Five Steps Toward Persuasive Writing

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Five Steps Towards Persuasive Writing By T. Evan Schaeffer The goal of persuasive legal writing seems obvious enough. We want the court—whether at the trial or appellate level—to adopt our position. Nothing more, nothing less. But this seemingly self-evident advice begs another, more critical question. If persuasiveness is the goal, how do we get there? What are the components of persuasive writing? What separates the amateurs from the pros? Persuasiveness is not single virtue, but a function of many things coming together at once. The five steps that follow are a process, not a blueprint or a paint-by-numbers exercise. There is no "quick fix" when it comes to persuading a court. You won't find too much about style or grammar on the list. It assumes that most already know the basics: write in the active voice, cut out the needless words, learn to write grammatically. Important, critical skills. But once mastered, not enough. Step #1 Get Organized That enduring requirement of high school composition—that is, to begin your writing projects with an outline—is still a good idea. An outline gives direction to your project from the start and makes the laborious process of writing the first draft that much easier. The typical legal brief or memorandum has four parts: an introduction, factual background, argument, and conclusion. You should consider a longer introduction that provides a sort of "executive summary" that states at the outset why your client should win. The conclusion is normally a perfunctory close of only a sentence or two. If you are responding to something your opponent has already written, it is often easiest to adopt your opponent's organization—that is, respond to your opponent's arguments in the same order that he or she presented

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