WRITING SKILLS

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Citation

3

Word processing

4

Structure of a memorial

5

Writing process

6

1

2

Writing Style

IRAC

BEFORE WRITING

OBJECTIVE

Win the competitionWin the caseor

BEFORE WRITING

STRUCTURE

FormatContentand

WRITING STYLE

Clear, Consistent, Flowing

WRITING STYLE

ACHIEVING “ONE VOICE”- Paragraph flow- Words, phrases tend to repeat- Delegate team members to writing task

WRITING STYLE

STRUCTURING YOUR DOCUMENT- Map out a framework- Use headings effectively

BASIC RULES OF WRITINGSENTENCE CONSTRUCTION- Short, direct, easy to understand, does not create

ambiguity

S – V – O- To emphasize or present a weak argument, use

PASSIVE VOICE- Modifier (by …)

The food aid was ruined on the date it was received by the Parthian refugee agency.

- Parallel writing: verbs should be used in same form

BASIC RULES OF WRITING

WORD USAGE- Appropriate legal words

TENSE USE

- Keep the tense consistent

IRAC

- IRAC is a analytical paradigm and organizational structure, mostly used in legal writing.

- The IRAC structure makes the arguments more persuasive and helps the readers follow the complex reasoning process.

IRAC- IRAC stands for:

I = Issue

R = Rule

A = Application

C = Conclusion

- There are some modified forms of IRAC such as: CIRAC (Conclusion, Issue, Rules, Application, Conclusion), CREAC (Conclusion, Rules, Explanation, Application, Conclusion), IRREAC…

IRAC – Issue Issue: The first sentence of IRAC is to identify the legal

problem to be solved. - Identify issue in the form of a question

Example: The issue is whether the respondent’s failure to deliver the goods in proper quality constitutes a breach of contract.

- Identify issue in the form of a statement (conclusion). It may also be the heading of your (sub-)arguments.

Example: The respondent’s failure to deliver the goods in proper quality constitutes a breach of contract.

IRAC - RuleRule: state the applicable rules governing the dispute.

- Statement of the rule (The rule is from statutory law, case law, common practice)

Example: According to Article 11(1) of IAA provides that any dispute(s) the parties have agreed to submit to the arbitration under arbitration agreement is arbitrable, unless it is contrary to the public policy to do so.

- Explanation of the rule (usually requires using cases to explain)

Example: […]. Public policy are principles and standards regarded by legislature as a being of fundamental concerned to the state and regulations written to address that legislation[Citation]

IRAC - Rule

- Statutory laws: What is the law? What is not in the law? (Exceptions) What factors will the court consider?

- Case law: Background Reasoning Holding

IRAC – Application - Step 1: State the relevant facts, i.e. facts on which judges rely to analyze the rules and reach the conclusion.

- Step 2: Compare with the facts in the instant case Analogies Distinctions

- Step 3: Connect to the expected results reach the conclusion

IRAC – Conclusion

Answer to the legal issue, i.e. you should state (or restate, if you have already stated it in your topic sentence) your conclusion on the issue.

**Conclude each legal issue before drawing the final overall conclusion

ExampleAssume John states in front of a group of people that

Peter is a thief because John suspects that Peter has

taken his unique pen. Shortly after the allegation is

made, Peter loses his job, a high position that

requires high decree of trustworthiness. His employer

was among the individuals who overheard John’s

statement. The next day, John’s assistant finds the

pen in John’s office. Does John’s statement constitute

defamation?

Example

The issue here is whether or not John’s statement that Peter is a thief constitutes defamtion.

Defamation is defined as the issuance of a false statement about another person, which causes that person to suffer harm.

I

R

ExampleIn this instance, John verbalized or “issued” a

statement that Peter was a thief, a derogatory characterization. The inferential allegation that the pen was stolen was proven to be false when an unbiased individual, John’s assistant, found the pen in area under the exclusive control of John. An investigation into Peter’s employee file revealed that prior to being fired by his employer, Peter received consistently high praise on his quarterly performance reviews over the past several years. He was fired within the hour that the allegation was uttered. Loss of a high wage job has caused Peter harm by lowering his earning power and quality of life.

A

Example

Therefore, John’s statement referring to Peter’s purported actions does constitue defamtion and is actionable under law because it satisfies all elements of defamation.

C

Writing process- Read the facts carefully and look for the issues in the Moot Problem

- Preliminary research

- Building arguments outline

- Deeper research develop the arguments

- Starting to write: First draft (not write in the order of the parts in memo) Revise for organization and analysis Revise for fluidity and clarity

- Editing and formatting the documents: make use of the word-processing software.

Writing process

Statements of jurisdiction

Questions presented

Statement of facts

Summary of pleadings

Prayer for relief

Table of authorites

Table of content

Pleadings

WORD PROCESSING

- Which MS Word to choose? 2007 and later

- Spelling, Synonyms and Thesaurus: Check

all

- File Naming: C/R – (Author/Team Number)

(section)(Date)(Note)

Eg. [C] – F1010 [sub1][04.5.2013][final]

- Formatting

Fonts: Times New Roman

Size: 12

Paragraph: No space between paragraph

Rulers: equal margins:1 inch/2.54cm

- Page layout: size A4

Numbering: A -> I -> 1 -> a -> i -> (1) or ▪

- Footnote, FN1. Moot Problem, p. 2.

2. Franchise Agreement, Art. XII.3. Clarification C-10, p. 3.

4. Black’s Law Dictionary 1351 (9th ed.2009).

5. Id. at 1355.

6. Black Law’s Dictionary, supra note 4, at 1426.

8. Ulster, 442 U.S. at 162-63, 165, 99 S.Ct. at 2227-28, 2229; Francis, 471 U.S. at 314-15, 105 S.Ct. at 1971. See also Schwendeman v. Wallenstein, 971 F.2d 313, 316 (9th Cir.1992).

- Id/Ibib (ibidem): the same as the preceding reference.

- Supra note X: the same as the note X (earlier- cited but not preceding one)

- See (See also):  indicates that the cited authority constitutes additional material that supports the proposition

- Track changes

- Punctuation Order: “a,”13; b.14

- Table of Authorities (TOA) Turn off Spelling Mark citations Short citation, Mark all Categorize Paragraph mark ¶ Delete an entry {}, Update (F9)

- Table of Content (TOC) Levels Modify Style Update and Edit

- PDF (Portable Document Formatting)

Built-in PDF Exporting in Word 2007 and later

CITATION- Legislation

Tittle of the act, Art. Eg.

1. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, Art. 18.

2. Regulation 31/m-dag/per/8/2008 of the Minniste of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia dated August 21, 2008 regarding Franchising, Art. 5

- Cases

Party name v. Party name, the publish source (court & year) (other information), prior & subsequent history

Eg. United States v. MacDonald, 531 F.2d 196, 199-200 (4th Cir. 1976) (resting review of the dispositive issue in the principle of judicial economy), rev’d, 435 U.S. 850 (1987).

(1) United States v. MacDonald: Parties (“v.”: versus)

(2) 531: reported volume no.; F.2d: reporter abbreviation (Federal reporter, 2nd series); 196: first page of case; 199-200: pages referred to

(3) (4th Cir. 1976): Circuit Court of appeals (federal)

(4) (resting…economy): describe the court’s decision

(5) Rev’d: reversal – action of higher court; 435 U.S. 850 (1987): citation of reversal

- Books, reports

Author, title, page/section cited (edition, publisher & date)

Eg. FRANCIS A. CAREY, ORGANIC CHEMISTRY 310 (6th ed. 2006)

**Style: Book title

- Internet citation

Author, Titles, date and time, URL (last visited …)

Eg. Carlos M. Correa, Implementation of the WTO General Council decision on Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, 2004, http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/pdf/s6159e/s6159e.pdf (last visited 24th August 2010)

- Articles: Consecutively paginated articles:

Author(s), Title, Periodical Name, page on which article begin, pages cited (year) (*).

Non-consecutively paginated articles

Author(s), Title, Periodical Name, Date of Issue, at Page.

Eg.

1. Charles A.Reich, The New Property, 73 Yale L.J. 733, 737-38 (1964).

2. Rachel Williams, Council Found Liable for Birth Defects, Med. L. Rev., Wed. 29, 2009, at 2.