Legal Writing.docx

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Legal Writing

In the first instance, careful planning, sound research, a considered structure andconsistent writing style are the basis of a good piece of legal writing. Well-conducted

research acts as the foundation, whilst the structure should be laid out coherently,always keeping in mind legal argument posed.

Research

In order to write a quality piece of legal writing, one's research materials need to becarefully considered. The use of secondary sources and legal opinion must be balancedwith the application of primary source material, i.e. actual legal case judgments. Inaddition, one should very carefully consider the weight of the secondary sources thatare used. For example, if one is going to use a legal opinion, to make sure that theopinion is an authoritative one by a leading legal peer (including those deceased) so

that it may not be called into contention is likely to be a widely upheld opinion.

Legal Writing Structure

In the next stages, the strength of the essay necessarily relies on a carefully consideredplan. This plan should then develop into a sound structure and underpins any pieceof good legal writing .

Whilst keeping the objectives of the piece of writing paramount, the audience must then

be targeted in a clear, direct and succinct manner by breaking the writing into theappropriate sections in logical and coherent way. Points or arguments should follow onfluently from each other and link together in a comprehensive and structured manner.Logic and reason should always prevail when undertaking a successful piece of legalwriting.

Legal writing applies long established traditions that, whilst distinct in style acrossdiffering legal systems, essentially maintain the same structure of legal investigation,arguments and conclusion. For a quality piece of work, application of consistency andaccuracy is crucial.

Style

When writing a good piece of legal writing, style is an essential component. There arelong-standing/established considerations traditions that constitute the effective practiceof law today, and that is assisted by a minimum standard of legal writing.

It goes without saying that a good piece of legal writing is build on sound application ofgrammar and spelling. It is absolutely fundamental to the work that there are no spelling

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errors and equally, no grammatical/syntactical mistakes. This is especially relevant tothe use of clauses and sub clauses. This is especially relevant to writing a good piece oflegal writing, irrespective of the objectives, as legal arguments can become complexand it is vital not to distract from the main points of the argument.

Keep language simple, precise and avoid writing in the negative, such as „notimpossible' or „not unreasonable' etc. For clarity, avoid the use of sub clauses whereverpossible and keep sentences short, succinct and always to the point. Further still, theuse of the active voice, and not the passive voice, is important in a good piece of legalwriting. For example, “the prosecution held that” as opposed to “it was held by theprosecution that”.

In accompaniment to an effective and good piece writing, one will need to correctlyapply the use of established legal abbreviations, particularly those of Op. Cit. – OpusCitato (already cited) Ibid. – Ibidem; (in the same place); Cf. (in conferment). These are

just some of the most commonly employed abbreviations, and these will commonly

used in a good piece of legal writing.

Referencing and Use of Quotations

All quotations from primary or secondary sources, without exception, must be attributed,precisely quoted and referenced. This is critical to any good piece of legal writing.Quotations that are more detailed, usually more than two sentences long, should beinserted into a following, separate paragraph and indented, usually in a font size onesmaller than the main body of the text. Whilst this averts any charges of plagiarism, it

also builds originality and strength of argument into one's work.

There are a number of referencing styles available for legal writing but depending whichestablishments you are writing for, whether work or academic, there is almost certainlya prescribed in-house referencing style that one must adhere to and apply in one'swriting. In the UK, it is usually a numerical system of ordered footnotes. There areseveral other widely employed referencing styles, including the Harvard system. This isan author date system that is usually in disciplines outside that of law. It is important tocheck with one's own establishment what the prescribed system is.

It is equally important to use recognised and accepted referencing when citing

legislation, treaties, case law and any other legal precedents/authorities. There will bean established method that one must prescribe to in order to write an effective and goodpiece of legal writing.

Finally, when writing a good bibliography at the end of a piece of work, one must cite allworks consulted and employed in the research, irrespective of whether those sourceshave been quoted and listed in the footnotes. The list should also be subdivided



according to the source materials; Statutes, Case Law, Books, Journals and e-sources.It is useful to note that the word count is exclusive of the Bibliography.

And Finally, Proof Read Work

Always make sure that enough time is put aside at the end of completing a piece ofwork in order that there is sufficient time to thoroughly read through, revise and correctany substantive or stylistic errors in one's work.

A good piece of legal writing is dependent on precision, clarity and consistency inargument; therefore it is vital that work is proof-read and revised to make sure that allthese requirements are achieved.

Think of the question, research and plan a clear argument that answers this questionthen write it down in a clearly structured and precise manner. Always consult andadhere to one's in-house system of rules pertaining to legal writing methods. If all of the

above considerations are made, from the initial planning and research stages, to thesubstantive writing, stylistic and referencing considerations are made then a good pieceof legal writing is achievable.

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Legal Writing.docx