Guide to Legal Writing and Style: Books

Sample documents include:Chapter 6: Opinion and demand letters; Chapter 7: Legal memoranda; Chapter 8 and Appendix C: Trial court and appellate briefs; Chapter 9: Complaint

Sample documents include: Appendix B: Appellant's brief (New York State Court of Appeals); Appendix C: Petition for writ of certiorari (Supreme Court); Appendix D: Appellee's brief (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit); Appendix E: Claim or demand letter; Appendix F: Trial memoranda (Plaintiff and Defendant); Appendix G: Office memorandum of law; Appendix H. Opinion letter

Appendix C: Brief for the petitioner; Appendix D: Brief for the respondent; Appendix E: Reply brief for the petitioner; Appendix F: Oral arguments.

Parts of speech; Verb properties; Singular vs. plural; Punctuation and mechanics; Using words to convey meaning; Agreement; Composing sentences; Variety in composing sentences; Composing paragraphs; Composing a legal memorandum; Faux pas; Extra credit for grammar maestros
This book does not contain samples.

Contains samples of student memoranda (Ch. 5), client letters, court opinions, sexual harassment policy, resumes, cover letters, class action public notice, and other exercises.

Sample documents are based on a suit for wrongful birth: Appendix D: Memorandum;
Appendix E: Appellate Briefs (plaintiff and defendant).

Effective writing-the whole paper; Connections between paragraphs; Effective paragraphs; Connections between sentences; Effective sentences; Effective words; Eloquence; Grammar; Punctuation; Legal writing for English-as-a-second-language writers.
Ch. 3.6 contains a sample memo exerpt

Introduction to writing style : policy, purpose, and audience; Overview of the case method of study; Common law; Legislation; The role of precedent : the court system and stare decisis; Deductive reasoning and IRAC-introduction to legal analysis; Case briefs; Reorganization, summary, and inductive reasoning in outline form; Essay examinations; Introduction to the law library; Content of the office memorandum of law (Sample Ch. 11); Organization of office memoranda and briefs; Legal writing style in the office memorandum; Presenting, quoting, and citing to authority; Advocacy : overview and ethics; Developing your legal arguments; Expressing your advocacy : persuasive writing style and oral argument; Pleadings; Motion for summary judgment (Sample Ch. 19); Motion to exclude evidence before trial; Standards of appellate review; The brief-effective appellate advocacy (Sample p. 453); Contracts; Advice letters (Sample p. 515); Demand letters

Sample documents: Appendix C: Office memorandum; Appendix D: Client letter; Appendix E: Motion memorandum; Appendix F: Appellant's brief; Appendix G: Appellee's brief.

This book is an A-Z guide of legal writing concepts.
This book does not contain writing samples.

Appendices (I-IV) include samples of memoranda, client letters, pleadings, and a sample brief (motion for summary judgment with supporting documents).

Contains sample memoranda (Ch. 5), client letters (Ch. 16.4), trial briefs (Ch. 17.11), opinion letters, and appellate briefs (Ch. 18.19), along with tips on how to present an oral argument.

Exercises available at http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/garner/.
Samples available Appendix B: memo, motion brief, appellate brief

Why plain English?; Omit surplus words; Use verbs to express action; Prefer the active voice; Use short sentences; Arrange your words carefully; Choose your words carefully; Use commas carefully; Use other punctuation marks carefully; Use easy-to-read design techniques

Introduction -- Part 1. Set the stage: the opening -- Part; 2. The tale: the facts ; Part 3. The meat: the legal analysis; Part 4. The words: style "must-haves" ; Part 5. The words: "nice-to-haves" in style; Part 6. Dissents: the road not traveled

Sample documents: Appendix A: Office memorandum; Appendix B: Opinion letter; Appendix C: Defendant's brief to the trial court; Appendix D: Plaintiff's brief to the trial court; Appendix E: Trial court's decision; Appendix F: Appellant's brief; Appendix G: Appellee's brief; Appendix H: Selected books on style and grammar.

Part 3 covers the preparation of legal documents. Included are samples of research memoranda (§ 16;), opinion and demand letters (§§ 17-18), pleadings (§ 20), motions (§ 21), appellate briefs (§ 22), judicial opinions (§ 23) and contracts (§ 24).

Prayer at the athletic banquet--How to draft a complaint (sample); Terminating Professor Melton -- How to draft a motion (sample); Mr. Blaustein's gift -- How to respond to a motion (sample); Counseling Dean Covelli -- How to draft a judicial opinion (sample); Advising Professor Melton -- How to draft a motion for summary judgment (sample)

Appendix A: A before-and-after makeover of a motion to dismiss; Appendix B: A petition for discretionary review; Appendix C: A remarkable appellee's brief

Finding what to write about (the claim); Test suites making prescriptive claims more sound; Writing strategy; Writing the introduction; Writing the "background" section; Writing the proof of the claim; The conclusion and after the conclusion; Finishing the first draft, and the zeroth draft; Tips on researching; Editing: general principles; Editing: getting help from your faculty advisor; Writing: logical problems to watch for; Writing: paragraph-level problems to watch for; Writing: sentence/clause problems to watch for; Writing: word/phrase problems to watch for; Writing: rhetorical problems to watch for; Editing exercises; Using evidence correctly; Writing and researching: timeline and summary; A sample highly successful student article; Turning practical work into articles; Writing seminar term papers; Cite-checking others' articles; Publishing and publicizing; Entering writing competitions; Getting on law review; Academic ethics; Conclusion

Introduction: scholarly writing in law school; Inspiration: choosing a topic and developing a thesis; The mostly research stage; The writing process: getting it down on paper; The writing process: revising and polishing; Footnotes and the ethical use of borrowed materials; Writing with care; Writing with style; The law review process: evaluating and editing the work of others; Getting mileage: winning awards, publishing your work, and joining the conversation; Appendix A: Sample casenote/competition paper; Appendix B: Answers to exercises; Appendix C: Scholarly writing workshops and courses

Introduction to scholarly writing; Thinking: finding your topic and developing your thesis; Preparing: developing horizontal and vertical knowledge; Executing: writing the draft; Refining: evaluating and revising your draft; Refining: taking and incorporating feedback; Finishing: polishing the final product; Finishing: publishing your paper

Contains a sample statement of fact, and excerpts from both good and bad appellate briefs (Ch. 2).

What is the law review?; Should you be on law review?; Methods of getting onto the law review; An overview of the write-on competition; Preparing for the write-on competition; Writing your submission paper: 12 steps to success; The editing exercise; The personal statement.

What is a "case comment"? Who reads it, and why?; Preparing to read your case, and write your case comment; How to read your assigned case; Writing the "facts" section of the case comment; Writing the "background" section of the case comment; Writing the "opinion" section of the case comment; Writing the all-important "analysis" section of the case comment; The art of the footnote; The "case note": tying two or more cases together; What happens when you make the law review?