Chapter 1: I Haven't Begun Yet and I Already Feel Lost
The Legal Writing Companion: Problems, Solutions, and Samples (2d ed.), Carolina Academic Press, LLC, 2019; eISBN 978-1-5310-1373-8
57 Pages Posted: 1 Jul 2019 Last revised: 2 Aug 2019
Date Written: June 17, 2019
Abstract
The Legal Writing Companion is a practical, helpful guide for the new legal writer, designed to address common problems and demonstrate how and why to make effective choices to solve them. The book is intended as an assigned supplement to a Legal Research and Writing textbook or as a handbook for students working independently to strengthen their legal writing. Based on the authors’ combined thirty years of experience teaching legal research and writing, the book addresses the novice legal writer and offers specific tools for moving forward from the very first day of class (e.g., Problem: I’m Intimidated by Legal Writing) to polishing a final written work product (e.g., Problem: I’m Having Trouble with Tone).
Organized by eight common “problem” areas, the book uses two fictional case files (one common law, one statutory) to work through a series of problems and includes samples of both strong and weak writing choices. Chapters 1–3 identify and discuss common challenges during the prewriting stage, including the transition to writing a full first draft. Chapters 4–6 focus on writing and explaining legal rules, applying law to facts, and organizing legal analysis. Chapter 7 discusses problems and solutions related to the smaller components of legal writing, and Chapter 8 troubleshoots common polishing errors, from overuse of legalese to common citation problems. The Appendices feature complete annotated memos that pull together the themes presented in the text and show multiple models of successful finished products. The second edition includes advice from a current law student about how best to use the book.
Keywords: legal writing, legal research, legal education, student writing
JEL Classification: K00, K40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation