Successful Legal Analysis and Writing: The Fundamentals

289 Pages·2010·15.149 MB·English

by  Bradley Clary, Pamela Lysaght

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Bradley G. Clary
Pamela Lysaght
THIRD EDITION
SUCCESSFUL LEGAL
ANALYSIS AND WRITING:
THE FUNDAMENTALS
Third Edition
Bradley G. Clary
Clinical Professor and
Director of Applied Legal Instruction
University of Minnesota Law School
Pamela Lysaght
Associate Professor of Law and
Director, Applied Legal Theory and Analysis Program
University of Detroit Mercy School of Law
Mat #40889258
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DEDICATIONS
To all of the hard working legal writing teachers
who labor every day to help law students become
accomplished lawyers.
B.G.C.
P.L.
To Mary-Louise—for being there.
B.G.C.
To Leon—for eternity.
P.L.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are indebted to many persons who have helped us along the way in
our careers and in the preparation of this book.
We thank Douglas Powell and Pamela Siege Chandler, who had the
confidence in us to encourage the publication of this text. We also thank Pam
and her colleague Heidi Hellekson for their review of early drafts and their
helpful comments and suggestions.
We thank Katherine Donohue for all her dedication and hard work in
assisting us with this text; Bethany Tkach Abrams, Maya Parekh, Emily
Pruisner, Kevin T011, and Shaun Godwin for their help in researching and cite—
checking; Susan Miller for her assistance in formatting portions of the work,
as well as helping us keep our senses of humor; and Barbara White and James
Williams for their assistance in coordinating the copying and shipping of
drafts of this text.
We acknowledge the work of legal writing student instructors Deborah
Behles, Rachel Brass, Oliver Kim, and Tara Tilbury in assisting in the original
research in the spring of 2000 into the law of the First Circuit and others in the
Commonwealth Hospital problem that appears in Chapter 12. A version of
this problem was initially conceived in a slightly different form by Author
Clary and Professor Susanna Sherry in connection with the work of legal
writing sections attached to Professor Sherry’s civil procedure class that
spring. We additionally acknowledge legal writing students David Klink,
Adam Matheson, Madeline Gallo, Elizabeth Reifert, and Cassandra Long for
research assistance in the US. v. Anderson briefs that appear in Chapter 12.
We thank Ryan Kelly, John Hutchinson, Maya Parekh, and Joshua
Hcggem for their help over the years in researching and drafting variations on
the Chris Smith problem found in the Teacher’s Manual to this text.
We thank several students, as well as some colleagues, for their
assistance with developing various case files included in the Teacher’s
Manual: For the US. v. Nelson problem, Bethany Tkach Abrams and Jeffrey
Paulsen; for the US. v. Harper problem, Adam Trampe and Joshua Heggem.
Please note that the substantive law discussed in sample letters,
memoranda, and briefs in this text is current as of the times those samples
were originally prepared. No representation is made that the substantive law
is current as of the time a reader may be studying the samples. The samples
are presented for methodological purposes only.
Brad Clary thanks former and current student teaching partners
Deborah Behles, David Schelzel, Dawn Kim, Jennifer Rogers, Anna Dunbar-
Hester, and Nicola Kieves for their help in teaching the small section classes
that helped inform his ideas for this book.
Pamela Lysaght thanks her colleagues, Cristina Lockwood, Danielle
Istl, Cara Cunningham, Deborah Paruch, Michelle Streicher, Tracy
Weissman, Pamela Wilkins, Danton Berube, and Karen Henning for their
invaluable insights and support. And she thanks her students who helped
inspire many of the ideas in presenting the material for this book.
Finally, Brad and Pam wish to thank Mary-Louise, Ben, Sam, and
Leon for their much-appreciated and invaluable support, patience, and grace
during the drafting process.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ....................................................................................................... i
CHAPTER 1
Road Mapping ...............................................................................................1
Where, What ........................................................................................ 2
Why ................................................................................................... 2
Who ...................................................................................................2
When ................................................................................................... 3
How ......................................................................................................3
Example ...............................................................................................4
Comparison to Legal Writing ..............................................................7
CHAPTER 2
The Role of Facts in Resolving Legal Problems ............................... 11
Story Identification .............................................................................1 2
Additional Story Identification Principles ..........................................1 6
CHAPTER 3
The Role of Rules in Resolving Legal Problems ...............................1 9
The Sources of Rules: Enacted Law and Cases ...............................1 9
1. Enacted Law ............................................................... 20
2. Cases ...........................................................................2 3
Basic Principles for Understanding Primary Authority ......................2 5
Considerations When Working with Statutes and Cases ....................2 8
CHAPTER 4
Determining the Rule in Typical, Simple Scenarios ........................ 31
Pulling Apart a Rule ..........................................................................3 1
Common Mistakes in Parsing a Rule .................................................3 5
Assembling a Rule from a Single Court Decision .............................3 8
CHAPTER 5
Determining the Rule in Typical, Complex Scenarios .....................4 7
Assembling a Rule from Multiple Court Decisions ..........................4 7
Common Mistakes in Assembling a Rule
from Multiple Cases ...............................................................5 9
CHAPTER 6
Determining the Rule in Atypical Scenarios .......................................6 1
Assembling Rules in Atypical Settings: Direct Conflicts ..................6 1
Assembling Rules in Atypical Settings:
Cases of First Impression ........................................................ 65
CHAPTER 7
Determining the Meaning of a Statutory Rule ................................... 71
Interpreting Statutory Language ..........................................................7 1
Understand Issues of Statutory Interpretation in Context ...................7 3
CHAPTER 8
Basic Organizing Principles in Legal Analysis and Writing ...........8 1
IRAC: The Basic Components ..........................................................8 4
1 . Introduction .................................................................8 4
2. Rule .............................................................................8 6
3. Application .................................................................8 8
4. Conclusion ..................................................................9 1
Linking Discrete IRACs ....................................................................9 1
CHAPTER 9
Basic Writing Principles ...........................................................................9 7
Prefer Simplicity .................................................................................9 8
Prefer the Familiar ..............................................................................9 8
Prefer Concision ................................................................................9 9
Prefer Action ..................................................................................... 99
Avoid Overuse of Adjectives and Adverbs .....................................1 00
Pay Attention to Flow .....................................................................1 00
Be Meticulous ................................................................................. 101
Common Mistakes to Avoid .............................................................. 101
CHAPTER 10
Citation and Quotation Basics .............................................................1 03
AL WD Citation Manual ...................................................................1 05
General Citation Rules .........................................................1 05
Full and Short Citations ...........................................1 05
Pinpoint References .................................................1 06
Citation Placement and Use ..................................... 106
Abbreviations ........................................................... l 07
Capitalization ........................................................... l 10
Citing to Primary Authority ................................................. 110
Constitutions currently in force ...............................1 10
Statutes currently in force ......................................... 110
Cases ....................................................................... 113
Citing to Secondary Authority ..............................................1 15
Restatements ............................................................ 1 15
Legal Periodicals (Law Reviews) ..............................1 16
Books ...................................................................... 1 17
Working with Signals .......................................................... 118
The Bluebook ...................................................................................1 20
General Citation Rules ..........................................................1 20
Full and Short Citations ............................................ 120
Pinpoint References .................................................. 121
Citation Placement and Use ...................................... 121
Abbreviations ............................................................1 22
Capitalization ............................................................ 125
Citing to Primary Authority .................................................. 125
Constitutions currently in force ................................ 125
Statutes currently in force ........................................ 126
Cases .......................................................................1 28
Citing to Secondary Authority .............................................. 130
Restatements ............................................................ l 30
Legal Periodicals (Law Reviews) ............................ 131
Books ...................................................................... 132
Working with Signals ..........................................................1 33
General Rules on Quoting Authority .............................................. 135
Block Quotations .................................................................1 35
Shorter Quotations ...............................................................1 36
Alterations and Omissions ....................................................1 36
Common Questions about When and What to Cite ..............1 39
CHAPTER 11
Communicating a Predictive Analysis ............................................... 143
Common Features of Good Predictive Writing ................................ 144
The Office Memorandum Template ................................................. 151
The Client Advice Letter Template .................................................. 172
CHAPTER 12
Communicating a Persuasive Analysis ............................................. 185
Common Features of Good Persuasive Writing ...............................1 86
The Trial Court BriefTemplate ................ 191
The Appellate Brief Template ..........................................................2 36
CHAPTER 13
Oral Argument ................................................................... 261
A Way to Prepare the Argument ......................................................2 61
A Way to Begin the Argument .........................................................2 63
A Way to Approach the Middle of the Argument ............................ 265
A Way to Approach the Conclusion of the Argument ..................... 269