicta 86 8. Disposition 87 In-Class Exercise 89 D. CASE ANALYSIS 98 1. Sample Single Case Analysis 98 2. Sample Analysis Using Two Cases 105 Chapter Summary 108 Key Terms 108 Exercises 108 CHAPTER 7 THE LEGAL MEMORANDUM 113 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 113 A. THE LEGAL MEMORANDUM 114 What Is an Objective Legal Memorandum and Why Is It Written? 114
xvi B. AUDIENCE 114 Who Reads a Memorandum? 114 C. COMPONENTS OF A MEMORANDUM 115 What Is Included in a Memorandum? 115 1. Heading 117 2. Questions Presented or Issues 119 3. Conclusion or Brief Answer 119 What Is the Difference between a Conclusion and a Brief Answer? 120 4. Facts 120 5. Discussion 121 D. STEPS IN DRAFTING A MEMORANDUM 122 What Steps Should You Take in Drafting a Memo? 122 Checklist for Drafting a Memorandum 122 1. Memo Drafting Tips 123 Chapter Summary 123 Key Terms 124 Exercises 124 CHAPTER 8 QUESTIONS PRESENTED AND CONCLUSIONS OR BRIEF ANSWERS 125 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 125 A. QUESTIONS PRESENTED OR ISSUES 125 Who Reads the Questions Presented Statement? 126 1. First Draft 126 What Are Legally Significant Facts? 127 2. Research the Issue and Revise It 127 3. Specificity and Precision 128 B. BRIEF ANSWERS AND CONCLUSIONS 129 1. Brief Answers 129 2. Conclusions 130 How Is a Conclusion Different from a Brief Answer? 130 3. Drafting Conclusions 131 Chapter Summary 133 Key Terms 133 Exercises 133
xvii CHAPTER 9 FACTS 139 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 139 A. FACTS STATEMENT 140 1. Defining Fact 140 2. Legally Significant Facts 140 What Facts Should Be Included in the Facts Statement? 140 3. Fact Versus a Legal Conclusion 142 4. Source of Information for a Facts Statement 143 B. ORGANIZING THE FACTS STATEMENT 143 What Are the Different Methods of Organizing a Facts Statement? 143 1. Chronological Organization 143 2. Organization by Claim or Defense 144 3. Organization by Party 145 4. Combination of Chronological and Claim or Party Organization 146 C. WRITING THE FACTS STATEMENT 149 1. Prepare a List of Facts and Preliminary Statement 149 2. Research the Issue 150 3. Revise to Include Only Legally Significant Facts 150 4. Organize the Facts 151 5. Rewrite the Facts Statement 152 Chapter Summary 152 Key Terms 152 Exercises 153 CHAPTER 10 THE IRAC METHOD 161 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 161 A. PURPOSES OF IRAC 162 What Is IRAC? 162 B. IRAC COMPONENTS 162 What Does an IRAC Paragraph Look Like? 162 1. Issues 164 What Is the Difference Between the Question Presented and the Issues in IRAC Paragraphs? 165
xviii 2. Rules of Law 166 Why Is Citation Important? 166 3. Application of the Law to the Problem s Facts 167 How Do You Use the Legally Significant Facts? 167 4. Conclusion 168 Chapter Summary 168 Key Terms 169 Exercises 169 CHAPTER 11 SYNTHESIZING CASES AND AUTHORITIES 179 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 179 A. SYNTHESIS 180 What Is the Process of Synthesizing Legal Rules? 180 Why Do We Synthesize Legal Authority? 180 B. TYPES OF SYNTHESIS 181 What Are the Four Methods of Synthesizing Authority? 181 C. STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS TO SYNTHESIZING LEGAL RULES 182 D. EXAMPLES OF CASE SYNTHESIS 183 How Do You Synthesize Two Sources of Statutory Authority? 191 Checklist 192 Chapter Summary 193 Key Terms 193 Exercises 193 CHAPTER 12 OUTLINING AND ORGANIZING A MEMORANDUM 199 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 199 A. PURPOSE OF OUTLINING 200 B. STEPS TO OUTLINING 200 1. Steps in Compiling a List of Legal Authorities 200
xix 2. Organize Issues 203 What Steps Should You Follow in Preparing Your Outline of Each of the Issues? 204 3. Draft a Thesis Paragraph 204 4. Determine Which Element to Discuss First 205 5. List Elements or Subissues 206 6. Add Authority 206 7. Refine Issues 206 8. Arrange the Order of Elements 206 9. Organize into IRAC Paragraph 206 C. MULTI-ISSUE MEMORANDUM 207 How Do You Organize a Multi-Issue Memorandum? 207 In-Class Exercise 219 Chapter Summary 221 Key Terms 222 Exercises 222 CHAPTER 13 PERSUASIVE WRITING 233 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 233 A. THE NATURE OF PERSUASIVE WRITING 234 What Kinds of Documents Are Persuasive? 234 Which Aspects of Persuasive Writing Do Paralegals Perform? 234 What Is the Difference Between Objective and Persuasive Writing? 235 B. TECHNIQUES 235 Is There a Formula for Persuasive Writing as There Is for Objective Writing? 235 What Are Some Techniques Used in Persuasive Writing? 237 Are There Any Other Tools That Are Helpful for Persuasive Writing? 238 Are There Any General Rules for Writing Persuasively? 239 When Does the Need to Write Persuasively Arise? 239 C. TYPES OF PERSUASIVE WRITING 240 1. Complaints 240 What Is a Complaint? 240 How Do You Know What to Include in a Complaint? 240
xx 2. Answer 243 What Is an Answer and What Is Its Purpose? 244 When Is an Answer Filed? 244 What Are the Components of an Answer? 246 How Do You Draft the Body of an Answer to a Complaint? 246 3. Motions 247 What Is a Motion? 247 What Is a Memo in Support of Motions or an Advocacy Memo? 248 How Do You Organize an Argument? 253 4. Trial Briefs 255 What Is a Trial Brief? 255 How Do You Draft a Trial Brief or Memorandum in Support of a Motion? 255 5. Summary Judgment Motions 256 What Is a Summary Judgment Motion? 256 What Should Be Included in a Motion for Summary Judgment and How Do You Draft One? 256 6. Appellate Briefs 257 Are There Any General Tips for Writing an Appellate Brief? 262 7. Other Forms of Persuasive Writing 263 Are There Any Instances When Persuasive Writing Is Used in a Transaction? 263 Chapter Summary 264 Key Terms 265 Exercises 265 CHAPTER 14 IN-HOUSE AND OBJECTIVE CLIENT DOCUMENTS 267 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 267 A. CLIENT OR WITNESS INTERVIEW SUMMARY 268 What Is a Client or Witness Interview Summary? 268 What Questions Should You Ask Yourself Before You Begin to Write? 268 1. Client s Statements 268 2. Witness s Statements 269 How Do You Draft a Client or Witness Summary? 269 B. MEETING SUMMARIES 271 What Should Be Included in a Meeting Summary? 271 How Do You Draft a Meeting Summary? 271
xxi C. STATUS MEMOS 273 What Is a Status Memo, and Who Reads It? 273 How Often Should a Status Memo Be Prepared? 274 What Should the Detailed Summary Include? 274 D. DEPOSITION SUMMARIES 276 What Is a Deposition Summary? 276 When and Why Do You Draft a Deposition Summary, and Who Will Read It? 276 How Do You Draft a Deposition Summary? 276 E. DEPOSITION ABSTRACTS 278 What Is the Difference between a Deposition Summary and a Deposition Abstract? 278 Who Will Read the Deposition Abstract? 278 What Is the Purpose of a Deposition Abstract, and When Is It Drafted? 278 What Format Is Used for a Deposition Abstract? 279 How Do You Draft an Abstract? 280 F. TRANSACTION SUMMARY 281 Chapter Summary 283 Key Terms 283 Exercises 283 CHAPTER 15 LETTER WRITING 291 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 291 A. BASICS OF LETTER WRITING 292 What Formats Are Used? 292 B. COMPONENTS OF A LETTER 292 1. Letterhead and Headers 292 2. Date 294 3. Method of Transmission 294 4. Inside Address 295 5. Reference Line 295 6. Greeting 295 7. Body of Letter 296 8. Closing 296 9. Copies to Others and Enclosures 297
xxii C. TYPES OF LETTERS 298 1. Confirming Letters 298 2. Status Letters and Transaction Summary Letters 300 3. Demand Letters 305 4. Opinion Letters 306 5. E-mail 308 6. Social Media 309 Checklist 311 Chapter Summary 311 Key Terms 312 Exercises 312 Appendix A Citation 317 Appendix B Writing Strategies 333 Index 335