Legal memoranda are business documents, in which the writer communicates information to help the reader make a decision about one or more aspects of a legal matter they are addressing. This book explains how to organize and write legal memoranda that will communicate information to the reader clearly and effectively. It is written primarily for first-year law students, but upper-class law students and practicing attorneys can also use it, to produce more effective legal memoranda or written legal analyses generally. Professors and students will benefit from: The book’s emphasis on the basic rule for organizing business documents effectively—to state the most important information first—which applies to the legal memorandum as a whole, to its parts and subparts, and even to most of its paragraphs and individual sentences. The book’s reader-focused orientation, which anticipates information that a reader will find helpful in a memorandum and explains how, and where, the writer should include it. The individual chapters on the different parts of a legal memorandum, which provide concise but specific instruction about the purpose, format, organization, and effective presentation of each one. The separate chapter on informal and e-mail memoranda, which adapts the skills and strategies for organizing and writing formal legal memoranda to the shorter and less formal memoranda that attorneys frequently write. The chapter on How to Write Clearly, which contains specific guidelines for writing clear sentences and paragraphs, presenting related information clearly, and using correct grammar, precise word choice, and a clear, professional style. The extensive, annotated examples throughout the book, which illustrate how to organize and write the different parts of a memorandum—and how not to organize and write them.

“This easy-to-follow guide is useful both as a general course of instruction and as a targeted aid in solving particular legal writing problems.” —Harvard Law Review Clear, concise, down-to-earth, and powerful—all too often, legal writing embodies none of these qualities. Its reputation for obscurity and needless legalese is widespread. For more than twenty years, Bryan A. Garner’s Legal Writing in Plain English has helped address this problem by providing lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and legal scholars with sound advice and practical tools for improving their written work. The leading guide to clear writing in the field, this indispensable volume encourages legal writers to challenge conventions and offers valuable insights into the writing process that will appeal to other professionals: how to organize ideas, create and refine prose, and improve editing skills. Accessible and witty, Legal Writing in Plain English draws on real-life writing samples that Garner has gathered through decades of teaching. Trenchant advice covers all types of legal materials, from analytical and persuasive writing to legal drafting, and the book’s principles are reinforced by sets of basic, intermediate, and advanced exercises in each section. In this new edition, Garner preserves the successful structure of the original while adjusting the content to make it even more classroom-friendly. He includes case examples from the past decade and addresses the widespread use of legal documents in electronic formats. His book remains the standard guide for producing the jargon-free language that clients demand and courts reward. “Those who are willing to approach the book systematically and to complete the exercises will see dramatic improvements in their writing.” —Law Library Journal

Law firm hiring partners and training supervisors agree that new lawyers should be able to draft basic legal memos quickly. But until now, even the best training courses have treated memo-writing as just a question of writing law and analysis, rather than also of having the right organizational habits. Now, at last, in this CLE book, legal writing expert Mary Campbell Gallagher, J.D. (Harvard), Ph.D., teaches junior lawyers how to build their memo-writing skills "like a sport . " Using six of the simulated law office memorandum tasks, sample answers, and analyses from her book Perform Your Best on the Bar Exam Performance Test (MPT), the tasks developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) for the MPT part of the bar exam, and adapting the unique systems she created for the MPT to the conditions of law practice, Dr. Gallagher helps lawyers develop the habits needed to research, organize, and draft their basic legal memos efficiently.

This powerful how-to guide focuses exclusively on the proper way to write legal memos. Equally useful for independent study or alongside any standard Legal Writing text, JUST MEMOS: From The Legal Writing Handbook, gives first-year students the extra help they need to master this critical skill.This short paperback text offers instruction that has been proven effective in the classroom: - the text is adapted from the authors' THE Legal Writing HANDBOOK, one of the bestsellers in the field - the authors explain the features unique to memo writing, plus how to apply them in practice - introductory chapters explain the basics of the American legal system and the difference between common and enacted law - a chapter on reading and analyzing statutes and cases is followed by three chapters on how to write a memo and an all-new concluding chapter covers client letters - helpful examples of both simple and more complex memoranda give students insight into the expectations for the finished product - uses the straightforward, step-by-step approach that has made the authors' texts so successfulWhen you want information on memo writing, why use a text that covers other material? Direct your students to Just Memos: From The Legal Writing Handbook, by the authors who are known for their exceptional abilities in this area, and see how effective this new reference can be.

A Practical Guide to Legal Writing and Legal Method provides complete coverage and analysis with the clarity and precision that has made it a classic in the field. Discussion, examples, and practice exercises teach students how to apply the concepts of legal writing and legal method to a written analysis or oral argument. The text not only provides a complete foundation for classroom instruction, but also supports independent study and review. Graduates will want to keep this text within reach as they enter legal practice. New to the Seventh Edition: Restructured format to emphasize common themes Consolidated and streamlined chapters that are even more accessible to both professor and students Expanded appendix on email communications Professors and student will benefit from: Accessible introductions that outline and explain legal method Examples of both effective and ineffective approaches to all of the topics covered Focused exercises to develop and practice the skills addressed in each chapter In-depth instruction on reading and understanding both statutes and caselaw synthesizing cases and statutes applying the law to specific facts organizing and drafting a legal analysis the principles of objective writing for memoranda, client communications, and judicial opinion writing the principles of persuasive writing, including structuring an effective argument and writing for the court drafting traditional and shorter “summary of the law” memoranda drafting opinion letters drafting both trial and appellate court briefs Guidelines for using electronic communication for legal memoranda and correspondence—when it is appropriate, and strategies for effective communication in legal writing and practice Integrated treatment of ethics and professional conduct A sample case file in the appendices with memos in both traditional and email format, client letters, and trial and appellate court briefs

Focusing on the argumentative, narrative, and descriptive style found in legal briefs and judicial opinions, this text should be a thought provoking examination of effective argumentation in law.

With examples drawn from legal writing and student papers, this guide walks students through the writing process and helps them refine their skills in exercises throughout the book. The Second Edition features a reorganized Part I, including three new chapters that help students gain proficiency in reading and analyzing legal materials so they can write more effectively. Part II includes a systematic approach to legal writing; understanding your context; getting organized; writing clearly; writing effectively; and reviewing and editing. Part III covers the process of writing a legal memorandum and an appellate court brief. This Second Edition includes two examples of memoranda, An interoffice memo and a memo of points and authority; a streamlined appendix that provides an overview of English sentence structure; and many enhanced writing exercises.