Legal writinglegal writing: an overview

In many legal settings specialized forms of written communication are required. In many others, writing is the medium in which a lawyer must express their analysis of an issue and seek to persuade others on their clients' behalf. Any legal document must be concise, clear, and conform to the objective standards that have evolved in the legal profession.

There are generally two types of legal writing. The first type requires a balanced analysis of a legal problem or issue. Examples of the first type are inter-office memoranda and letters to clients. To be effective in this form of writing, the lawyer must be sensitive to the needs, level of interest and background of the parties to whom it is addressed. A memorandum to a partner in the same firm that details definitions of basic legal concepts would be inefficient and an annoyance. In contrast, their absence from a letter to a client with no legal background could serve to confuse and complicate a simple situation.

The second type of legal writing is persuasive. Examples of this type are appellate briefs and negotiation letters written on a clients behalf. The lawyer must persuade his or her audience without provoking a hostile response through disrespect or by wasting the recipient's time with unnecessary information. In presenting documents to a court or administrative agency he or she must conform to the required document style.

The drafting of legal documents, such as contracts and wills, is yet another type of legal writing. Guides are available to aid a lawyer in preparing the documents but a unique application of the "form" to the facts of the situation is often required. Poor drafting can lead to unnecessary litigation and otherwise injure the interests of a client.

The legal profession has its own unique system of citation. While it serves to provide the experienced reader with enough information to evaluate and retrieve the cited authorities, it may, at first, seem daunting to the lay reader. Court rules generally specify the citation format required of all memoranda or briefs filed with the court. These rules have not kept up with the changing technology of legal research. Within recent years, online and disk-based law collections have become primary research tools for many lawyers and judges. Because of these changes, there has been growing pressure on those ultimately responsible for citation norms, namely the courts, to establish new rules that no longer presuppose that a publisher's print volume (created over a year after a decision is handed down) is the key reference. (See the reports of the Wisconsin Bar and the AALL.) Several jurisdictions have responded and many more are sure to follow.

7 Characteristics of Effective Legal Writing

1. Clarity and focus – your words should invisibly carry the reader forward through your analysis.2. Organization – Ideas and analysis must flow logically, in an aesthetically pleasing manner.3. Ideas and themes – must be present and easily identifiable.4. Clear voice – everyone finds their own voice. Be sure yours is consistent.5. Accurate word choice – precise, accurate word choice is essential.6. Correct grammar and style – follow the rules; break them only for good reason.7. Credibility and believability – all aspects of legal writing must be accurate, thorough, and well-supported.

PRÉCIS WRITINGThe word précis is derived from French that means summary and précis writing means the art of summarizing. Précis writing is one of the most useful skills you can acquire for your work both as a student and as a professional. Précis writing involves summarizing a document to extract the maximum amount of information, then conveying this information to a reader in minimum words.

Definition: A précis is a clear, compact logical summary of a passage. It preserves only the essential or important ideas of the original.

QUALITIES OF A GOOD PRÉCIS

A good précis shows the writing skills of a person. It must have the following qualities.

1. Clarity

Clarity means getting your message across so that the receiver can understand what the writer is trying to convey. It is the basic and essential need of a précis. The ideas should be clear and understandable. There should not be any ambiguity in your writing. The writer can achieve clarity by using simple language and simple structure. If your précis is not understandable to the reader it will lose its importance and meanings for the reader.

2. Correctness

Mistakes in your writings always irritate the reader. Of course mistakes are never intentional; even so there is no excuse for them. At the time of writing or composing a précis the writer must ensure that the facts and figures are correct. Structure of sentences and spellings of words must be correct because a single mistake in structure and spelling may spoil the message. We may consider the mistakes under the following headings:

Misspelled words Mistakes in figures and dates Mistakes in punctuation Mistakes of grammar and structure

3. Objectivity

Objectivity means the ability to present or view facts uncolored by feelings, opinions and personal bias. While making a précis, the writer should adopt an objective approach. He should not give and add his personal opinion and ideas in a précis. A précis should be purely a summary of the original text without any addition.

4. Coherence

Coherence means the logical and clear interconnection of ideas in a written piece of work. A good précis should be coherent. The ideas which are presented in a précis must have a logical connection and they all should be interrelated. In short we may say that the ideas should be well knitted so that the writer may not be confused and lose his interest.

5. Completeness

            Another striking feature of a good précis is completeness. A précis should be complete in all respects. Completeness means that the writer should include all the important facts in a précis. To make it short he should not omit the important ideas. This mistake on the part of the writer will spoil the importance and meaning of the précis.

6. Conciseness

Conciseness is a desirable quality of a good précis. Conciseness means to say all that needs to be said and no more. The writer should write what is necessary and avoid writing unnecessary details. A concise piece of work conveys the message in the fewest possible words. But one point must be kept in mind that the writer should not omit some basic and essential facts to achieve conciseness. To achieve conciseness, notice the following suggestions:

Omitting unnecessary details Eliminate wordy expressions Include only relevant material Avoid unnecessary repetition

ABSTRACTSAn abstract presents the essential information contained in a research report, an article, a book, or other document.

There are two types of abstracts:

Informational Abstracts

communicate contents of reports include purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations allow readers to decide whether they want to read the report

Descriptive Abstracts

tell what the report contains include purpose, methods, scope, but NOT results, conclusions, and recommendations introduce the subject to readers, who must then read the report to learn study results

Qualities Of A Good AbstractAn effective abstract

uses one or more well-developed paragraphs, which are unified, coherent, and concise. uses an introduction-body-conclusion structure in which the parts of the report are

discussed in order: purpose, findings, conclusions, recommendations provides logical connections between material included

adds no new information but simply summarizes the report is intelligible to a wide audience

Tips for Writing Effective Abstracts

The style of an abstract should be concise and clear, and the wording should be very direct.

        1.        Make the abstract easy to read.                     a.    Use familiar words. If unfamiliar words are necessary, define them. Avoid                                     jargon.                     b.    Use active verbs rather than passive verbs whenever possible.                     c.    Vary sentence structure.                     d.    Use complete sentences. Don't omit articles or other small words to save space

        2.        Be concise.                     a.    Rephrase ideas from the article to condense the meaning.                     b.    c. Give information only once.

        3.        Be exact and unambiguous.

        4.        Use an organization scheme that will make the information clear to the reader.                     Usually, an abstract that puts the thesis first and then provides conclusions or                     findings, and supporting data or details is most useful.

        5.        If you are writing an abstract for another writer's article, remember that your job                     is not to evaluate the article but simply to report what is in it.

Audience Analysis Communication is complete only when the receiver understands the message in the same sense and spirit that sender intends to convey. However, communication does not take place completely because of the illusion that it has been accomplished. The great cause of illusion is sender's inability to understand the audience. Without analysing audience, the chances of effectiveness of the communication decrease.

Understanding the audience is fundamental to the success of any message. The sender needs to analyse the audience

and then adapt the message to their goals, interests and needs. Audience like to listen the message that suits their interests, familiar with their level of knowledge and understanding, and seems true and credible.

Types of Audience:

1. Primary Audience 2. Secondary Audience3. Initial Audience4. Gatekeeper Audience 5. Watch dog Audience

Primary Audience:   The primary audience is the audience who have to decide whether to accept the sender's message and his recommendations and to act on the basis of that message. For example - in case of advertisement campaign of interior decoration, the primary audience is prospective customers.

Secondary Audience: The secondary audience consists of people who may be asked to comment on the message after it has been approved. For example - in case of advertisement campaign of interior decoration, the existing users are the secondary audience as the potential buyers ask them about their opinion.

Initial Audience: is the audience that receives the message first and routs it to oter audiences. Sometimes, the initial audience guides the sender regarding designing of the message. For example,

1. Censor Board which has to permit to broadcasting of films act as the initial audience.2. The editors of the newspapers also act as the initial audience as they edit the message

before publishing in the newspaper. 

Gatekeeper Audience: has power to stop the message before it reaches the primary audience. For example - the secretary to the minister acts as gatekeeper audience as he scrutinizes the letters before minister's approval.

Watch dog Audience: is the audience that has political, social and economic power to influence the primary audience's decision to act upon the sender's message. Though such type of audience has power to stop the message yet they influence a lot on primary audience's action. For example,

1. The Industrial reviewers, who read the reports and comment upon them, act as Watch dog audience.2. The Auditor, who attests the authenticity and accuracy of financial statements, act as Watch dog audience when

he gives his expert opinions.

Importance of Audience Analysis:Audience is center to the communication process. The purpose of communication is to transfer the message with transmission of understanding among the audience. Therefore good communication is always audience-centered. It is the audience that determines how one achieves the objectives of communication.

If the communicator fails to analyse the attitude, interests and knowledge of the audience, he is likely to be failure. Why certain why certain politicians with bad records can grab the votes? it is because their message strict to the waves of that time as well as wavelength of the public and consequently they can manage to manipulate public sentiments to their

advantage.

Therefore, audience analyses is essential before designing the message. Communication can take place only when the message is received in the same sense and spirit that sender intends to carry. Therefore, the sender has to devise some common ground between him and the audience. He has to choose the information that audience needs and finds interesting. He should encode the message in words and other symbols that audience will understand easily. Lastly, he should transmit the message along a channel that the audience will attend to.

"Understanding your audience is fundamental to the success of any message. You need to adapt your message to fit the audience's goals, interests and needs."

Bias-Free Communication(LANGUAGE SENSITIVITY)Guidelines for Communicating in a Diverse Community

Bias typically involves a leaning or predisposition on an issue that may inhibit being neutral when communicating with others. When bias exists in attitudes, it is often reflected in the language and the way in which individuals interact with each other. Language can have a significant impact on the quality of our interactions. Many times, we do not intend to exclude or offend others by the words we choose. We may simply lack information about, and sensitivity to, certain words or phrases. Being aware and mindful of our language, both written and oral, can help create a supportive and inclusive climate.

The content below provides suggestions for eliminating bias from our communication as one means of creating a more inclusive environment and modeling the attitudes about diversity which the University values. While some basic suggestions are offered below, the key to effective bias-free communication is treating all people with respect and consideration regardless of characteristics such as age, gender, gender identity, race, color, religion, national origin, height, weight, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, or political preference.

General guidelines for bias-free communication include:

Pay special attention not to limit or imply limitations for anyone to participate in any activity, occupation or area of study, e.g. "his disability will preclude him from doing this job,” “women shouldn’t play certain sports.”

Speak of all members of the University community--students, faculty and staff--in relationship to the issues at hand and the abilities of those involved.

Assign tasks on the basis of ability rather than gender, race, disability, or other irrelevant stereotypical characteristics, e.g. "we need a man to lift this computer."

Diversity in leadership and presenters is important in demonstrating bias-free communication. Every reasonable effort should be made to assure that meeting places are barrier-free and can accommodate

persons with disabilities. Every person at a meeting or gathering should be given opportunities to participate. "In-group" references and comments, while they may enhance the workplace for the in-group, may create an

unwelcoming or hostile working or educational environment for non-members. Lesbian-bisexual-gay-transgender (LBGT) persons are likely to be present at every meeting or event and in every

racial and ethnic group. Be sure to avoid language that stereotypes or patronizes LBGT persons. Avoid stereotyping or patronizing racial or ethnic groups, LBGT persons, or persons with disabilities in news

stories, anecdotes or hiring practices.

There are other, more characteristic-specific guidelines for bias-free communication that can increase awareness of, and confidence in, our use of inclusive language. These guidelines change from time-to-time, and individuals or groups most often affected by bias suggest such changes. While these guidelines are common recommendations, they may not be the preference of every individual. The overall goal is to be sensitive and try to communicate in a way that everyone can feel included.

Race and Ethnicity

Avoid qualifiers that imply that all members of specific ethnic groups or races are the same, e.g., suggesting that all persons of a certain ethnicity are good at athletics or math.

If you specify race or ethnic origin, be certain it is relevant. Avoid language that has questionable racial or ethnic connotations, e.g., “you people,” or “those foreigners.”

 Gender and Gender Identity

Use gender-neutral words/phrases in your language, e.g. journalist, fire fighter, chairperson. Avoid the use of "man" or "woman" in job titles.

Address both female and male perspectives with phrases like "employees and their spouses or partners." Use pronouns and references that include both genders instead of only male, e.g. "he/she" or "women/men."

Avoid describing men by profession and women by physical attributes. Use "gender" rather than "sex" to differentiate between men and women.

Ability Status

Use "person first" language, e.g., "person with a disability," "student with a disability." Avoid using the term “disability” as an adjective, e.g. the disability community. Avoid using adjectives as nouns, e.g. "the deaf, the blind, the disabled." Rather, use "people who are deaf.” Plan for and provide alternate forms of communications at events and gathering. This might include having

interpreters, providing written materials in print format or in Braille, or providing oral interpretation for all visual information.

Sexual Orientation

Use "sexual orientation" rather than phrases like "the gay lifestyle" or "sexual preference." Use the phrase "partner or spouse". When discussing families, be inclusive of families that are headed by same gender partners or lesbian, bisexual,

gay, or transgender single parents and recognize the presence of LBGT youth in families. When using the terms "diversity" or "multicultural," and reference is made to specific groups, include lesbian-bi-

gay-transgender persons in such statements.

 Age

Mention age only when it is relevant. Permit people of all ages to speak for themselves rather than assuming you know what they want. Avoid making inappropriate assumptions about people based on their age.

Ending bias takes awareness, openness and practice. Many biased statements seem so natural and familiar that we are unaware of the discomfort they cause for others. Become conscious of your communication and what it may imply.