Legal Writing: Academic and Professional Communication

Good legal writing is an inherently ethical practice and fundamental to professionalism and lawyering.

Legal Writing: Academic and Professional Communication emphasises the link between legal writing and ethics as it guides readers through phases of the writing process and helps them develop effective legal writing skills essential for both academic and professional contexts. The book covers a range of academic writing commonly encountered by undergraduate and postgraduate law students including case notes, problem questions and essays. It also explores specific forms of legal writing required in the profession, through client letters, memoranda, appellate briefs and reports to support novice writers in understanding their ethical obligations and developing a professional voice.

Provides grounding in good writing techniques with practical guidance and examples across a range of academic and professional writing genres

Extensive learning materials including a grammar primer, theories of writing and comparative tables outlining professional rules for ongoing reference

Includes exercises, questions for reflection and further reading at the end of each chapter to help students hone their skills as legal writers

How to Use this Book
1: Legal Writing as an Ethical Practice
PART 1 GENERAL AND ACADEMIC WRITING
2: Pre-Writing
3: Researching for Writing
4: Drafting, Revising, Editing and Proofreading
5: Case Notes and Problem Questions
6: Research Essays, Theses and Dissertations
PART 2 PROFESSIONAL WRITING
7: Balanced Writing: The Memorandum and Client Letter
8: Persuasive Writing
9: Form writing: Standard forms and Use of Precedents
10: Technical Writing
11: Writing with Civility: When do written communications become discourteous and unethical?
12: Reflective Practices and Everyday Communication
13: Conclusion
PART 3 LEARNING MATERIALS
Theories of Writing
Comparative Tables
A Grammar Primer