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Assignment in Legal Writing

This document discusses legal writing and its key characteristics. It defines legal writing as writing used by legal professionals to express legal rights and opinions. It identifies three classifications of legal writing: informative, persuasive, and functional. Informative writing conveys objective information, persuasive writing argues a position, and functional writing produces binding documents like contracts. The document also outlines three qualities of good legal writing: being simple and concise, clear and accurate, and persuasive. It emphasizes using plain language, avoiding unnecessary words, and influencing the deciding authority.

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145 views

Assignment in Legal Writing

This document discusses legal writing and its key characteristics. It defines legal writing as writing used by legal professionals to express legal rights and opinions. It identifies three classifications of legal writing: informative, persuasive, and functional. Informative writing conveys objective information, persuasive writing argues a position, and functional writing produces binding documents like contracts. The document also outlines three qualities of good legal writing: being simple and concise, clear and accurate, and persuasive. It emphasizes using plain language, avoiding unnecessary words, and influencing the deciding authority.

Uploaded by

Jennelie jandusay
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Submitted by: Kate Loren M.

Catarbas
PLM-CL, JD, First Year Block 3
August 19, 2019

Assignment in Legal Writing


1. What is legal writing?
Legal writing is the kind of writing used by lawyers, law professors, judges and
other workers in the field of law to express legal rights, obligations and opinions.

2. What are the classifications and forms of legal writing?


Legal writing may be informative, persuasive or functional.
a. Informative writing conveys information on an issue involving the law or a
person’s legal rights. This type of writing does not take the sides. Its goal is
objective communication by predicting the law’s “path” vis-à-vis a set of facts
regardless of who is involved. Examples: memoranda, letters to clients and
statement of facts in brief.
b. Persuasive writing convinces the reader to accept a certain viewpoint. Here, the
writer argues for a particular side or perspective. He is expected to use available
legal tools to support his thesis. These may be pieces of evidence offered in
court, sections of the law, decisions of the Supreme Court, opinions of legal
authorities on a subject.
Examples: academic legal writing, motions, pleadings and argument section of
the brief.
c. Functional writing is designed for a specific use or result in law. These are deeds,
wills, contracts or drafts of laws and ordinances which legally bind those
involved. Some specific format, ceremony or legal requirement may be present in
this type of writing. This type of writing need not be analytical nor persuasive. It
is enough to be accurate and complete yet understandable.

3. What are the qualities of a good legal writer?


a. Being simple and concise
- Simplicity means to write plainly and simply. Convoluted words
and word-constructions must be avoided. This is best done by
preferring shorter sentences, and choosing shorter words.
Repetitions must also be avoided as much as possible.
Conciseness means writing sentences should contain no
unnecessary words and a paragraph no unnecessary sentences.
b. Being clear and accurate
- Clarity in writing results when the writer is able to express exactly
(and unambiguously) what he wants to be reflected on his work.
The last thing a writer would want is to confuse his readers. On
one level, clear writing involves clarity of expression and sentence
structure. On another, deeper level clarity refers to clearness of
Submitted by: Kate Loren M. Catarbas
PLM-CL, JD, First Year Block 3
August 19, 2019
one’s logic and arguments. Errors in grammar, punctuation, and
spelling suggest that the writer is sloppy and careless qualities
that people do not want in a lawyer.
c. Being persuasive
- Persuasion is a process where people are guided towards the
adoption of an idea or course of action. In legal writing a
persuasive document attempts to influence the deciding authority
to favorably decide the case in favor of one’s client. The deciding
authority is usually the judge. However, he may also be the arbiter
(in an arbitration dispute), commissioner, hearing officer, mediator
or the other party to the dispute.

References:
Legal Writing: A Competency-Based Approach by Gil Marvel P. Tabucanon
Strunk, W., & White, E. B. (1920). The elements of style. United States: Harcourt, Brace &
Howe.

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