The Legal Profession and

Professionalism: Legal
Writing and Analysis
Margaret Hall (hall@law.ubc.ca)
Michael Begg (mjb@artseen.ca)
Pooja Parmar
(poojaparmar7@gmail.com)
 Forms of legal writing
The memorandum
The opinion letter
The factum

A certain degree of formality is

required in all legal writing:
avoid slang, contractions, and
“folksiness” in your writing
 Structure of a Legal
Memorandum (“IRAC”)
Facts
Issues (questions)
Brief Answer (answer questions)
Statement of relevant law(s)/rule(s)
Application of law to facts/Discussion
Conclusion
A flexible formula, not an “ironclad mold” in
which to fit your analysis
 Facts and Issues
Facts
Include facts relevant to the legal issues and
rules
State assumptions you are making
Describe any relevant gaps in information

Issues
If the issues are complex, break into sub-issues
Stating issue as a question is effective
 Brief Answer and Law/Rule
Brief answer
 Concise
Answer question posed as issue

Law/rule
 Concise
Cite to authority
 Application of the law to the
facts
Address issues in order
Use headings for clarity of structure
Quote effectively
Consider arguments and their relative
strength
Consider analogies if no law on point
Application: Discussing
case law
avoid spilling out an “undigested mass of case
law” in your discussion.
How much detail do you give for each
authority cited?
sufficient details to make it meaningful to your
reader
why are you citing a particular authority? Is it a
case with similar facts? Is it a binding authority?
Does it contain a persuasive judgement? Do you
want to distinguish this case from yours? Tell your
reader!
 Conclusion
Use mini-conclusions for each issue in your
application
The conclusion should then summarize those
mini-conclusions and tie them together
Include the gray areas; avoid misleading your
reader
It should not include new materials or
arguments, but can include recommendations
and possible courses of action
 Opinion Letters
The audience will vary much more than
with a legal memorandum
Summarise complex legal principles and put
them into language your reader will
understand
State the purpose of the letter and give
concrete advice
 The Factum
Main focus to persuade (in contrast to the
memo and opinion letter, the purpose of
which is to provide objective information)
Strict rules govern both the format of
factums
 Post-Writing Tips
Check for coherence and unity
Editing
Grammar: e.g. subject-verb, run-on
sentences, dangling modifiers
Plain English (active voice)
Gender neutral language
Precision and conciseness
• Paragraphs, sentences, words
Proofreading
typos, spelling mistakes
 Revise, Revise, Revise
Take a break
Have you answered the questions?
Revise some more
Hand it in!