LEGAL WRITING Tuesday, 5-7PM Midterm Examinations 1) Read, proofread, edit & rewrite the compositions of Tomas Santos

(from Found in Translation). 2) Give three (3) illustrations of each of the rules of Elements of Style (Strunk & White) and Elements of Legal Style (Garner) using examples from: a. legal provisions (cite the source); b. law textbooks (cite the source); c. own composition. 3) Imagine you are a lawyer and the older sibling of a precocious and promising grade school student, who perished in a vehicular accident caused by the negligence of the school bus operator. Write a section of a complaint in which you are to argue for the award of damages for loss of earning capacity of your deceased sibling because of untimely death. Prove that your deceased sibling, had he been allowed to live longer, could have had gainful work in the future because of his great potential due to his intellectual abilities, talents and other useful skills and talents. 4) Guided by the rules of style, write parallel variations of the following sentences: a) Consequently, in the interest of substantial justice and faithful adherence to the Constitution, We opted to resolve this case for the guidance of the public and all concerned parties. b) Therefore, respondents interpretation will ultimately result in handing over effective control of our national economy to foreigners in patent violation of the Constitution, making Filipinos second-class citizens in their own country. c) That would mean that Indonesians, Malaysians and Chinese nationals could effectively control our mining companies and public utilities while Filipinos, even if they have the capital, could not control similar corporations in these countries. d) Accused-appellant then held Narcisa by the arm and pulled her away from her husband, as the latter was mercilessly stabbed to death by the other unidentified men. e) Accused-appellant interposed this appeal, arguing that the testimony of Narcisa, who was the lone eyewitness to the killing, is unreliable because of her unexplained failure to immediately identify him as the author of the crime.

f) Well-entrenched is the tenet that this Court will not interfere with the trial court's assessment of the credibility of the witnesses, absent any indication or showing that the trial court has overlooked some material facts or gravely abused its discretion. g) In this case, we find none of the indications which justify a reversal of the findings of fact of the trial judge, and that Narcisa's identification of accused-appellant as one of her husband's killers is convincing enough to sustain accused-appellant's conviction. h) The omissions of care on the part of the van driver constituted negligence, which, according to Layugan v. Intermediate Appellate Court, is "the omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided by those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs, would do, or the doing of something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do, or as Judge Cooley defines it, (t)he failure to observe for the protection of the interests of another person, that degree of care, precaution, and vigilance which the circumstances justly demand, whereby such other person suffers injury." i) And, secondly, the fact that Aaron was then without a history of earnings should not be taken against his parents and in favor of the defendants whose negligence not only cost Aaron his life and his right to work and earn money, but also deprived his parents of their right to his presence and his services as well. j) All persons in whom or against whom any right to relief in respect to or arising out of the same transaction or series of transactions is alleged to exist, whether jointly, severally, or in the alternative, may, except as otherwise provided in these Rules, join as plaintiffs or be joined as defendants in one complaint, where any question of law or fact common to all such plaintiffs or to all such defendants may arise in the action; but the court may make such orders as may be just to prevent any plaintiff or defendant from being embarrassed or put to expense in connection with any proceedings in which he may have no interest. 5) Case: Because of Corinnes facebook post (Buti kami oceans, eh sila beaches!), which co-associate lawyer Mimi interpreted as a slight against her and her sororitys honor, being the head of Corinnes rival sorority, Mimi stormed to the cubicle of her officemate Corinne and spat at the latters face. The managing partner of the law office opened disciplinary proceedings against Mimi and charged her with serious misconduct with the possible penalty of termination from the law firm. Being a workaholic and without sleep at the time of the incident, Mimi claims that extreme stress and fatigue got the better of her and that led to her behavior. As the counsel for Mimi, defend your client in the administrative charge by way of informal reply.