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• Title:The mindful legal writer : mastering predictive writing / Heidi K. Brown, Esq.
  
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• Author/Creator:Brown, Heidi K. (Heidi Kristin), 1970- author.
  
• Published/Created:New York : Wolters Kluwer, [2015]
  

• Holdings

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  • Location:LAW LIBRARY (level 3)Where is this?
    
  • Call Number: KF250 .B765 2015
    
  • Number of Items:1
    
  • Status:c.1 On loan - Due on 09-15-2024
    

   
• Library of Congress Subjects:Legal composition.
  Law--Study and teaching.
  
• Description:xxv, 304 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm
  
• Series:Aspen coursebook series.
  
• Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
  
• ISBN:9781454836186 paperback
  1454836180 paperback
  
• Contents:Machine generated contents note: Introduction
  ch. 1 Putting Legal Writing in Context
  I. Legal Writing in Dispute Resolution
  A. Preliminary Client Advisory Phase
  B. Prelitigation Settlement
  C. Phases of Litigation
  1. Pleadings
  2. Scheduling
  3. Fact Discovery
  4. Expert Discovery
  5. Pretrial
  6. Trial
  7. Posttrial
  II. Legal Writing in Transactional Lawyering
  Practice Tips
  Practice Checklist: Types of Legal Writing Attorneys Do
  ch. 2 Pondering Professional Judgment
  I. Respect Rules
  A. Substantive Rules
  B. Procedural Rules
  II. Beware the Dreaded "Benchslap"
  III. Respect Procedural Rules in the Law School Classroom
  IV. Student Examples of Professional (and Nonprofessional) Judgment
  Exercise: Developing Your Own Professional Judgment Checklist
  ch. 3 Strategies for Starting a New Legal Writing Assignment
  I. Creating a Client Case File
  II. Who Is the Client?
  III. What Exactly Am I Expected to Write?
  IV. Who Is My Audience?
  V. When Is My Work Product Due?
  VI. Why Am I Being Asked to Write This Document?
  VII. What Time or Budget Limits Should I Consider?
  VIII. How Should I Get Started?
  ch. 4 Understanding the Sources of Legal Rules
  I. Branches of Federal Government
  A. Legislative Branch
  B. Executive Branch
  C. Judicial Branch
  II. Branches of State Government
  III. How a Common Law System Works
  A. Precedent and Stare Decisis
  B. Jurisdiction and Type of Authority
  1. Federal Court Hierarchy
  2. State Court Hierarchies
  3. Determining Which Court Has Jurisdiction over a Case
  4. Determining Mandatory v. Persuasive Authority
  a. Whether Federal Courts Must Follow State Court Decisions
  b. Whether State Courts Must Follow Federal Court Decisions
  c. Cases of First Impression
  IV. Primary v. Secondary Authority
  Legal Sources Checklist
  Checklist for Beginning to Review Sources of Law in a Legal Writing Assignment
  ch. 5 Learning How to Read Statutes
  I. Deciphering Statutes
  A. How Federal Statutes Are Enacted
  B. How State Statutes Are Enacted
  C. Techniques for Deciphering and Parsing Statutes
  II. Understanding the Difference Between Statutory Elements and Factors
  A. Examples of Statutes with Required Elements
  B. Examples of Statutes with Factors
  III. Looking for Indicator or Connector Words and Punctuation
  Exercise: Identifying Required Elements in a Statute
  ch. 6 Learning How to Read and Brief Cases
  I. Typical Components of a Case Opinion
  II. Marking Up the Structural Components in a Case Opinion
  III. Drafting Useful Case Briefs
  ch. 7 Learning How to Read Regulations
  I. Understanding the Rulemaking Process
  II. Understanding the Structure of Government Agency Regulations
  III. Tackling Regulations in a Legal Writing Assignment
  ch. 8 Introduction to the Format of a Single-Issue Legal Office Memorandum
  I. Functional Context: How Do Supervising Attorneys Use Legal Research Memoranda?
  II. Visual Context: What Does a Legal Research Memorandum Look Like?
  III. Drafting Context: How the Legal Memo-Writing Process Differs from College-Style Drafting
  Example of IREAC
  ch. 9 Identifying the Legal Issue, and Extracting and Synthesizing the Rule
  I. Narrowing Down the Legal Issue from a Statute
  II. Using Case Law to Further Define a Legal Issue and Governing Rule
  Nonlegal Example of Case Synthesis
  III. Case Synthesis
  Legal Example of Case Synthesis
  ch. 10 Rule Explanation: Explaining and Illustrating a Legal Rule Through Case Law
  I. RE Component 1: Rule Statement
  A. Using Statutory Language to Write a Rule Statement
  B. Crafting a Synthesized Rule Statement from Case Law
  C. Not Too Narrow, Not Too Broad
  1. Nonlegal Example 1: Go Bears!
  2. Nonlegal Example 2: Let's Dine Out!
  3. Legal Example of Too Broad and Too Narrow Rule Statements
  II. RE Component 2: Case Citation
  III. RE Component 3: Case Facts
  IV. RE Component 4: Court's Holding on the Relevant Legal Issue
  V. RE Component 5: Court's Rationale for Its Decision
  VI. RE Recap
  Rule Explanation Dos and Don'ts Checklist
  Exhibit 10A: Rule Explanation Template
  Exhibit 10B: Sample Annotated Rule Explanation
  Exhibit 10C: Rule Explanation Annotation Exercise
  ch. 11 Basic Legal Citation for Legal Memoranda
  I. Why Is Citation Important?
  II. Citing Statutes
  A. Federal Statutes
  B. State Statutes
  III. Citing Cases
  A. Federal Cases
  1. Federal Trial and Appellate Courts
  2. U.S. Supreme Court Cases
  3. Federal Appendix Cases
  B. State Cases
  C. Unpublished Cases
  D. Short Cites
  1. Citing the Same Case Without an Intervening Cite
  2. Citing a Case After an Intervening Citation
  IV. Using Signal Citations
  A. Introductory Signals
  B. Explanatory Parentheticals
  C. String Cites Plus Explanatory Parentheticals
  ch. 12 Rule Application: Applying the Rule to the Client's Facts
  I. Crafting an Effective Rule Application
  II. Remembering the Purpose of the Legal Memorandum
  III. Using Element or Factor Charts to Organize the Rule Application
  IV. Transitioning from the Rule Explanation to the Rule Application
  V. Applying the Rule to the Client's Circumstances
  VI. Comparing and Contrasting Case Law to the Client's Facts
  VII. Adding Mini-Conclusions to Each Section of the Rule Application
  VIII. Stepping Back and Reviewing the Rule Application for Logic
  IX. Adding Policy-Based Reasoning to a Rule Application
  Rule Application Checklist
  Sample Rule Application
  ch. 13 Putting the Memorandum Together: Introductions, Transitions, Headings, and Conclusions
  I. Finishing the Discussion Section Draft: A Worksheet for Putting the Pieces Together
  II. Drafting the Umbrella Paragraph
  A. Purpose of an Umbrella Paragraph
  B. Presenting the Client Issue
  C. Communicating, and Then Narrowing, the Applicable Rule and Issue for the Reader
  D. Briefly Predicting the Outcome
  III. Crafting Thoughtful Transitions Between Components of a Discussion Section
  A. Transitioning from the Umbrella to the First Rule Explanation
  B. Transitioning Between Rule Explanations
  C. Transitioning Between the Last Rule Explanation and the Rule Application
  IV. Drafting Descriptive Headings Within the Discussion Section
  A. Purpose of Descriptive Headings Within the Discussion Section
  B. Examples of Headings Based on Rule Factors
  C. Examples of Headings Directly Tying the Factors of a Rule to the Client's Facts
  V. Thoughtfully Selecting Cases for Rule Explanations or Signal Cites with Accompanying Explanatory Parentheticals
  VI. Handling Counterarguments in the Rule Application
  VII. Writing a Helpful Informative Conclusion to a Legal Memorandum
  ch. 14 Locking in Logic and Abolishing Assumptions in Legal Analysis
  I. Examining Logic in Legal Writing
  II. Avoiding Erroneous Assumptions
  Exercise: Assumptions
  ch. 15 Writing the Memorandum Header, the Question Presented, and the Short Answer
  I. Crafting an Informative Memorandum Header
  II. Crafting a Helpful Question Presented
  A. Components of an Effective Question Presented
  B. "Under": The "Governing Law" Part of the Question Presented
  C. "Does/Can/Is/Has": The "Legal Question" Part of the Question Presented
  D. "When": The "Legally Significant Facts" Part of the Question Presented
  1. Using Parallel Structure in a List
  2. Avoiding Factual Assumptions in a List
  III. Constructing a Concise, Informative Short Answer
  A. Components of the Short Answer
  B. Presenting a One-Word Answer + Conclusory Statement
  C. Providing the Rule Formula for the Reader
  D. Briefly Applying the Rule to the Client Facts
  E. Concisely Predicting the Outcome
  ch. 16 Writing a Statement of Facts in a Legal Office Memorandum
  I. Purpose of the Statement of Facts
  II. How to Write a Statement of Facts
  III. Style Tips for Writing Statements of Facts
  ch. 17 Preparing for Legal Writing Feedback
  I. What to Expect in a Writing Conference: A Dialogue Rather Than an "Answer Key"
  II. What to Expect in a Writing Conference: Time Boundaries
  III. How to Prepare (Like a Lawyer) for the Writing Conference
  IV. Processing Legal Writing Feedback
  Legal Writing Conference Checklist
  ch. 18 Becoming an Expert Self-Editor
  I. Ten-Step Editing Process: Introduction
  II. Editing Starting Point
  III. Step 1: Cross-Checking the Document Against a Legal Memorandum-Drafting Checklists
  IV. Step 2: Reading for Overall Structure and Logic
  V. Step 3: Reviewing Each Standalone Section and Paragraph for Structure and Clarity
  VI. Step 4: Inspecting Each Sentence for Grammar, Clarity, and Concision
  A. Tips for Writing Concisely
  1. Converting Passive Voice to Active Voice
  2. Creating Concise and Useful Lists, Using Parallel Grammatical Structure
  3. Eliminating Legalese
  4. Trimming Excess Words
  B. Tips for Using Direct Quotations from Legal Sources
  VII. Step 5: Reading the Document Word by Word to Catch Typographical and Punctuation Errors
  VIII. Step 6: Evaluating the Document for a Professional, Respectful Tone and Formal Language
  IX. Step 7: Reviewing the Document for Its Storytelling Quotient
  X. Step 8: Scanning Each Page for Formatting Glitches
  Contents note continued: XI. Step 9: Checking Each Legal Citation
  XII. Step 10: Final Review and Double-Checking the Formatting and Submission Guidelines
  Editing Exercises
  ch. 19 Adding Levels of Sophistication to a Legal Analysis
  I. Brainstorm Different Ways of Organizing a Legal Analysis Around the Components of the Rule
  II. Be Strategic in Choosing Case Law for the Memorandum
  III. Construct Helpful Headings and Smooth Transitions Between Parts of the Memorandum
  IV. When Applying the Rule to Your Client's Facts, Think About the Underlying Societal Purpose of the Law
  V. Honing Your Prose
  VI. Check for Logic Gaps and Faulty Assumptions
  VII. Edit, Edit, Edit
  ch. 20 Tackling a Multi-Issue Legal Office Memorandum Assignment
  ch. 21 Drafting Shorter Memoranda and E-mail Communications
  I. Short Memoranda Answering a Discrete Legal Question
  II. Short but Professional E-mails Communicating Research Results
  III. Administrative E-mails Within the Law Office Environment
  Appendix A Introduction to Researching Sources of Law
  I. Annotated Statutes
  A. Finding a Relevant Case Using a Statute Annotation
  B. Pocket Parts
  II. Case Reporters
  A. Finding a Case Using a Citation
  B. Finding Other Relevant Cases Using Headnotes, Topics, and Key Numbers
  III. Digest System
  IV. Secondary Sources
  V. Citators
  Appendix B Converting Benchslaps to Backslaps: Instilling Professional Accountability in New Legal Writers by Teaching and Reinforcing Context
  Appendix C Sample Single-Issue Legal Office Memorandum
  Appendix D Sample Multi-Issue Legal Office Memorandum
  Appendix E Legal Office Memorandum-Drafting Checklist
  Appendix F "Bring It, Socrates!" Conquering Anxiety About the Socratic Method and Public Speaking in Law School
  I. Consider Exploring the Roots of Your Public Speaking Anxiety
  II. Prepare for Class with the Dialogue in Mind
  A. What Types of Questions Can I Expect?
  B. Structure Your Case Briefs and Class Preparation Notes So They Are Easy to Access and Use in Class
  C. Have a Plan in Case You Get Stumped by a Question
  D. Practice Answering Questions Aloud at Home
  III. Be Realistic
  IV. Consider Your "Happy Place"
  V. Use Your Physical Body to Help Your Brain
  VI. Allow Only Positive Internal Messages to Enter Your Mindset
  VII. Bibliography
  Appendix G Six Tips for Converting a Law School Writing Assignment into a Job Search Writing Sample.