In the Beginning: The Art of Crafting Preliminary Statements

Abstract

"In the Beginning: The Art of Crafting Preliminary Statements" has a two-fold purpose: the first is to outline why the preliminary statement has become a crucial part of court papers; the second is to provide examples of how to craft effective preliminary statements so they concisely highlight the strengths of a client's case. The article argues that, given the importance of "first impressions" in any form of writing and the heavy workload of most judges, the traditional neutral introduction is not an effective way to open a brief. Instead, more and more practitioners are using the preliminary statement as a critical opportunity to "pitch" a client's case. Analogizing to literature, the article discusses how authorial choices influence a reader's sympathies and effectively set the tone and mood of a story from the opening passages. Examples from briefs and judicial opinions show how to develop a persuasive legal theme and establish it up front. Using a hypothetical case, the second part of the article suggests how to draft a preliminary statement when the client is unsympathetic or his/her case has weak facts or law. Analogizing to a one minute presentation to a literary agent, the article discusses how to set out key facts and law as briefly as possible, integrating logos, pathos and ethos into a short document.

Keywords: legal writing, brief drafting