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Description

This manual provides you with an overview of first-year legal writing topics and provides checkpoints during your writing process. On the other hand, this manual does not answer every question you have ever had on any legal writing concept and it is certainly not a spellbook that will make you instantly awesome at legal writing. Writing as a skill is a lifelong development process. Everyone can be an effective legal writer. Put in the time to study the concepts and then to practice using those concepts in your writing. Seek feedback on your writing and implement the feedback you receive. Writing takes practice, and this manual can help guide you through.

Table of Contents

Part A: Reading Legal Sources

  1. Sources of Law and Court Systems
  2. Reading Cases
  3. Briefing Cases
  4. Briefing Cases Examples
  5. Legal Phrases
  6. Policy

Part B: Interpreting Legal Sources

  1. The Legal Reader Audience
  2. Rule Synthesis
  3. Rule Synthesis Examples
  4. Case Synthesis
  5. Case Synthesis Examples

Part C: Writing with Legal Sources

  1. Prewriting
  2. CREAC Legal Writing Paradigm
  3. Legal Citation
  4. Local Rules and Standing Orders
  5. Predictive Writing
  6. Persuasive Writing
  7. Summary of Law Examples
  8. Parts of a Memorandum
  9. Memo Examples
  10. Parts of an Appellate Brief
  11. Brief Examples
  12. Transitions and Signposting
  13. Writing for Law School Exams
  14. Assessing Your Own Work
  15. Providing Feedback to Others

Part D: Studying Legal Sources

  1. Time Management
  2. Introduction to Metacognition
  3. Start to Study Skills

Appendices

  1. Appendix A: Unmarked Cases
  2. Appendix B: Reading Cases
  3. Appendix C: Briefing Cases
  4. Appendix D: Rule Synthesis Example
  5. Appendix E: Summary of Law Example 1
  6. Appendix F: Case Synthesis Example
  7. Appendix G: Memo Example 1
  8. Appendix H: Appellate Brief Excerpts Written for Opposing Sides Example 1

Publication Date

2025

Publisher

Affordable Learning Georgia

Keywords

legal writing, legal research, legal citations, lawyering skills

Disciplines

Legal Writing and Research

Comments

The fourth edition of this manual was made possible with funding from Affordable Learning Georgia's Continuous Improvement Grant Round 26.

This work is licensed under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Legal Writing Manual (4th ed.)

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