Is ‘Legal Writing’ writing legal?
January 29th, 2008 Shobe_ceo
Legal Writing is defined by Wikipedia as ‘a type of technical writing used by legislators, lawyers, judges, and others in law to express a legal analysis of legal rights and duties.’ While my professor discusses that Legal Writing is employed specifically to secure a relief, to give opinion to a specific question of law, or for direct personal recourse, which may be defined according to (1) who is the user, and (2) what is its use. Legal Writing is distinguished from other forms of writing with its citation to authority, importance of precedents, use of vocabulary, and form/procedures in writing.
Legal writing is known for being well-cited. Its claims are always anchored to law, jurisprudence, customs, and other standards that support its viability. A person in law would employ a standard for every event. This feature also serves as the root for the concept of stare decisis and res judicata, whereby a formerly settled principle of law is protected from disturbances, except upon a new judicial order or decision. That is, the value of precedents.
Another feature of legal writing is its unique vocabulary. Legal writing uses a variety of words, from specialized words, to everday words, to archaic words, to loan words. A legal writer must have a chest of vocabulary at hand.
And lastly, the form of writing. Legal writing follows a basic form yet a unique formulation. Going on with the procdures, there are 3 basic steps in legal writing: (1) Pre-writing, (2) Writing, and (3) Post-writing.
Pre-writing involves the following steps:
- Identify the object or cause of action
- Identify the best means or vehicle to communicate the object (Whether it should be a manifestation, a brief, a pleading, a memoranda, etc.)
- Identify the form/structure (What are the basic components of the material that you will be writing, i.e. header, introductory line, etc.)
- Identify the pertinent content or details
- Identify the law or rules applicable to the case
- Identify the proposition or the recommended course of action that should be taken
In the writing stage, the following are the steps to be taken:
- Give an introductory paragraph that should give a gist of what is in the body and what the readers should expect
- Identify the antecedents of the case. There are two types of antecedents:
(1) Procedural antecedents deal with the history of the case (it provides whether it is an appeal or a new case), or
(2) Factual antecedents which give a chronology of events or a narration of the case.
Under the second type of antecedent, there are two forms:
(2.1) Narrative which is like story-telling, and
(2.2) Reportorial which is mostly used in complex or voluminous crimes and uses headings and sub-headings to show the logical flow of events.
- Identify the issue of the case. It can either be:
(1) Factual issue (disputes regarding the presence or absence of a thing at the time of the event), or
(2) Legal issue (dispute as to the meaning of the event)
- Give a discussion of the facts and issues presented. This part of the writing is where the writer has the liberty to use his/her own style of writing.
- Provide a conclusion. Most writers would want this part to be given with a punch to be remembered by readers.
And last but not the least, no legal writing should end without passing through post-writing. The last stage would involve reviewing, proofreading, and rewriting. The two types of editing would be:
(1) Formal, which deals with the basics of form like margins, spacing, alignments, etc. This part is important especially on certain types of documents where form prevails over substance like wills, donations, and manifestation (should not have a prayer), since a wrong form in these documents may amount to trashing said documents or may be a ground for dismissal, without the judge even reading your material.
(2) Substantive, which deals on the overall relevance and coherence of your piece.
Following these steps should allow one to write as a person in law. That is ‘Legal Writing’!. But writing legal is another matter to discuss. The latter will deal more on the substance and content and may vary on a case-to-case basis. As a general rule, the substance must prevail over form, with the exception as discussed above. Therefore, writing legal is a greater task that we are yet to learn later on, not just in the professional school, but in real practice and experience.
Entry Filed under: For the Mind, Life of Law
2 Comments Add your own
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1. Mr. Kupy | February 3rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
i dunno..just link me nalang
ahha -
2. Shobe_ceo | February 12th, 2008 at 3:37 am
hahahah…nalink na kta…
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