The Marriage of And

WRITING TO WIN

By: Benjamin R. Norris

I. WHY WRITING MATTERS

1. We are professional writers

2. Legal writing is especially difficult

3. We (generally) have not been taught to write well

4. Writing is composition – and thinking

5. Communication 6. So there is a need for a writing process. . . .

II. THE FIRST DRAFT

1. The first challenge: getting going

2. How? Divide and conquer

3. Starting the first draft

4. What this accomplishes

2 III. THE SECOND DRAFT

1. OK, now what?

2. The first step to organizing – Create topics/arguments

3. Organize your topics/arguments

4. Organize within each topic/argument

5. You know you’re done with the second draft when . . .

3 IV. THE THIRD DRAFT

1. The purpose of the third draft

2. Consider your audience

a. Judges

b. Clients

3. The polishing process

4. Presenting the facts

4 5. Choosing your arguments

6. Words – the simpler the better

7. Sentences – the simpler the better

8. Paragraphs

9. Deal with each element of an argument or issue separately

10. Use careful, precise language

5 11. Watch your connecting words and phrases

12. Use a consistent and readable format

13. Make it a practice to perform "ruthless edits"

V. MOTIONS

1. The big picture

2. Preliminary Statement

6 3. The Argument section

4. The Conclusion

VI. PLEADINGS

1. Affirmative pleadings

a. Beginning the process

b. The format

c. Tell your client’s story

7 2. Responsive pleadings

VII. LEGAL MEMORANDA

1. Memo writing is particularly difficult

2. Beginning the process

3. Organizing your writing

VIII. CONCLUSION

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