CHAPTER 1: LEGAL WRITING
CHAPTER 3: STAGES OF WRITING
Two Stages of Legal Writing
1. Pre-work
a. This is the beginning of your writing assignment. Here you
are looking at the facts and evidence of the case. (The
materials would be raw, if you are dealing with a new case;
or, it could be a transcript of the testimonies of the
witnesses and the documentary exhibits, if it is a case that
has undergone trial)
b. Pre-work is a process.
c. 5 level of efforts that would make your pre-work adequate:
i. Establishing where the legal dispute lies in the case
ii. Discovering its relevant facts
iii. Knowing the laws or rules that apply to it
iv. Identifying the issue or issues that you would address
v. Roughing out the arguments that you would use
2. Write-up
a. Transforming the sketches and outlines you produced during
pre-work into a full draft of the paper required of you.
b. What completes the write-up stage
i. Editing
ii. Rewriting
The things that lawyers write to win others over to their point of
view.
CHAPTER 2: THE LEGAL DISPUTE
There is a legal dispute when one party complains of a violation of
his right (must be a legal right recognized by law) by another who, on the
other hand, denies such a violation. This is akin to a cause of action in a civil
suit
Significance of knowing the legal dispute
 Since a legal dispute involves a violation of a right protected by law
or which violation the law punishes, nothing less than the resolution
of such could properly end it.
 A legal dispute is at the heart of every case.
 Failure to identify and address the legal dispute would result in
running around circles, contributing nothing to its final termination.
Legal Dispute and the Principal Issue
 The legal dispute, recast in the format of an issue, provides the
principal issue in every case.
 Example: WON the tenant who fails to pay the monthly rents must
leave the apartment unit; WON the debtor unjustly refuses to pay his
debt under a promissory note that he issued in favor of the creditor;
WON the accused defrauded the complainant by selling a fake Rolex
watch to him for the price of a genuine one.
Value of Pre-work
 The need for pre-work is true for all kinds of presentations that are
aimed to convince others to a certain point of view.
 Legal writing is a sort of presentation. A lawyers needs to be able to
make a convincing presentation of his case in the limited time that
he is able to hold his reader’s attention. He needs pre-work to do
this.
 A frequent excuse in not doing pre-work is lack of time. Lack of time
is not a valid justification for dispensing with pre-work.
 Submitting your work not based on pre-work, submitting it for the
sake of meeting a deadline means you do not care about its result.
This attitude is the reason behind many failed legal writings and
career.
Importance of Principal Issue
 Your cases will be decided for or against you base on that issue.
 You judge the significance of every argument that you want to use by
its relevance to the principal issue. (Any argument not related to the
principal issue would be useless and a waste of time)
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CHAPTER 4: GETTING AT THE FACTS OF THE CASE

Facts of a Case
 Do not leave the facts of the case until you have come to a complete
understanding of what the case is about from every angle.
You can uses these strengths and weaknesses in developing your
arguments.
Facts Set in Sequence
 Put the events in the order of their occurrence to avoid confusion.
 Spot the point where the story logically begins. Then, arrange after
it the other events in the order of their occurrence.
 Benefits of arranging the facts in proper order or sequence:
o Facts are easier to understand. They follow a natural order
or flow. The human mind is more at ease with such a manner
of storytelling.
o It is clear how each fact relates to or connects with others.
Sometimes when you isolate facts they are not significant.
Only when you view them along with related facts do some
facts acquire significance.
o It is clear where the respective versions agree and disagree.
You will get a balanced appreciation of each opposing claim.
o It prepares you for the work of writing up the facts of the
case.
 Another benefit is it enables you to create a compact index to the
facts of the case. You do not have re-read your voluminous materials
each time you want to be reminded of the important details of the
case.
Random Notes vs. Summary
 Purely random notes do not give you a complete picture. They are
uncorrelated and are useful only for work done in one sitting. When
you set aside and return to it after a long duration, random notes
would have lost their correct meaning and you will have to start all
over again. Random notes can never be used as permanent catalogue
of the facts that you want to go back to repeatedly at various stages
of the proceedings in a case.
 Summary is a systematically prepared notes that adequately capture
the entire factual terrain of the case, with the important points
properly marked out. Summary serves as a detailed map in your
hand, able to guide you in negotiating your way through the dispute
involved.
Facts seen through the Issue
 When handling a new case, you need to go over the materials very
quickly and determine preliminarily the principal issue or issues
involved in the case. When you have an idea of what the principal
issue is, that is when you could make a good job of extracting the
relevant facts from your materials.
 Take out the non-essential facts from your written materials.
Cluttered Facts
 These are facts that contain much that is not connected to the
principal issue.
Relevant Facts Extracted
 First, try to identify the legal dispute. Second, rewrite the legal
dispute in the format of an issue. Using the issue as guide, peel away
the facts that are not connected to the issue.
 Sorting out the relevant facts from the irrelevant facts reveals some
of the strengths and weaknesses of the documents.
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CHAPTER 5: KNOWING THE APPLICABLE LAW OR RULE
Sources of Law or Rule
 2 General Sources of Laws and Rules:
o Statute law – laws and rules enacted by duly constituted
rule-making authorities
o Case law – decisions of courts and persons or agencies
performing judicial functions; legal precedents that when
invariable affirmed and used, become part of the law itself
 2 Steps suggested in locating the right law and legal precedents
o Identify the general nature of the legal dispute involved
o Having become familiar with the facts of the case, search for
legal precedents that have more or less parallel facts.
Nothing is new in this world. There is hardly any new case
that would have no similarity to a previous case that a court
has once decided. (Diligence is key)
 You also have rules derive from the wisdom of the common
experience. Examples:
o “Even the most trustful witnesses can sometimes make
mistakes but such innocent lapses do not necessarily affect
their credibility.”
o “Inconsistency concerning a minor matter does not affect
the credibility of complainant’s testimony.”
Facts Reexamined
 After having discovered the laws or rules that apply to your case,
review your summary of facts and add some to the pool of relevant
facts and omit others who appear to be irrelevant to the applicable
laws, rules, and legal precedents.
CHAPTER 6: GETTING INTO THE ISSUES
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even weaken your position, while, dropping a relevant issue might be
forfeiting that issue to your client’s loss.
Pinpoint the specific issues that the conflicting claims of the parties
present. Put them in writing.
General rule: Legal dispute, recast in the format of an issue,
provides the principal issue in every case.
A List of All the Issues
 There is an issue when the contending parties do not agree on a
given point.
 List all the issues the opposing claims of the parties present. Take
note of what the parties agree on
Issues in Multiple Legal Disputes
 If there are multiple legal disputes, there will be multiple principal
issues (especially true in civil cases). In these cases, you should
address each of the principal issues that the legal disputes present.
 Occasionally, multiple legal disputes could converge into one
controlling issue. (Example in the book is WON, Solis or Gomez,
created the song. Spot the controlling issue, the resolution of which
serves as the key to resolving multiple legal disputes.
Factual and Legal Issues
 An issue is factual when the contending parties cannot agree that a
thing exists or has actually happened.
o Examples: WON the accused took and pocketed victim’s cell
phone; WON the traffic officer demanded a bribe; WON the
food served by the restaurant was spoiled
 An issue is legal when the contending parties assume a thing exists or
has actually happened but disagree on its legal significance or effect
on their rights.
o Examples: WON there is rape when the male organ merely
touched the surface of the female organ, WON respondent
committed grave misconduct in falsifying his timecard to
collect overtime pay; WON cigarette companies are liable for
deaths caused by smoking their products.
Subordinate Controlling Issues
 The resolution of the principal issue in a case depends on how a
subordinate issue raised in connection with it is resolved
 Example: X bought facial cream called Maxim. She had allergies.
Maxim claims that there are small prints on the label of the cream
container that warned against possible allergy.
o Principal Issue: WON Maxim violated X’s right to be sold only
safe products
o Subordinate Controlling Issue: WON Maxim has the right to
market cosmetics that could cause harmful allergy to some,
provided that the product label discloses this risk.
Correct Statement of the Issues
 (1) Every issue should be correctly phrased.
o We use WON as introductory words because by doing so, we
automatically incorporate the opposing views. It makes for a
fair statement of that issue.
 (2) Issues should be in terms of what the plaintiff claims the fact to
be (WON Ronald was her suitor)
o Rationale: Plaintiff or the accuser in a case always bears the
burden of proving the affirmative of his or her claims
 General rule: Issues to be tried and decided are best defined in
terms of those affirmative claims
o Example: WON the defendant was negligent in driving his
car; or, WON the defendant was careful in driving his car.
 Exception: When the defendant, admits the facts constituting the
claim against him BUT raises a defense that exempts him from
liability under it.
Relevant and Irrelevant Issues
 Not all issues raised in a case merit discussion and resolution. Only
relevant issues matter. Only issues that when resolved determine the
outcome of the legal dispute are relevant.
o Example of relevant issue: WON Ronald and Julia are
sweethearts.
 Irrelevant issues have no value in a case even if they are debated
and resolved since they are of no consequence to the outcome of the
legal dispute.
o Example of an irrelevant issue: WON Ronald is a good son
(Good and bad sons commit rape)
 You have to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant issues.
Discussion of irrelevant issues would produce no advantage and may
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Example: WON the accused killed the deceased in selfdefense
(3) Statement of the issue must be fair not slanted in favor of any
party
o Not fair: Whether Ronald used force and intimidation in
raping Julia (This already assumes that he raped her)
(4) Statement of the issues must be comprehensive, leaving no
relevant point outside its embrace.
o Comprehensive: WON Ronald raped Julia
(5) Statement of the issues must be clear and specific
o Too ambiguous: WON the law is invalid
o Clearer: WON the Bouncing Checks Law violates the
constitutional right against being imprisoned for nonpayment of debt.
(6) Statement of the issue must capture the gist or essence of the
specific violation of right that the defendant committed.
o Insufficient: WON the debtor is liable to the creditor
o Sufficient: WON the debtor unjustly refused to pay his debt
under a promissory note that he issued in favor of the
creditor
o Insufficient: WON the respondent violated Section 3b of RA
3019
o Sufficient: WON the respondent in issuing to the owner an
occupancy permit despite the lack of fire exits in the
owner’s building violates Section 3b of RA 3019
o
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Threshold Issues
 Those that could slam the door to any judicial consideration of the
case in its merits.
 Usually brought out by a motion to dismiss, motion to quash
 Resolution of threshold issues takes precedence over the main legal
disputes.
o Example: WON the court has authority or jurisdiction to try
and decide the rape case.
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CHAPTER 7: ROUGHING OUT THE ARGUMENT

This is like drawing up your plans before actually constructing your
building. This would give you an overall picture of your presentation and
provide purposes and direction to your writing.

Balanced Presentation
 Structure of a balanced thesis presentation
o A clear statement of your thesis (where you stand on the
issue to be resolved
o Arguments against your position but with an explanation that
those arguments do not doom such position
o Arguments in favor of your position
o Appeal to the good sense of the person or persons who will
resolve the issue
 How do you guard yourself against the mindless approach that
characterized many legal writings?
o ANSWER: Complete your pre-work. Plan and rough out a
balanced approach to your arguments before writing them
up.
 Use a balanced sheet format: so you could see a broad picture of
how they look when you are finished
o Thesis statement at the top (represents the goal you set for
your arguments)
o Arguments against you on the left column, and how these
arguments do not doom your case.
o Arguments in your favor on the right column.
o Closing statement underneath the arguments, an appeal to
the good sense of the reader
Every sound legal argument is a combination of the right rule and the
right fact.
o Rule statement: Jaywalking is punishable by law.
o Case fact statement: X jaywalked.
o Conclusion statement: X should be punished.
3 Kinds of Statements:
o The rule statement: the statement of a rule that applies to a
given fact or set of facts
o The case fact statement: statement of the fact of a
particular case that opens up such case or closes it to the
application of the rule
o The conclusion statement: conclusion that the rule applies or
does not apply to the particular case
The Key Fact in Rules
 The rule statement “Jaywalking is punishable by law” has a fact
component which is “jaywalking”
 The fact component of the rule statement is the key fact. It is a key
fact because its presence in the case of X opens up such case to the
application of the rule.
 Absence of the key fact will make the rule statement inapplicable to
the case.
The Case Fact
 It is the fact of the case which determines what rule will govern it.
Meaning of “Rule”
 The key fact of the rule will determine the conclusion. Sources of
these rules:
o Constitutional provisions: just compensation in eminent
domain
o Statutory provisions: ignorance of the law excuses no one
o Rules of Court: an offer of compromised as an implied
admission of guilt
 Rule also includes case laws or legal precedents. They are the most
convenient source of argument. In real life, no problem is new.
 Rule also includes widely accepted truths that derive from logic,
common sense, or even common experience.
Anatomy of Legal Argument
 An argument is a reason you offer to prove your thesis or
proposition.
o Example: If Ronald really raped Julio how come Mario who
lived nearby did not hear Julia’s outcry
 A great bulk of legal arguments are in the mold of CLASSIC
CATEGORICAL SYLLOGISM
o Major premise, minor premise, conclusion
o Arguing from common experience: People who lie cannot be
believed. X lied in his testimony. X cannot be believed.
Roughed Out Arguments
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Arguments Against You: Vaginal lacerations usually found in rape
victims were found in Julia
Arguments in Your Favor: As a virgin Julia could have lacerations
during consented sex. The lacerations found in her do not necessarily
indicate rape
Appeal to Your Good Sense: It is but fair that testimony inconsistent
with common experience is not believed.
It is because Julia’s brothers would have killed Ronald if he
went to Julia’s house to explain
Argument is baseless
o There is no fact to support their claim
Argument is contrary to common experience
o It goes against ordinary human experience. It is bizarre and
cannot be believed.
Argument is inconsistent with undeniable facts
o Facts that cannot lie defeat mere assertions
Argument is inconsistent with a prior claim
o Persons who say one thing now and another thing later
cannot be relied on to tell the truth
o
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Creative Thinking
 Let your subconscious mind take over the problem. Steps:
o Be sure that your mind gets all the data and inputs about the
case
o Pose the problem to your mind
o Forget about the case. Let your subconscious mind do the
work. Go to sleep.

Pre-work Reviewed
 Steps:
o Ascertain the legal dispute
o Make an outline of the relevant facts
o Identify the issues
o Rough out your argument
Arguments That Build Up
 Favorable testimony comes from a credible witness
o Testimonies of relatives are regarded as partisan. Those with
no bias and motive to testify falsely are excellent witnesses.
(Medico-legal expert, Mario the farm owner)
 The party’s version is inherently credible and consistent with
common experience
o Compatibility with common experience
 All the elements or requisites of a valid claim or defense have been
proved
o Establishing all the elements of the crime of rape to warrant
conviction
Arguments That Destroy
 Pointing out that the adverse party invoked the wrong rule or that
they failed to prove the case fact component of their argument.
 Arguments raised is irrelevant
o Irrelevant when it does not help resolve the issue
o Ronald is irresponsible. Being irresponsible does not make a
man a rapist
 Argument has little weight given the other considerations in the case
o Your opponent has made a valid argument but you hasten to
state that other considerations outweigh that argument
o Ronald’s failure to explain immediately
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CHAPTER 8: INTRODUCING THE ISSUES
Simply mention the basic legal disputes that the
claims of the parties produced
 Lawyers often quote criminal information as part of
their statement of the case – UNNECCESSARY unless
the allegations in the information are in issue.
Statement of the Facts
 Describes the nature of the action and the
proceedings it had gone through
 Narrates the transaction or event that create the
legal dispute and led to the filing of the suit
 Do yourself and the court a favor of better
understanding the issue and arguments by showing
the conflicting claims of the parties.
 Issues are a product of disagreement. Only by fairly
showing the conflicting claims of the parties can the
court or your reader truly understand the issues.
 Rules of Court, Rule 44, Section 13(d) requires
parties to include their conflicting claims in their
respective statement of facts.
 Purpose is to merely provide a background
 TEST OF SUFFICIENCY: ability to enable the judge or
the reader to understand the issue that you want
him to resolve and the arguments that you adduce on
those issues WIH MINIMUM words.
 If the parties have conflicting versions, extract the
facts solely from the direct testimonies of the
witnesses from either side.
 The direct testimonies of witnesses embody the
versions that the parties espouse.
 But when the cross-examination have done some
damage to the testimony of your opponent’s
witnesses, use these in the argument portion

Write-up stage: You cannot submit your outline-argument to the
court. It will not make any sense to the judge.
Need for Introduction
 You cannot just hit your reader with you point of view regarding an
issue without telling him the circumstances of the case that brought
about the issue.
 Do not assume that the judge has the background facts. You cannot
expect a judge to remember all the facts each time he reads a
party’s pleading.
o Attention span of human beings is limited
o Hearings are piecemeal. Judge hears the testimonies of the
various witnesses over some period of time.
o Possibility that judge had gotten the facts wrong from past
pleadings or during the hearing. You have to correct these
wrong impressions by recalling the facts
o Justices of an appellate court need to be apprise of the facts
of the case because they did not hear the evidence. They
rely on the lawyer’s summaries of them.
 You also need to restate your understanding of facts with your client
just to make sure that you have a shared understanding of the facts
and to avoid misunderstanding.
o
Sufficiency of Introduction
 Put only as much background facts as are needed for an
understanding of the issue that the parties present
 Standard of Sufficiency
o Statement of the Case
 The purpose of the Statement of the Case is to
provide a clear and concise statement of the nature
of the action, a summary of the proceedings, any
challenged order or decision issued, and other
matters necessary to an understanding of the
controversy
 Keep it short. Do not include the service of
summons, the holding of the pre-trial conference,
number of witnesses presented by either side, the
allegations of the parties in the pleadings.
Short Introductions
 Introduction of incidental issues
 It is essential to give a brief background of the facts and the issue to
enable the court to recall what the case is about and appreciate the
comment.
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Introduction in the reply must not repeat the elaborate introduction
made in the petition. It must be lean and terse serving only as a
reminder not a full repetition of what had been previously said
CHAPTER 9: WRITING THE ARGUMENT
Medico legal officer did not find any bruise on her body
Julia’s testimony that she walked home alone is contrary to
common experience
o Mario did not here any outcry at the time of the alleged rape
One technique in presenting multiple points is to present them in
numbered series
o
o

Second part of the Write up stage: Putting flesh and color to your
arguments and making your closing statement
Correct Conclusion Statement
 Draw an inference that the fact of a particular case opens it up or
closes it to the application of the rule that governs such case
Jump off Points
 Start with an opening or a topic statement that signals or defines the
direction of their argument. You can do this in two ways:
o By briefly stating the opponent's claim with the intention of
defining the area that your argument will attempt to assail
o By stating your thesis or proposition, then support it with the
argument that follows
Positioning Variation
 Conventional Sequence: rule, fact, conclusion
 You don’t always have to follow the conventional sequence. Your
argument will make sense so long as you string along those three
essential statements together regardless of their position.
Three Statements of an Argument
 A legal argument is made up of three statements: the rule
statement, the case fact statement, and the conclusion statement
Building Blocks of Argument
 The building blocks of argument are the three essential statements
Persuasive Arguments
 The awareness of the three essential statements is important
because the effectiveness of your argument depends on how ably
you write up each statement of your argument into a convincing part
 Argument is all about convincing another to buy your point of view
Omitted Statement
 You could omit from your arguments one of its essential statements
WHEN that element is so evident that it goes without saying
 Example: Someone lied about their age. You can omit “Falsehoods
cannot be believed” as your rule statement
 Danger: Many lawyers and student presume that their rule is evident,
when in fact, they are misreading how their average readers think
 In case of doubt: include all three essential statements
Convincing Rule Statement
 Instead of just “Women will ordinarily not admit to being raped
unless true,” rewrite it to a more convincing statement:
o “It takes a lot of courage for any woman to cry out and
testify that she has been raped. When she steps forward to
confess what happened to her, she exposes herself to the
humiliation of acknowledging that a man has ravished her
body and violated her virginity.”
Closing Statement
 Depart on a good note
 Your closing argument should not appear to argue: Recall to your
reader the truths that underlie every good decision in identical cases
Convincing Fact Statement
 Build up your statement of the case fact when parties are unable to
agree whether a key fact is applicable to the facts of the case.
 Several arguments can be clustered to bring home just one major
point: Julia’s testimony cannot support a judgment of conviction
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