Classmates, I hope this can help as reference with your assignment in Legal Writing.

I know
this is not sufficient, please visit legal/lawyers blogs


Question: What is the importance of legal writing in the practice of law?

Answer:

Legal writing is an important skill needed in every practice area of the law. Succinct legal
writing is one of the premier skills needed to be a successful lawyer. Persuasive legal writing
can influence a judge's decision.

Question: Why is legal writing most important subject in law?
Answer:
Legal writing is essential for students to become effective advocates. They will perfect the
basics in formulating, writing, and defending a legal argument research, jurisdiction, use of
authority, standards of review, and effective methods for completing written legal analysis.
Legal writing is thinking made visible, students learn how to reason like lawyers by writing
and revising legal arguments. Students develop their writing style and analysis thru legal writing
subject.

Question: What makes legal writing good and what makes it bad?
Answer:
Some lawyers has poor writing skills, The minute you read something that you cant understand,
you can almost be sure it was drawn up by a lawyer. Will Rogers (Actor of the 1920s and a social
commentator); Although this quotation by Will Rogers is humorous, it is true because there are Attorneys
who had poor writing skills. The reason Legal Writing Courses was included in MCLE;

Bad Legal writing commonly displays:

Excessive spelling and typographical errors, bad grammar, poor organization and citation errors:

Spelling and Typographical Errors

This is an example of bad legal writing:

A bankruptcy attorney in Minnesota was publicly reprimanded for unprofessional conduct and ordered to
pay court costs after repeatedly filing documents the court considered unintelligible because they
contained numerous spelling and typographical errors. Additionally, the attorney was required to attend
legal writing courses. The judge wrote in his opinion, Public confidence in the legal system is shaken ...
when a lawyers correspondence and legal documents are so filled with [these] errors that they are
virtually incomprehensible. In re Hawkins, 502 N.W.2d 770 (1993).

Follow these guidelines to ensure your documents are free from spelling errors and typos:
Print out your document and do a manual edit on paper before editing electronically.
If possible, allow some time to pass between drafting the document and self-editing.
Ask another person to edit your document.
Dont rely 100 percent on your computers spell checker. Although spelled correctly, a word could
be used improperly (e.g., trail judge instead of trial judge, statues instead of statutes, etc.).

bad grammar

In Mississippi, a defendant appealed a district attorneys burglary indictment, stating that it didnt charge
him with anything because it contained bad grammar. In part, the indictment charged that the goods,
ware, and merchandise unlawfully, feloniously and burglariously did break and enter. The defendant
presented an English teacher as an expert witness. In its opinion, the court said if the rules of English
grammar are a part of the positive law of [Mississippi], [the defendants] burglary conviction must surely
be reversed, for the indictment in which he has been charged would receive an F from every English
teacher in the land. Even though the court held the indictment to be legally sufficient, the judge stated
that even Shakespeare could not have understood the indictment, which was grammatically
unintelligible. Henderson v. State, 445 So. 2d 1364 (1984).

Good legal writing should follow all the rules of grammar. Your documents should be written in complete
sentences, have subjects and verbs that agree with one another and contain properly placed modifiers.
You dont have to be a grammar expert to be a good legal writer; just know where to go to find the
answers.

Poor Organization

In Duncan v. AT & T Communications, Inc., 668 F. Supp. 232 (1987), the defendants motion to
dismiss was granted for several reasons, including poor organization. The courts opinion stated: A
complaint may be so poorly composed as to be functionally illegible. This is not to say that a complaint
needs to resemble a winning entry in an essay contest.

The purpose of writing any legal document should guide your organization of it. Do you intend to advise
a client, prepare for trial or draft a pleading? Using these strategies will ensure your documents are
properly organized:

Write an outline before drafting.
Summarize your position in the introduction and the conclusion of your document.
Use topic sentences to inform the reader of the contents of your paragraphs.
Consider using a miniature table of contents or topic headings when your document exceeds
three or four pages. Headings act like a skeleton to hold your body of work together and break
up the text of a document, and can serve as an index to help readers find important information.

Citation Errors

Another element of bad writing is citing case law incorrectly. In a Vermont Case, In re Shepperson, 674
A.2d 1273 (1996), an attorney repeatedly submitted briefs to the courts during a seven-year period that
contained numerous citation errors that made identification of cases difficult, cited cases for irrelevant or
incomprehensible reasons, made legal arguments without citation to authority, and inaccurately
represented the law contained in the cited cases. One brief in particular was more than 90 pages long,
and the judge noted that the attorney failed to raise a legitimate legal issue or cite a single authority in
support of his arguments. The attorney appealed a lower courts decision that he attend a six-month
tutorial program designed to improve his skills. The appeals court suspended him for not less than six
months and until he has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the court that he is fit to practice law.

To prevent citation errors, keep these tips in mind:

The main goal of citing properly is to allow the reader to easily retrieve the citation.
Rely on respected citation sources such as The Bluebook or the ALWD Citation Manual. Also,
check with the courts in your particular state to see if any local citation guidelines exist.
Never rely on outdated law. Always Shepardize your cases before submitting any document to
the court and again right before a trial.

Not only does bad writing negatively impact attorneys, it can ruin the reputation of the entire legal
profession. Bad legal writing weakens credibility and wastes the time of judges, other attorneys and
clients, thereby wasting money. To ensure your documents dont merit the same consequences,
remember: edit, edit, edit! (http://paralegaltoday.com/issue_archive/columns/LglWrtng_ma07.htm)

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Note: I also prepared this it might be helpful

In every practice of profession there is a skill you must possess in order for you to be successful
and be at the top. In the practice of law or sometimes it is called the legal industry, a top notch
writing skills are crucial especially to lawyers and paralegals. Legal writing is a type of
technical writing used by lawyers, judges, legislators, and others in law to express legal analysis
and legal rights and duties. Legal writing in practice is used to advocate for or to express the
resolution of a client's legal matter. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_writing) Since writing is
a skill and not a talent, writing skills can be improved by practice. Law schools give emphasis on
developing the writing skills of the students because it is essential in being a good lawyer.

Legal writing is essential and important in the practice of law especially to lawyers for their
ability to articulate their thoughts effectively through writing. Lawyers legal writing skills will be
used in their everyday lives. The capacity to express thoughts, legal opinions and conclusions is
a fundamental aspect of being a good lawyer. Words are a lawyers tools, so in all aspects of a
lawyers work, words are chosen cautiously. Whether drafting a legal document or simply
writing a response to an inquiry, a lawyer has to write in a clear and concise manner. Ambiguity
in a lawyers writing can lead to an array of possible interpretations and, in law, this is
undesirable. In court, a lawyer must debate with the opposition, often using pre-written
material.

Skills in legal writing aid a lawyer in expressing her legal arguments. With good writing skills, a
lawyer can deliver all of the key points of her argument, in a persuasive manner. If she can
express all of her arguments in a precise and concise way, it improves the chances of her
winning her case. As this shows, having the ability to express legal arguments well, through
writing, is very important to being a good lawyer.

Aside from the preparation of courtroom speeches, writing skills are necessary in drafting legal
documentation. Writing skills play a major role in the drafting of contracts. The words of a
contract are legally binding, so people usually hire experienced lawyers to draft them. This is
because experienced lawyers tend to have a very high standard of writing, so undesirable flaws
can be avoided. The term writing skills also includes good grammar and punctuation in its
meaning.

In conclusion, adept in legal writing is essential to being a good lawyer because they allow
lawyers to express ideas and legal opinions, convey arguments and avoid any ambiguity in their
work. A good lawyer does not make mistakes when creating legal writing, and good writing
skills can eliminate mistakes.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/64532329/Why-Are-Writing-Skills-Essential-to-Being-a-Good-Lawyer
The practice of law is any activity, in or out of court, which requires the application of law, legal
procedure, knowledge, training and experience. Generally, to practice law is to give notice or
render any kind of service, which device or service requires the use in any degree of legal
knowledge. It is not limited to the conduct of cases in court. It includes legal advice and
counsel, and preparation of legal instruments and contracts by which legal rights are secured,
although such matter may or may not be pending in a court.

http://wiki.lawcenter.ph/index.php?title=Practice_of_law

Legal writing comes in, in the preparation of legal instruments and contracts. Legal
instrument is a legal term of art that is used for any formally executed written document that
can be formally attributed to its author, records and formally expresses a legally enforceable
act, process, or contractual duty, obligation, or right, and therefore evidences that act, process,
or agreement.

Hindi ko pa nasagutan itong 2 questions super busy ko pa kasi
Question: what makes writing legal?
Note: include the Paper rule in your answer to this question.
Question: What are kinds/example of legal writing.
Contracts, Pleadings, Brief, Resolutions, memorandum etc.