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(More customer reviews)Oates, Enquist, and Kunsch have published the third edition of The Legal Writing Handbook, one of the most comprehensive legal writing books available today. This book speaks powerfully about the entire legal writing process. There is a definite art and science to crafting legal documents and this book provides the detailed instruction necessary for legal professionals and law students to produce truly outstanding work.
Readers are briefly introduced to the American legal system in terms of government and court history, responsibilities, accountability, and the nature of both common and enacted laws. Then comes the real meat - performing legal research and analysis, making use of available printed and online resources, learning sound legal grammar, and instruction for crafting a variety of professional legal documents that lawyers write most often - legal advice memos, client letters, motion briefs, and appellate briefs.
The book is very helpful in terms of crafting legal documents. Readers will quickly pick up on how to select the right words and how to effectively structure their thoughts. Like the work of a sculptor or clay modeler, legal documents should be crafted in such a way as to convey the right message to the right people. Through a variety of gripping written examples the reader will learn just how important it is to devote quality time and to give serious thought to the legal writing process.
The book reveals in no uncertain terms that there are definite strategies involved in crafting legal documents. Whether one is an attorney for a plaintiff or defendant, a law enforcement officer, or prosecutor, the outcome of court cases can hinge on one's writing skills. One revelation from the book that will hit readers hard is that clever legal document writers can act unethically by crafting their legal documents in such a way as to distort the truth to get guilty people off. Likewise, there is the possibility of trying to convict totally innocent people. An innocent person can be made to appear quite guilty of a crime by cleverly crafting such documents. Certain facts can be emphasized or de-emphasized, mis-truths can be implied through the clever use of wording and structuring, and so on, to cast particular people in poor light. Readers will find utterly amazing - and perhaps a bit frightening - how opposing parties can take the same set of facts and circumstances and craft two entirely different perspectives involving the same case matter!
Readers are also introduced to the many types of helpful and essential legal research resources available to them - online court decisions and statues, online information brokering services, law dictionaries and encyclopedias, law reviews, and general practice books - all of which will greatly contribute to the legal writing process.
This book will be of immense help to any lawyer and law student desiring to develop their legal writing skills - or to polish up their existing ones. They will be introduced to a number of essential research and writing resources, they will be exposed to expert writing instruction and numerous legal documents, and they learn how to best represent their clients in legal matters. This is must reading for lawyers, law school students, and other legal professionals!
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Students and professors will welcome this new edition of the only text for legal writing and research that covers all three key components of the first-year course -- research, writing, and analysis.These distinctive features earned THE LEGAL WRITING HANDBOOK its popularity:
comprehensive coverage of analysis, writing, and research
teaches a state of the art approach to legal research, with an emphasis on electronic research
uses a process approach to lead students from pre-writing to drafting, editing, and the final draft
begins with the basics of the legal system, introducing students to how to read and analyze statutes and cases, then takes students through the process of writing an objective memorandum and trial and appellate briefs
offers resources to help students become more effective writers, including extensive guidance on effective legal style, grammar, and mechanics
demonstrates concepts through the use of examples
provides grammar and rhetorical/cultural information designed specifically for law students for whom English is a second language
broad coverage makes the book easy to adapt for two-, three-, or four-semester programs
provides numerous exercises in an accompanying Practice Book to help students master research and writing skills
the comprehensive Teacher¿s Manual and Teaching Materials website includes teaching guidance, handouts, and sample lessons and diagnostic test (also available online) for pinpointing writing problems
Through painstaking editing, the Fourth Edition incorporates new material without increasing the length of the book:
a reorganized and updated presentation of research reflects the changes in practice. Exhibits are now included on CD with the book, for easy reference.
a new section on legal reading
the section on writing memos includes new examples and an additional chapter on writing more sophisticated memos
the increased use of Practice Pointers and Questions reflects the latest research on active learning, while the emphasis on teaching underlying structures applies research on transfer of learning
new, short sections raise issues relating to professionalism and the role of lawyers
the chapter on effective paragraphs and the sections on Legal Writing for English-as-a-Second-Language Students and on bias-free and gender-neutral language are all thoroughly updated
new material offers advice on how to avoid procrastination and other writing obstacles
An author website to support classroom instruction using this title is available at http://www.aspenlawschool.com/oates_enquist
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