Short Guide to Writing About Law

1.      Writing about the Law

WHY WRITE ABOUT THE LAW?

THE UNITED STATES LEGAL SYSTEM

RHETORIC AND THE LAW

    Lawyers as Rhetoricians: The Sophists

    Genres of Oratory

    Rhetorical Analysis:  The Rhetorical Triangle

      Rhetorical Analysis: Rhetorical Appeals

    Making a Valid Argument: Syllogisms and Fallacies

WRITING A FORMAL RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

    What Is the Context?

    Who is Talking?

    Are the Arguments Valid?

    Are You Moved?

Rhetorical Analysis Checklist

2. Reading and writing Case Briefs

WHAT IS A CASE BRIEF?

    Case Name and Citation

    Issue

    Facts

    Holding

    Reasoning

    Dissenting and Concurring Opinions

LEGAL ARGUMENTS:  TOPOI

    Precedent

    Legislation

    History

    International or Comparative Law

    Morality

    Public Policy

    Science

FORMATTING A CASE BRIEF

Case Brief Checklist

  CLASSICAL FRAMEWORK

    Introduction: Exordium.

    Background Information: Narration

    Manageable Parts: Partition

    Supporting Arguments: Confirmation

    Possible Objections: Refutation

    Conclusion and Course of Action: Peroration

C-RAC FRAMEWORK

    Conclusion

    Rule

    Application

    Conclusion

SCHOLARLY FRAMEWORK

    Thesis

    Supporting Arguments

    Evidence

    Counterarguments and Rebuttals

    Conclusion

CREATING AND SUPPORTING A THESIS

    Creating a Thesis

    Supporting a Thesis

DISCOVERING EVIDENCE

    Primary v. Secondary Sources

    Scholarly v. Non-Scholarly Sources

COUNTERARGUMENTS AND REBUTTALS

WRITING AN ARGUMENT OUTLINE

    Step One: Supporting Arguments

    Step Two: Evidence

    Step Three: Arrangement and Transitions

Argument Outline Checklist

4.      Doing Legal Research

PRINCIPLES OF LEGAL RESEARCH

    The Citation Trail

    Precision

ONLINE LEGAL RESEARCH TOOLS

    LexisNexis Academic

    HeinOnline

    Oyez and Justia

    Findlaw.com

    Library of Congress Law Library

    Cornell University Legal Information Institute (LII)

    Wikipedia

    State Courts Sites

    Government Printing Office (GPO)

6. Using Sources

  RHETORICAL PURPOSES OF CITATION

    Gain Authority

    Give Credit

    Research Trail

BASIC CITATION FRAMEWORK

    Three Parts: Signal, In-text  Marker, Reference  Entry

    Legal Sources in MLA

INTEGRATING SOURCES

    Who's Talking?

    Signal Words

    Sample Student Paragraph

CITING PRIMARY LEGAL DOCUMENTS

    Court Opinions and other Documents

    Legislative Materials

    International Laws

    Foreign Laws

    Executive Materials

    Treaties

6. Writing Effective Paragraphs

INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH

    Hook

    Context

    Thesis

    Methodology

    Assess a Student's Introduction

BACKGROUND PARAGRAPHS

    Assess a Student's Background Paragraph

ISSUE PARAGRAPHS

    Topic Sentence

    Support from source

    Summarize/Interpret/Apply (SIA)

    Transition

    Assess a Student's Issue Paragraph

CONCLUSION PARAGRAPHS

ANALYZE AN INTRODUCTION

7. Peer Workshops and Revision

QUIRKS OF LEGAL DISCOURSE

    Paired Synonyms

    Prepositional Phrases

    Nominalized and Passive Verbs

    "Precedent"

    Introducing a Case

TIPS FOR STRONG SCHOLARLY WRITING

    Topic Sentences & Signposts

    “Clearly"

    Editorial Hyperbole

    Clichés

    Formatting Problems

REVISION

    Start Early

    Create Fresh Eyes

    Use a Revision Checklist

    Get Help from a Friend

PEER WORKSHOPS

    Keep Time

    Read Out Loud

    Give Praise and Criticism

    Specificity

EDITORIAL ABBREVIATIONS

8. Sharing Your Research

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

    Think About Rhetoric

    Organization

    Presentation Software

    Tips

PUBLISHING YOUR RESEARCH      

    Research the Journals

    Write an Abstract

    Write a Cover Letter

    Submitting to a Journal via Email

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