EFFECTIVE LEGAL WRITING

A Collection of Epigrams Some Mantras for Legal Writing

Adrienne Noble Nacev, Visiting Assistant Professor of Legal Writing, NKU Chase College of Law
Legal writing is founded on the internal voice of reason that is inherent in humans. That voice is honed through experience and schooling, starting long before a student enters a law schools portals to begin a life in the law and continuing through all stages in the life of a lawyer. This article posits a Collection of Epigrams that provides guidance to that internal voice. Early in the process of becoming a lawyer, the student is introduced to enduring analytical and organizational constructs that inform understanding of the law and how to write about it. Students learn about the basic organizational principle of IRAC or Issue, Rule, Application and Conclusion. That is a good beginning, but it is only a beginning. IRAC structure does not provide guidance on how to identify the issue, or derive the rule, or apply the rule to support the conclusion reached. Nor does it recognize the need to address counter arguments in order to logically justify the conclusion. CRAC is the amusingly pronounced persuasive form of IRAC: Conclusion, Rule, Application and Conclusion. It too is only a beginning because it does not encompass the analytical foundations that support its conclusions. CREAC is an improved, though still imperfect, acronym: Conclusion, Rule, Explanation, Application, and Conclusion. It incorporates the need to explain the rule so it can be applied to support the conclusion. However, the logical requirements for that explanation and persuasive conclusion are still not there. The Collection of Epigrams below addresses some of the steps in the
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process of formulating and writing about rule explanations and applications that may not be apparent in the standard acronyms. These are mnemonic devices to scroll through the mind in the process of deriving and expressing the solutions to legal problems. Some are familiar, some are traditional expressions that may appear in a new context, and perhaps some are new. 1. Tell the readers what you are going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you told them This is the basic outline of a piece of legal writing. It is basically the roadmap and issue, the rule explanation and application and the conclusion. It is analogous to the sonata form in music: exposition, development and recapitulation. 2. Saying something is so, does not make it so This is a reminder of the need to support statements with both logic and authority. 3. Dont be conclusory This is an admonition to make sure that the writer has laid the foundation for the conclusions reached (and it is a word that spell check rejects even though it does express the point well.) 4. Substantiate your assertions This is a variation on the theme that the just application of law is based on analysis of authority, including its underlying logic. 5. To everything there is a purpose1 That is, be sure to include all the necessary logical and analytical components in your memo or brief.

6. Dont proposition/cite Conclusory legal propositions, followed by cites, do not work because the explanations and applications are missing. The same goes for string cites. 7. Analyze, dont personalize That is, do not say, I believe, rather analyze the law and the facts so that the logic speaks for itself. 8. Do not tell your readers what they must decide Rather, appeal to the readers sense of logic and justice. 9. Remember to edit That is, read, reread, put aside and reread. 10. Brevity is the soul of wit2 Say all you need to say as completely as possible, as briefly as possible No one wants to read more than they need to. 11. And room to grow. This Collection of Epigrams is not finite, and more epigrams will reveal themselves in the process of thinking about legal reasoning and legal writing. I ENDNOTES 1. See Ecclesiastes 3:1 (King James Version). 2. William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 2, scene 2, 90.

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