Case Analysis and Fundamentals of Legal Writing

by Statsky, William P.; Wernet, Jr., R. John

• ISBN13: 9780314040183
• ISBN10: 0314040188
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-08-25
• Publisher: Cengage Learning

Summary

This popular paralegal-specific text introduces the skills of reading and analyzing court opinions. It focuses on briefing cases and applying case law in legal memoranda and advocacy letters. This is a major revision with new cases and expanded writing chapters. ALSO AVAILABLE INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENTS CALL CUSTOMER SUPPORT TO ORDER Instructors Manual, ISBN: 0-314-46555-3

Table of Contents

How to Brief an Opinion

Introduction to Court Opinions and the Legal System

Introduction to Briefing

Identifying the Parties

Identifying the Objectives and Theories of the Parties

Identifying the History of the Litigation.

Introduction to Identifying Key Facts

Identifying Issues and Holdings

Identifying the Reasoning

Dictum, Disposition, and Commentary on an Opinion

A Composite Brief

The Application of Court Opinions

Fact Comparison in the Application of Case Law

Fact Similarities, Fact Differences, and Fact Gaps

Rule-of-Law Comparison

Factors Determining the Length and Comprehensiveness of Case Analysis

Primary and Secondary Authority: Their use and Abuse in legal Writing

Using and Abusing Legislative History in Legal Writing

Writing the Memorandum of Law

Letter Writing and Case Analysis

The Appelatte Brief

Clarity in Legal Writing

Appendices

Opinions to be Used for Some of the Assignments

Suggested Responses to the Practice Assignments

Overview of Civil and Criminal Litigation

Citations in Legal Writing

Quotation Marks, Brackets, and Ellipsis Dots

Usage Rules and Guidelines From A to Z

Proofreader's Marks

Glossary

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.