Fundamentals of Legal Writing Pages 1-9

8/10/2019 Fundamentals of Legal Writing Pages 1-9

1/5

1..

L g*l

\fridng

S op

oflegal

Wtiting

.

This

book

is

^T :

the

things

that

lawyers

vzrite

to

wln

others

over

to

thgir

point

ofo'ie*.

If

yoi

;;r;

;;*.

ieg

tavrye4

you

would

b.

doing

,

to,

oiitii.

Hi

ri**.

For

insance,

when

your

client,

,-;,

^

,o;;;l*.1,

#;.,

:o

you

teSardinS

the

threl

of

a

possible

lawsuit

fro*

*r-

tomer

who

was

takel

ill.af_cer.eaung

in

your

client,s

,.rLLLr,

yoo..*r{

lave

to

1,:nf-lri*

bacl(,-giving

him

your,,1.*rL-

gading

his

probabre

riabirity

based on

ir.

r*..,

rr.

,.u,

y

When

the

case

gets

to.court,

you

would

be

filing

a

num_

P.

:f

pleadinp

like

an

ani&er

to

the

customer,s

complainq

denying

your

client's Iiabirity

or

minimizing

ir

Further dovrr

the

road,

you

would

probaliy

fiI.

f*

hj*

assorted

pleading.s,

m3tions,

oppositions,

replies,

reioinders,

memoranda,

aad

Aod

if

you

were

m

be

&e

iodg.,

who

is

also

a

lawyer,

and

must

decide

the

casg

yoo

oro,rli

'h o.

,o

put

yout

deci_

sion

in

*itirg,

announce

its

results,

*i

,*o.^t

to

the

parties

your

reasons

for

the

decision.

Under

our

laws,

,h.

p#;;;


2/5


3/5

F {oaMsNTArs

or Lrcar lfrmNc

Mastet

a

few

refurbished

techniques

collected

in this

book

and

you

are oa

your

way

to

prepering

adequate, dear,

aod

convincing

pleadings,

lqgal opiniofls,

iltemoranda,

and

other

position

PaPers.

Of

coursg

the greatest

secret

of suc*

cess

rn

vrititrg

well

is in

constandy

striving

to use what

yo-u

leam

Theywillnotwork

unless

you

Put

them

into

pmctice

The

Legal

Dispute

A

lryal

dispute

lies

at

&e

heart

of

every

case.

In

facg

most

of

yo*

qdring

assignments

as

a

huyer

would

probably

be

devoted to aryqing

and

resofing

q.rch

a

dispute.

Meaning

of legal

dispute

For

the pu{pose

of

this

boolq there

is a

lQ*rl4rre

when

,u-

A

legal dispute

in

this

sense

is

akin

to

a

cause

of action

iu

a

civil suit in which the

defendant

denies

the

chim

against

him.

It

is this denial

that

tenders

a

legal

dispute.

'Whea

a person

renting

an

apartrnent

at

g..Ily

could

not

pay

the

agreed

monthly

rents

yet

refuses

to leave

his

unig

a

legal dispute

arises.

This

consists

of

(a)

the

apartment

ownet's

claim

that

the

tenart

fails

to pay

the

agreed

monthl1r rents

yet refuses

to

leave his

unit

and

(b) the

tellant's

derdal

of

the

clairrr

You

have

in

dris

case

a dght

protected

by

law,

an

alleged

violation

of

such rieht,

arid

a

denial

of the

allegation---a

legal

dispute

The

right

clainred

to

have

been violated

musq of

course,

be

a

legal

dght

since courts

will uphold

and vindicate

only

2.


4/5


5/5

FuNoarvmNrars

or LacAL

Wprrn*c

an

issug

the

pdncipal

issue

is

rcwhethet

ot not the

debtor

uniustly

refuses to

pay

his debt

under a promissory

note

that

he

issued

in

favor of

the

creditor.

In

the

cdminal

case

discussed

above, we

said

that

the

le-

gal dispute consists

in (a)

the

State's

charge

that the accused

de&auded

the comphinar* by selling

a

fake

Rolex vratch

to

hisi

for

the price

of

a

gequine

onq

and

O)

the accused's

der-rial

of

&e charge.

Recast

as

an

issue, tlre principal issue

is'(whether

or

not &e

accused defrauded

the complain-

ant

by

selling_a

fake

Rolex watch

to him

for

ttre

price

o{

genuine

one.

phat

does

the legal

dispute

consists

of when a building

official

issues

to

the

owner

an

occupancy

permit

for a

build-

ing

with

inadequate

fite exits?

It

consists of

(a) the complain-

ant's

daim that

respondent buitding official

issued

to the

owner

an

occupa$cy

permit

for a

building

with

inad*quate

fire exits in

violation

of Section 3(e)

of Republic Act

3019;

and (b) the

respondent's denial

of

that daim. Ttansfomred

into

an issue,

the

pdncipal

issue

is

'cwhether

or

not

respon-

dent

building

officid

issued

to the

owner

an occupancy

permit covering

a building

that has

inadequate

fire exits

in

violation

of

Section 3(e)

of

Republic Act

3019.'

Impo*ance

of

principat

issue

'il0hy

is

knowledge

of the

principal issue

important to

you?

It

is

imporant

to you

because

your cas

will

be

decided

for or

agaiast

you based

on

that

issue.

It

is

impottant

because

you

judge

the

significance

of every

argumeflt that you

want

tc

use

to persuade

yout

reader by

its

relevance

to

the pdncipal

THB

Lrcar,

Drspure

issue.

Any argumeot that

does

not touch

base

with

the

princir

pal

issue

or issues

(there

could

be more

than

one

principd

issue involved

in a case)

would

be quite useless

and

a

waste of

time.

Fundamentals of Legal Writing Pages 1-9

Documents