LW111: COURTS & DISPUTE RESOLUTION 1
LECTURE 6:
LEGAL WRITING – THE ART OF PERSUASION
MODULE 3:
THE ART OF WRITTEN
AND ORAL ADVOCACY
– AN INTRODUCTION
WEEK 6
[APPRECIATING THE IMPORTANT ROLES THAT GRAMMAR,
SENTENCE STRUCTURES, CHOICE OF WORDS, AND
PUNCTUATIONS PLAY IN LEGAL WRITING]
SUMMARY
‘English proficiency is extremely important in law….’
 ‘students will struggle with their studies if they have difficulties with
listening, reading, or writing skills.
 this is in addition to the difficult of studying a difficult subject like law
 While differences in international English and local usage can be acceptable,
and even essential, the only meaningful metric is a standard English (ie,
American, Australian, British, etc)
 not least because many materials used in legal study and practice will use
such standards
 not knowing a standard English will likely mean failing to understand
what you read
 ‘The responsibility to meet these standards lies with the students themselves.’
 Whatever your current level of proficiency, students are strongly encouraged
to improve their listening, reading, and writing abilities through Student
Learning Support and other legitimate resources.
WHAT IS GOOD LEGAL WRITING
“Good legal writing does not sound as though it had been
written by a lawyer”
Richard Wydick, (2005) Plain English for Lawyers; Published August 29th 2005 by Carolina Academic Press (5thEdition)
❑ It is the ability to transform words into a written art to
communicate the need or intention of the writer.
❑ The legal profession is becoming increasingly aware of
the need to sharpen the professional drafting skills
needed daily by every lawyer.
❑ Legal documents to be drafted in a manner that
achieve its purpose.
3
GOOD LEGAL WRITING
❑ Lawyers are not perfect, but we must endeavor to continue
improving our writing skills every day.
❑ The most important thing to improve your legal writing is to take
time with it and find help editing if you need it.
❑ Legal writing requires correct grammar and accurate substance.
But effective legal writing must also communicate a clear
message.
❑ Before putting your fingers to keyboard, plan ahead and identify
your audience and purpose. Outlining [Planning] is a lost art
that should make a comeback, especially in the legal
profession where all writing is inherently complex.
4
WHAT IS THE GOAL WHEN DRAFTING?
❑ Tone is a critical component in legal writing and should shift
based on the purpose of the writing.
❑
✓
✓
✓
✓
Legal writing often takes four different types of tones:
Informative,
conciliatory/neighborly,
passive aggressive, and
angry.
❑ Each of those tones has different uses and should be used
accordingly. For example, a demand letter may have an angry
tone. It does not need paragraphs of informative fluff or
legalese.
❑ Informative legal writing such as written submissions,
similarly, should include extensive analysis of the law but
should not exude considerable emotion.
4
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD WRITING
“A lawyer should keep in mind that the purpose of the
communication is to communicate, and this can’t be done if the
reader does not understand the words used”.
A quote from Bryan Garner, Distinguished Research Professor of Law at Southern Methodist
University Dedman School of Law and Founder of Law Prose
❑ Good legal writing is simple, clear and concise.
❑ Good legal drafting means the document can be understood
by the reader and meets the needs of the reader. Your legal
documents will be made effective if you write with the same
goals in mind.
❑ Good legal drafting is a process – it involves planning,
researching, drafting, reviewing, editing and re-drafting. It is a
skill that you practice and develop over time.
6
LEGAL WRITING PROCESS
❑To draft effective documents you must:
✓ Understand the client’s desired outcome or
goal/s from the information provided by the
client.
✓ Identify the facts that define what must be
addressed in the documents.
✓ Research the law concerning the legal Issues
identified.
✓ Apply the facts into the principles of the legal
issued identified. (Can be done in a number of Drafts)
✓ Communicate the possible legal outcomes
to the client, so that they are aware and
understand the legal processes and its
possible outcomes.
4
BASIC DRAFTING PROCESS
❑The ultimate goal of this process is to ensure
that for any document that a lawyer draft, or
reviews, they understand fully why each word,
sentence, clause, or paragraph is being used,
and the effect it will have on their client.
❑Anything less is unacceptable and bridges on
ethical dilemmas for the lawyer.
❑Language used for every legal document must
be formal, clear, concise and functional.
❑The drafting process is the same regardless of
the type of legal document.
4
LEGAL DRAFTING TIPS
❑Most documents that we draft are designed to
instruct others regarding our client’s rights,
obligations and status.
❑For example, a Contract is a set of instructions
regarding what parties must do.
Civil Pleadings are documents containing the
legal claim/s of the Plaintiff and the defence/s
and/or counter claim of the Defendant/s, etc.
❑ Know your audience and who you are writing
to.
❑ Avoid verbal clutter.
4
LEGAL DRAFTING TIPS
❑Use Words sparingly.
❑ Omit surplus words.
Example: “A trial by jury was requested by the
defendant”.
Amendment: “The defendant requested a jury
trial”.
❑ Avoid compound construction.
Example: rather than writing, “… at the point in
time..”, one can just use the word “then”.
4
LEGAL DRAFTING TIPS
❑ Avoid Word Wasting Idioms
Example: rather than writing, “… despite the
fact that..”, one can just use the word
“although”.
❑ When writing, focus on the Actor, the Action and
the Object.
Example: rather than writing, “It is possible for
the Court to vary the Judgment”, it can be
amended to read “The Court can vary the
Judgment”.
4
LEGAL DRAFTING TIPS
❑ Do not use redundant Legal Phrases
Example: “null and void”, “totally null and
void and of no further force or effect”.
Rather
than
writing
“Last
Will
and
Testament….”, it can just be written “Will…..”
4
LEGAL WRITING STYLE
AVOID WORD-WASTING IDIOMS.
AVOID COMPOUND CONSTRUCTIONS.
Examples:
Examples:
❑ the fact that she had died
(her death)
❑ despite the fact that
(although)
(because)
❑ at the point in time
(then)
❑ by means of
❑ because of the fact that
(by)
❑ he was aware of that fact that (he knew)
❑ by reason of
(because of)
❑ by virtue of
(by, under)
❑ for the purpose of
(to)
❑ for the reason that
(because)
❑ Focus On The Actor, The Action, And The Object.
Example:
❑ It is possible for the court to modify the judgment. •
The court can modify thejudgment.
[actor] [action]
[object]
13
Source: Richard Wydick, (2005) Plain English for Lawyers; Published August 29th 2005 by
Carolina Academic Press (5thEdition)
STRUCTURE IS IMPORTANT
• A good structure is essential (and usually requires
thought before writing begins)
• An introduction should identify the broad theme(s) raised
and your approach.
• The main body should contain an explanation, analysis
and arguments of the relevant law/issues.
• these should be set out logically and coherently
consistent with your focus
• they should usually be targeted towards an
intelligent (but non-expert) reader
• The conclusion can be used either
• to draw together and/or emphasise the primary
points that emerge from your analysis or
• as the focus of analysis for issues/evidence that you
have presented in the main body of the essay
• Both sentences and paragraphs should be presented in
a logical order so that one leads on smoothly to the
next. Linking and topics sentences are especially useful
here.
FORMAL REQUIREMENTS
While substantive requirements are probably
obvious, formal requirements are also important
and weighed equally in this course. The two can
be difficult to separate.
The formal requirements of a legal writing
assignment test your comprehension, your ability
to communicate, and your attention to detail.
These are vital skills for the law.
In general, for this course:
 submissions must be typed, with the student’s
name and identification number at the top of
the first page.
 no cover pages are necessary.
 students should use an easy-to-read 12 point
font, double-spaced, left justified, with one inch
margins on all sides.
 students should use page numbers.
 neither assignment should exceed 1,000 words.
 additional submission requirements may be
provided.
Phiji Donuatu – s00000000
LW112 Assignmnt
Law and honor on the
pacific
The legal system and legislations in the Pacific
are all from the United England.new
Caledonia are based on france laws and
it’s statutes is in French….
Phiji Donuatu – s00000000
LW113 Assignment
Law and Honour in the
Pacific
Most of the legal systems and legislation
in the Pacific are derived from English
law. The legal tradition of New Caledonia
is, however, based on French law. Its
legislation is in French….
NOTE: Essays should be written in
a standard, consistent English
(eg, British, American, Australian, New
Zealand) appropriate to the student.
eg = for
example
STYLE AND GRAMMAR
In legal writing, particular attention should be
paid to grammar, including spelling. Ideally,
the draft essay should be proof-read by
someone other than the author (but whose
opinion is valuable and trustworthy).
In general, writers should attempt to
 be clear and concise
 use ‘plain English’ (rather than mere or
excessive legal jargon)
 use reasonably simple sentence structure
 write in the active voice
 write, insofar as is possible, in a gender
neutral manner
You should also:
 write in an objective (rather than subjective)
voice, ie avoid ‘I believe’, ‘I think’, etc.
 adopt a neutral tone to write objectively—
or, at least, to appear objective—and
respectful and thoughtful with those you
disagree with.
TOP 10 SIGNS OF BAD LEGAL
WRITING
10. USING PASSIVE RATHER THAN
ACTIVE VOICE
9. NOMINALIZATIONS
8. FEAR OF CALLING THINGS BY
THEIR NAMES
7. VERBOSITY
6. QUALIFYING PHRASES
5. REDUNDANCY
4. MEANINGLESS ADVERBS USED IN
A VAIN EFFORT TO MAKE A WEAK
POINT APPEAR STRONGER
3. MEANINGLESS WEASEL WORDS
USED BECAUSE YOU’RE AFRAID TO
TAKE A POSITION
2. DOUBLE NEGATIVES
1. PHRASES WITH ABSOLUTELY NO
MEANING WHATSOEVER
Explanations of these and much
more is available at the Academic
and Legal English Blog
STYLE AND GRAMMAR
❑ Use a semicolon to join two closely related independent clauses that are not
separated by a conjunction. Use a comma to join two closely related
independent clauses that are separated by a conjunction.
Example:
Incorrect: The lease states that the landlord must pay for all repairs, it does not
address who is responsible for making those repairs.
Correct: The lease states that the landlord must pay for all repairs; however, it
does not address who is responsible for making those repairs. [Note: “However”
is not necessary in this sentence; it is used merely to clarify the relationship
between the two clauses.]
Correct: The lease states that the landlord must pay for all repairs, but it does
not address who is responsible for making those repairs.
Use "who" if the pronoun is the subject of the verb; use "whom" if the
pronoun is the object of a verb, preposition, or infinitive.
Examples: A security guard witnessed the person who robbed the bank.
[In this sentence, who is the subject and robbed is the verb.]
The suspect was a person with whom Joe had worked.
[In this sentence, whom is not a subject, but rather it is the object of a preposition,
with.]
STYLE AND GRAMMAR
GRAMMAR’
NOT Legislations
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is taking and using another person’s thoughts, writings,
inventions or other work as your own, either intentionally or through
negligence in referencing and citation.
Dishonest practice covers other forms of cheating, including taking
material that is not permitted into examinations, collusion or
copying from other students, and submitting work for assessment
where that that work had been previously submitted for the same
or other course(s).
PLAGIARISM
If the lecturer is satisfied that plagiarism has
occurred, they will report the matter to the
Deputy Head of School, who is responsible for
matters of discipline. The lecturer can reduce
marks appropriately and if the matter is seen
as serious enough it can be taken to the
Student Disciplinary Committee.
So far as law students are concerned, these
matters are especially serious because they
suggest a failure to respect the basic ethical
principles. In the context of the University, they
can lead to fines, suspension, or expulsion from
the institution. In addition, some courts
responsible for the admission of law graduates
to legal practice will not admit individuals with
a record of plagiarism.
Additional information on plagiarism and
academic misconduct is available on Moodle,
as well as in the latest USP Handbook &
Calendar.
PLAGIARISM
In practice, in the case of Devi v Prasad [
2016] FJHC 422; Judge Kumar stated the
following in paragraph 5.0 –
“It is with regret I note that, the Applicant’s Counsel at
pages 5 to 8 of Applicant’s Submission copied the
contents of this Court’s ruling in Digicel Fiji Limited v
Fiji Rugby Union[2014] High Court Civil Action No. 30
of 2014 (13 March 2014) without acknowledging it as
the source. This is clear act of plagiarism. This
practice must stop at once in respect to Submissions
filed in Court.
I also note that Applicant’s Submission does carry
page numbers or paragraph numbers which is quite
unsatisfactory. Legal Practitioners should take note of
this and ensure that Submissions and documents filed
in Court are of proper standard and quality.”
(bolded for emphasis)
QUOTATIONS
Must generally ‘be … exact[] (15)’, though words
can be omitted and altered according to the rules
discussed in the guide at page 16.
Require quotation marks/inverted commas; the guide
typically requires ‘single quote marks’ (15, see
generally 15-17)
Must be accompanied with a reference number ‘at
the end of the quote or paraphrase (16)’
Usually require a “pinpoint citation” showing
exactly where the text is from
Short quotes, ie those ‘less than 50 words (15)*,
‘appear in the normal body of the text (15)’, while
long quotes require indenting the quoted text
separately (and in the same font size)*
NOTE:
Quotations
shouldn’t be
italicised (an
odd, lawyer’s
habit)
REFERENCING
Use the School’s House Style (in the Legal Referencing
guide), unless told differently by their lecturer.
‘[G]ood content needs good referencing (4)’. It:
 provides evidence for your arguments and establishes that they
are based on credible sources
 allows a reader to investigate and substantiate the sources
 ensures that your sources are properly acknowledged and you
avoid plagiarism or the appearance of plagiarism [more below]
To avoid plagiarism, cite when you ‘directly quote’ or
‘borrow ideas … and paraphrase them .... (15).’ See 1819 on additional information on paraphrasing.
NOTE: For this course,
all text in the footnotes
counts towards the
total word count of the
assignment
Footnotes and endnotes are permitted by the guide, but
only the former are allowed in this course. Each
 are used to provide citations for the sources and authorities used
and to refer, where appropriate, to additional materials.
 can also be used to provide additional commentary, but this
should be kept to a minimum
Where required, a bibliography includes a
comprehensive list of sources used in research, often
extending beyond the sources cited.
CITATION EXAMPLES
• Primary Legal Sources
Note: the
• Law reports, by year: R v Morei [1977] Gilbert Is LR 23.
PacLII
• Law reports, by volume: Ralulu v State (1990) 36 Fiji LR 240.
links may
not be
• PacLII cases, and cases from other legal information institutes
necessary
• Republic v Itinnaibo [2003] KIHC 157 http://paclii.org.vu.
• Prasad v State (1988) 34 Fiji LR 107; [1988] FJCA 3 http://paclii.org.vu.
• Unreported cases: Attorney General v Tebana (Unreported, Court of Appeal Kiribati,
Crim App No 8 1987, 19 April 1988, Gibbs, VP, Frost, Donne, Dillon & Mitchell,
JJA).
• Statutes and ordinances
• Employment Act [Cap 160] (Vanuatu).
• Employment Amendment Act 1995 (Vanuatu).
• Marriage Ordinance [Cap 54] (Kiribati).
• Other Sources
• Books: Michael A. Jones, Textbook on Torts (4th ed, 1993).
• Chapters in books or reports: Rod Duncan and Ron Duncan, ‘Improving security
of access to customary-owned land in Melanesia: mining in Papua New Guinea’ in
Peter Larmour (ed), The Governance of Common Property in the Pacific Region (1997)
73.
• Academic journal articles, hard copy: Roscoe Pound, ‘The Limits of Effective
Legal Action’ (1917) 27 International Journal of Ethics 150.
• Academic journal articles, online: Sarah Hardy Pickering, ‘A proposal to establish
a land tribunal in Vanuatu’ (1997) 1 Journal of South Pacific Law
http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/journal_splaw/Workin
g_Papers/Hardy_Pickering1.htm (Accessed 22 December 2004).
NOTES:
Everything in these
examples is
important. This
includes, inter alia,
(i) spaces between
words, (ii)
punctuation
(including
quotation marks) or
its absence, and (iii)
full names
While some journal
abbreviations are
common, it’s
probably safest to
spell out the full
title.
But there are some
errors in the guide,
eg in the
capitalisation of
words in the titles.
CONCLUSION
 Information that could reasonably be
considered common knowledge needn’t be
attributed, unless an author is the source of your
information on the subject.
 Don’t cite originals unless you’ve read them.
 If you read sources on PacLII that are in the
same form as hard copies, you needn’t cite a
PacLII link.
Many students use poor sources. On this, see the
“CARS” approach to weighing ‘secondary
sources’ based on ‘Credibility, Accuracy,
Reasonableness, and Support (7, see generally 612)’
For the details of referencing, see 30-38; for crossreferencing, see 20*
See the ‘Common “Referencing Crimes”’ at 26-29
REMINDERS
✓ Tutorial questions can be found every week at the end of the PP
slides.
✓ Be prepared when you attend Tutorials.
✓ Assessment 1: Online Quiz due on 08/05/2022
✓ Assessment 2 – Court Observation Exercise is due on 08/05/2022.
✓ Visit a local court where you live or study and observe a case (that
has been set for hearing) and the legal process at work. Take a
notebook with you to note down your observation.
✓ Write a report on what you observed in Court. The Report must be
typed in Word document and the Word document. Completed report
is to be uploaded onto the designated portal for Assessment 2 that
will be available on Moodle. Font is to be Times New Roman, Font size
is 12 and line spacing is 1.5. The paragraphs are to be indented. You
will be provided with questions you can use to guide you put together
the content of your Report. These questions to guide you in your report
writing is below. You may go with others, but each student must
submit their OWN assignment. Do not copy another student’s work.
Submit your own work.
29
WEEK 6: TUTORIAL 5
1. Briefly, ie in a few sentences, (a) write why language proficiency
is important to legal study and legal practice and (b) explain how
a student might improve their language proficiency.
2. Briefly explain what plagiarism is and why it’s both unethical and
unwise.
3.
Edit the following sentences for wordiness.
A. I am writing you in regard to your letter of March 5, 1994.
B. John is a person who succeeds at everything he does.
C. Mary left in an abrupt manner.
D. Owing to the fact that he was ill, Barry did not go to work.
E. Many people here in the city of Nausori enjoy horse racing.
F. Students use the library for research purposes.