Legal Argumentation: Reasoning & Writing About the Law is suitable for a two- or three-semester introduction to legal analysis, reasoning, research, and writing. It covers theories underlying legal reasoning and analysis, contexts in which reasoning and analysis occur, and many common textual and oral genres, such as memos, briefs, letters, emails, contracts, and oral communication. The book’s appendices provide extensive supplemental information and examples, including writing resources, sample student work, and annotated documents.

This is an Interactive Book

The online Lawbooks version offers embedded interactive questions to help students understand and apply the material as they learn it. 

This book is also available as a PDF, in Word, and in print. The PDF and Word versions include direct links to the interactive questions on the Lawbooks website.

Description

This handbook is for upper-level students enrolled in a clinic, who are expected to draft legal memorandums, briefs, client letters, and pleadings with minimal supervision. Each chapter focuses on a single writing skill. The exercises and examples consistently and cogently employ the techniques and devices advocated in the book.

Clinical students learn by doing. Still, their legal writing experience is limited, so guiding them through written assignments is challenging. They simultaneously need specific feedback on legal writing from their professors, and the opportunity to do as much as possible on their own. I wrote this handbook with that challenge in mind.