This week’s discussion is on “Effective Legal Writing.” Please respond to ALL of the following questions for full credit. Failure to address any of these question will result in points deductions. In order to earn full credit for this question you MUST complete the e-Activity and use the source you researched to complete this response. Your response must be in your own writing. Cutting and pasting from other sources is not acceptable. All posts will be scanned for plagiarism at the end of the week using SafeAssign. You should prepare your ideas and use peer-reviewed academic sources outside to SUPPORT your ideas. Websites, encyclopedias are not acceptable sources.
Prepare the following response:
Compare and contrast the Issue, Rule, Application, and Conclusion (IRAC) method to the synthesis of cases and authorities’ method. Explain the value of each legal writing strategy. Justify your position.
From the e-Activity, choose three (3) of the ten (10) tips, and examine the primary manner in which each tip could impact a new paralegal, in comparison with a seasoned paralegal. Provide a rationale for your response.
RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT:
- Three tips for new paralegals:
1. Avoid the Temptation to Write In Legalese.
A paralegal has to avoid the temptation to write in legalese. Phrases such as “with regard to,” “with reference to,” and “as regards” are examples or features of legalese. Instead of writing in legalese, a legal researcher should use day-to-day preposition “about.”
2. Do Not Over-Quote Cases
A paralegal should no over-quote cases. He or she should rather paraphrase the cited quotation. This is a paraphrase from the case Feist Publications Inc. v. Rural Telephone SerÂvice Co. Inc., 499 U.S 340 (1991):
To be protected by copyright, the work has to be original to the author but does not require novelty. As long as the resemblance is not due to copying, a work can still be original even if it resembles another work.
3. Learn to Be a Critical Reader of Your Own Writing
A legal researcher has to be critical of his or her own writing by using reader-based outline. Reader-based outline is a way of being a critical reader to one’s writing. It can be done by copying and pasting the topic sentence of each paragraph into a separate document. Example of this outline is as follows:
* A paralegal has to avoid the temptation to write in legalese.
* A paralegal should no over-quote cases.
* A legal researcher has to be critical of his or her own writing by using reader-based outline.
