THE UNIVERSITY OF DODOMA

COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF LAW
Group-3

COURSE NAME: LEGAL METHOD

COURSE CODE: LW 102

COURSE INSTRUCTOR: KHARTOUM M. MASOUD

NATURE OF THE WORK: SEMINAR PRESENTATION

GROUP LEADER: KAZIMOTO PETER.C.

PARTICIPANTS:

S/N NAME REG. NO SIGNATURE

01 MAJURA IBRAHIM, W. T/UDOM/2011/04301
02 MASSIMBA BERNARD,E. T/UDOM/2011/04264
03 LUTU SHEILA, B. T/UDOM/2011/04243
04 ABDUL SHAFII T/UDOM/2011/04237
05 MWITA MARTHA T/UDOM/2011/04251
06 SIRIWA GODFREY T/UDOM/2011/04281
07 MCHEWERE GOODLUCK, P. T/UDOM/2011/04296
08 KAZIMOTO PETER, C. T/UDOM/2011/04289
09 KATINDA EXAVERY T/UDOM/2011/04233
10 JOHN CATHERINE T/UDOM/2011/04224
11 CHARLES ERICK T/UDOM/2011/04294

TOPIC: LEGAL WRITING

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. INTRODUCTION
 Characteristics of legal language
 Language as profession tool
 The art of forms of legal language

B.CONTENT OF LEGAL WRITING

 Various formats used in legal memos

C.THE ART OF WRITING EXAMINATION

D.THE ART OF WRITING AND PRESENTING RESEARCH RESULTS

 How to write research results
 Stages in research results

E.CONCLUSION

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 A. INTRODUCTION

Legal writing is a branch of technical writing with its own set of rules and priorities.
Legal writing is demanding in ways that undergraduate writing rarely is perhaps because
legal writing requires a lawyer to be simultaneously precise and concise. Each term in
agreement must be explicit1. The legal writing categorized into two categories, involved
legal analysis and legal drafting.

Language is a faculty of which posses of communicating their perceptions and ideals to

another. Each profession has its own jargon. Jargon, then is the matter of audience. The
need to your audience must be met in each choice of word, just as they met within your
Organizational choices. The legal language is said to be “legalese” .Legalese is an
English term first used in 1914 for legal writing that designed to be difficult for laymen to
read and understand. The implication being that abstruseness is deliberate for excluding
the legally untrained and to justify high fees 2

Characteristics of legal language

The legal language as professional tool has the following peculiar

Characters such as graph logical features, grammatical features, lexical features and
semantic features.

Graph logical features include, the use of headlines and sub headlines which used to give
prior information of what is going to be written or discussed, the use of simple and few
punctuation such as commas for the purpose of avoiding ambiguity, the use of
capitalizatrrrrion for the purpose of insisting or indicating important words and phrases.

Grammatical features include, the use of long sentences, long noun phrases, the use of
general pronoun to avoid personal language. For example, in article 5(1) of the
Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977(as amended from time to time).
It states:
“ Every citizen of the United Republic who have attained the age of eighteen years is
entitled to vote in any election held in Tanzania……..”3.This is because the law is
general.

Lexical features of legal language consist of strictly terms such as hereby, thereof,
thereto, and because of, use of Latin and French words, use of common words with
uncommon meaning, and the use old English, the use of words of art and the use of
formal words.
1
Terri LeClercq, Guide to Legal Writing Style.2nd edition, Aspen Press, New York,2000,pg4.
2
Ibid, pg 61
3
The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977(as amended from time to time).

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Semantic features of legal language characterized by with clear words without ambiguity.
Also there no use of idioms, figures of speech and the use of persuasive language.

Language as professional tool

Legal language aimed to improve oral and written communication in the field of law.
Language is one of the most fundamental tools of legal profession. Legal language in oral
communication must:
 Convey information in clear, concise and logical manner
 Communicate persuasively
 Advocate a position or clause
 Master legal terminology
 Develop keen listening skills.

For the case of written communication, legal language guide lawyers to:
 Master stylistic and mechanical aspects of writing.
 Master fundamentals of English grammar
 Learn how to write organized, concise and persuasive prose
 Draft effective legal documents such as motions, briefs, memorandums,
resolutions and legal agreement.

The art of forms of legal writing

The forms of legal writing consists clear words without ambiguity. Also there no use of
idioms, figures of speech and the use of persuasive language.

Also it is brief; this is due to the fact that only relevant materials or information are
written.

Legal writing imply the rule of uniformity, this means that the information provided do
not confuse themselves because the facts remain constant.

Citation and Quotation

In preparation of different documents and legal research, lawyers or person pursuing
legal education rely on various authorities in presenting persuasive document or
researches. In so doing, they imply various methods of acknowledging other people’s
works or ideas. To facilitate this, they apply citations.

Citation refers to words or lines taken from a book, journal, the newspapers and the
articles. The process of citation differs from one authority to another.

Citation in books, when one is citing on book or articles he or she has to:
 Write the name of the author/ editor for the case of an article. It is mostly
recommended that one should start with surname in full and then first name in
abbreviation. For example Mashimba B.E. If there are more than one author in a
single book or editor can either write down the first author as shown above and

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 followed by other authors by starting with abbreviation followed by the surname.
For example Mashimba B.E, Urio J.K, Masawe H.J.
 Title of the book, it should always be full title of the book. For example Sawyer,
GFA, and J.A Hiller, The Doctrine of Precedent in Court of Appeal for East
Africa.
 Publication details of the book, for example the publisher and place of
publication, year of publication.
 Page reference, for example Makamba R.V, The statutes and Application of
Islamic law in Tanzania Vol. 1. 1991 pg. 277

Citation of Statutes, when one is making citation of Statutes the following should be put
into consideration.
 Name of the Statutes as it was originally enacted for example The Criminal
Procedure Act.
 The section being cited, for example section 26.
 A reference to current enacted (if any)
 Date of its enactment, for example (1984)
 Number of Statutes, for example no. 9 (refers to the number of the statutes
enacted by the Parliament in that particular year)

Citation of cases, in citation of cases there are number of abbreviations which seems
to be invariably used, for example Msumi J. where J. stands for judge. Law report in
which cases are reported have their standard abbreviation to which they can been
cited such as they can be cited either by year or by year and volume number and page
number in which the case is found, for example Musa v. Hamis, (1971) HCD no. 342
or Chapelangali (1973) LRT no. 77 which refer to the page number. In making
citation of cases it is categorized into two that are reported cases and unreported
cases.

In reported cases the following should be considered:

 Name of the case, that is the parties
 Year which the case was decided
 Official reporter, for example HCD, TLR and LRT
 Page of the case in which the case is found

How to cite unreported cases

For the reason of inconveniences and sometimes financial difficulties only few selected
cases are reported but they are some unreported cases which have significant role as they
depict some important principles in law. In citing these kinds of cases the following
should be considered:
 Name of the case
 Put proper citation, for example (1986)
 Indicate the number of case
 Indicate nature of the case whether civil or criminal
 Indicate the name of the court such as HC or CA

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  Indicate the fact that the case is unreported, for example Jackson Warioba v.
Axons co. Ltd, Civil case no. 1 of 2010 HC (unreported).

How to write Bibliography

Bibliography is the list of books, articles or other writings which you have read in
whole or during the course of the research you carried for essay you have written. In
writing bibliography the following must be considered:
 You must cite all the sources you have referred to in your essay
 You cite source in either footnotes or endnotes and you should retain a consisted
style throughout your work
 The reader should be able to look up each of the quotations or ideas you have
referred to by taking the reference you have cited and using in look them up.
 A bibliography should arrange in alphabetical order usually by the authors last
name.
 You should group books under one heading, cases under one another and so on,
according to the range of sources to which you have referred
 You should cite your sources in full.

For the case of books it should arranged as follows:

 Name of the author
 Title of the book
 Publisher
 Place of publication
 Year of publication
 Page of reference

Footnotes and endnotes

Footnotes, in this style reference appear at the bottom of the page on which the reference
is made. This requires skills in guising the amount of space required to be left at the
bottom especially when one is engaged in hand or type writing. Footnotes numbered
consecutively for each page and then they are listed together at the end of the text of the
paper.

Endnotes, this reference appear at the end of the text. The primary use of footnotes and
endnotes is to provide exact source of information or questions.

Avoidance of plagiarism 4
Plagiarism is the taking literary property of another passing it off as one’s own without
appropriate attribution and reaping from its use any benefit from an academic institution.

Rules of avoiding plagiarism

 You must acknowledge direct use of someone else’s words
 You must acknowledge any word you paraphrase from any source
a) You must acknowledge your direct use of someone else’s idea
4
Gavendish, Legal Writing. Gavendish Publisher, London, 2000.

6
  You should acknowledge your source when your own analysis or conclusion
builds on that source
 You should acknowledge your source when your idea about a case came from a
source other the case itself.

B. CONTENT OF LEGAL WRITING

a) Memorandum of law
Memorandum is a short legal document that contains the most important agreements5.
It is a record of legal agreement which has not yet prepared and signed6.

i) Purposes of memorandum of law 7

The legal memorandum has differing purposes in different situations. You have to
decide whether the memorandum you are writing is needed for help to:
 Decide whether to take a case
 Advice a client
 Draft a pleading
 Prepare for trial
The kind of memorandum determines the message and organization of a particular
document.

ii) Component of memorandum 8

Memorandum of law consist of heading and introduction, issues, summary,
statements of facts, survey of pertinent statutes, survey of precedents, discussion of
each issue, conclusion and recommendation.
 Heading and introduction identify the client and how or why the matter or
research assignment was referred to you.
 Issues, Set out the basic legal questions will answer
 Summary provide a brief answer to the question. Brief here means no
more than five or ten likes
 Statement of facts set out all important facts. If there is a dispute over the
facts, set out both versions. Be as brief as possible. You can set the facts out
chronologically or by another method
 Survey of pertinent statutes, while this section is optional, the reader will
find it helpful to have applicable statutory provisions set out. If the provisions
are long, paraphrase them out of an attachment.
 Survey of precedents, you must review the relevant, primary precedent
governing the facts. It is usually not necessary to prepare a history of the case
law, the most recent or definitive case will suffice.
 Discussion of each issue, discussion of the issues and the applicable is the
central purpose of memorandum. In this section you predict the answers that a
court would give if it were faced with your facts, given the pertinent law.

5
Longman, Dictionary of Contemporary English. 4th Edition, Person Ltd,Edinburgh,2006, pg 1029.
6
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 8th Edition, 2005, pg 1255.
7
www.google.com ,11th Jan 2012 (01:15 AM).
8
Ibid

7
 
Conclusion, a summary of your prediction about the state of the law and its
application to your case. This is where you expand on the brief answer
furnished at the beginning
 Recommendation, you recommend the solution to the problem facing then
client what. What should the client do? What do you propose to do for the
client? These are the questions you answer here.
Most memoranda later form the basis for a letter of opinion. The format easily transfers
from memo to letter. However, consideration should be given to both the language and
the content when addressing the information to client.

b) Various formats used in legal memos

These formats include office memoranda, motion memoranda, appellant brief, case
note or briefing of a case and written submission.

i)Case note or briefing; a legal case briefing is the analynization of the case opinion
and legal issues related to research questions asked. The memo reports the decision of
the court in a particular case as well as the process and analytical theories applied in
reaching the decision. In writing legal briefs the following list is useful:
 Case facts; a concise statement of the fact that include only legal relevant
factors
 Case issue; a statement of legal question posed on the legal theories involved
in the case in research
 Case decision; the case holding is the first part presented, but be sure to
include a brief presentation of both concurring and dissenting opinion
 Case reasoning; an analysis used by the court to set the rule of law in cases
cited as precedents.
 Case precedent citation; include only the key cases, not every cases
mentioned in opinion.
 Rule of law; a concise summary of the case holding or the rule (precedent)
the case established.
 Dissent; other rules of law cited and analyzed in the dissenting opinion.
In briefing the case the legally significance factor should always be included in written
memorandum. This makes the case brief more meaning and focused and help the reader
follow the research and conclusion reached9.

ii) Appellate brief

Appellate brief refers to briefs that occur at the appeal stage. The most important of
trial or appellate brief or even a memorandum into another lawyer is framing the
issue. What is the question you are trying to answer for the court or other lawyer?
What do you want the court to decide?

Do not start writing your brief or memo until you have succinct statement of what the
case is about. And you must do this in 50-75 words. If you can not explain the case in
75 words you do not understand it very well.

9
Connie, Scuderi, Introduction to Law and Legal Paralegal Studies, London, 2008.

8
 Put your issue in right up front, preferably in the first paragraph of your brief or
memo. For example:
“Paula Jones was fired from her job with environment, Inc because she consulted a
lawyer about a slip-fall case against an environment client. If Ohio workers may only
inter the court house in fear of losing their livelihood, they can not exercise any of
their legal rights. But Ohio law mandates that the court house door must remain
open”10

iii) Office memorandum

Office memoranda are memos written in broad range of issues parting to the company
operations. It contains the same elements as in a case brief. The legal question asked
first followed by facts. The office memorandum identifies the addressee and contains
a brief but direct statement of the point of law, the research addressed. The avoidance
of including any argument in this part is advised.

In writing office memorandum there must be a conclusion which reminds the reader
was said, that is the rule of law applied and why? In writing conclusion the following
must be considered:
 A brief summary of each legal argument made
 Specific reference to both statutory and case law used in discussion section for
each legal point.
 No introduction of new matters in the final paragraph. Recap only what has
been presented and discussed in the body. 11

iii) Motion memorandum

A motion is a procedural device to bring a limited, contested issue before a court for a
decision. A motion may be thought of as a request to the judge to make a decision
about the case. Motions may be made at any point in administrative criminal or civil
proceedings, although that right is regulated by court rules which vary from place to
place. The part requesting the motion may be called the movant or movement or may
simply be the moving party. The party opposing the motion is the non movant, non
movement or non moving party. Motion may be in the form of an oral request in
open court, which is then summarily granted or denied orally.

iv) Written submission

This is the written statement when if the case is not resolved at the early stage by case
management, mediation, and settlement conference the tribunal may order that your
case be decided by reviewing the parties written submission rather than by person
attendance at hearing. Also written submission aim to mean that failed to appear
before adjudication in person. Instead you send the package of material to the
adjudication, including that explaining why adjudicator should decide on your favour.

10
Terri LeClercq, Guide to Legal Writing Style, 2nd Edition, Aspen Press, New York, 2000.
11
Connie Sceduri, Introduction to Law and Paralegal Studies, London, 2008.

9
 The written submission is also a good alternative to a person hearing if it would be
expensive to travel to the hearing location12.

The following are procedures to be followed in writing written submission:

 Start with an opening statement; a brief description of what your case is about
and a clear statement of what remedy you are seeking.
 Write the relevant facts in chronological order.
 Include all relevant evidence, include sworn statement from witnesses, for
example affidavits, photographs or contract.
 Include the legal argument which explains how the law and tribunals previous
decision support your case and include copies of the decision which you are
relying on.
 End with the summary of your case and state the decision that you are asking
the tribunal to make.

C.THE ART OF WRITING EXAMINATION

The processes of writing in legal examinations include the following steps:
 Determine the subject being tested before you read through the fact pertaining by
reading the call of questions.
 Distinguish between material and immaterial fact as you read the fact pattern.
 Outline your response, so you will know in what the direction you went to head
before you begin writing.
 Prepare you argument from only one side in most cases.

i) Types of law examinations

 Unseen examination; you do not see the paper of questions in advance.
 Seen examination; you are given a paper or questions in advance to prepare.
 Closed book examination; you may not take materials in examination.
 Open book examination; you may take special material in examination.
ii) Types of questions
The following are types of law examination questions:
 Multiple choice questions; you are given series of questions and have a choice of
answers.
 Essay based questions; you are given a little or questions and then asked the
answer it in an essay format.
 Problem questions; you are given a factual scenario and you are asked to advice a
client or clients on the legal position.
ii) Answering questions in an examination
a) Essay answers
In answering essay question the following guidelines are applicable:
 Make a list of relevant issues.
 Briefly jot down any evidence that relate to each issue.
 Organize your idea into a logical order.
 Start writing.
Structuring of an essay answer
12
http// Wikipedia.org, 10th Jan 2012 (11:33AM)

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  Start with an introduction.
 Main body
 Conclusion
b) Problem question answers
There is no one correct format for answering problem questions. There are several
suggested formulas in answering problem question such as:
 P-FIRAC
 IRAC
 FILO
D. THE ART OF WRITING AND PRESENTING RESEARCH RESULTS
Research is a carefully study of a subject, especially in order to discover new facts or
information about it. It is a scientific study of investigation, analysis, and presentation of
data. But legal research involves the scientific study of investigation, analysis and
presentation of data pertaining to the legal profession.

There are various types of research such as quantitative, applied research, explanatory
research, qualitative research as well as basic research.

In order to collect data in legal research the methodology involved are observation,
interview, questionnaire and record reading.

a) How to write research results

The account of any research will usually include some background information about the
subject under research, the purpose of the study and method used.

Research result presented in words should not cause any difficult to the reader, for
example the use of numbers may be too confusing. Where comparison are made it is
usually through better to use proportional or percentage rather than the actual numbers
unless the numbers are small. It is then important to be clear what the percentage
represent; was it 20% of all the plaintiff or accused.

Also some research prefer to use the words like some, most, or majority. This is not
helpful since the word like majority can mean from 1% to 99%.

However the variety of ways which can be used in presenting figures so as to make them
clearly. Tables (list of the figures) are commonly used because they make it easier to
compare two or more categories. Graphics representation, using bar charts (histograms),
pie charts or graphs can create a clear overall impression of a complete set of the figures.

Finally, the research result in order to be represented nicely is to be prepared in ; outline

method, be concise or short and clear as well as limited from circumcisions.

b) The stages of research results

There are ten stages which involved in writing research papers. These are:

11
1. Identifying and refining a researchable topic
It involves the research problem, which need solution and information on how to
overcome it. A research topic implies the possibility of empirical investigation,
that are data collection and analysis
2. Gathering primary and secondary sources
It is involve gathering information or data from various source which can be
primary source and secondary source including the place where the research was
conducted and method used to collect data such as observation, interview and
questionnaires.
3. Organizing notes and other research information
In this stage it is where the materials which relate to the question are grouped or
categorized so that it can be easily to recall the one which are very important and
which are less important.
4. Outlining
It include outlining relevant background of the subject matter that the reader have
to understand the argument, defining the various terms used and explaining
periodazation.

5. Formulating argument
It consist what exactly is the subject matter and what exactly is an argument
(sometimes also called a thesis). Subject matter and argument are not identical.
An argument is the original point and the result of all thinking done during the
course of research. It is claim about the significance of historical subject and a
promise that you will demonstrate your approach to the subject is persuasive and
compelling.

6. Writing of an introduction
Introduction should introduce a subject state the argument and reveal for the
reader what is a plan to accomplish in the paper. It can be explained briefly why
the paper is organized as it is, so that the reader will know exactly what to expect.

7. Drafting the body of the paper

This is a stage where the discussion concerning the subject matter or topic is
discussed and the solution of overcoming the problem will also be discussed.
Generally, this is the stage whereby the reader expect to find answers for the
problem mentioned or researched.

8. Writing a conclusion

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 In this stage in order to write a sound conclusion, it is advised to return your
argument and remind your reader of the most comparing evidence presented to
support it. Also involves giving personal opinion on the researched problem.

9. Revising
Excellent research paper are drafted for enough ahead of time so that you have
time to re-read , reflect and revise all of which will make your paper better than it
would have been without revision.
10. Proof reading
Use your computer spell checker, but do not stop there. Again try reading your
work aloud it can be a little embracing at first, but it is a great technique for
zooming in on error, weak spots and awkward phrases.

E. CONCLUSION
Legal writing is including all legal documents such contracts, pleading, Statutes and the
alike. The legal document should be clear, brief and uniform. In order to write effective
legal document a person should be trained well in legal writing. All legal documents
should affect people positively. The writers and readers of legal document should make
sure that justice is maintained.

REFERENCES
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 STATUTES
The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977

BOOKS

Connie Sceduri, Introduction to Law and Paralegal Studies, London, 2008.

Longman, Dictionary of Contemporary English. 4th Edition, Person Ltd,Edinburgh,2006, pg 1029.

Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 8th Edition, 2005, pg 1255.

Terri LeClercq, Guide to Legal Writing Style, 2nd Edition, Aspen Press, New York, 2000.

Gavendish, Legal Writing. Gavendish Publisher, London,2000.

Bradney, A., How to study Law,6th Edition, Thomson Renters, England, 2010.

OTHERS
http://library.queensm.ca/law/lederman/steps {retrieved on 12th Jan 2012 at 2:50PM}
http://www.law.cornel.ed/wex/legal writing{retrieved on10th Jan 2012 at 6:21 PM}

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