However, the courtroom is not the only arena where legal memoranda can be involved. Lawyers often ask clerks (or staff) to prepare a legal memorandum on a specific legal issue. This memorandum is used within the law firm and serves to inform the lawyer about the legal issue and contains summonses to the judicial authorities. This will also indicate a split in the authorities or ambiguities in the law, if any. It is important that the lawyer to whom the note is addressed is informed of all aspects relevant to the problem, not just favorable information to your side of the case. The standard Office memorandum typically includes the following sections: This reporting section deals with the objective presentation of customer information. The Facts section covers the relevant facts you used to prepare and research the memorandum. Listing customer information and facts means that the reader is accessing the same information as you. This avoids confusion. You have already learned about the use of legal memoranda in previous chapters. As a reminder, legal memoranda are used for applications before and after the process. Occasionally, during the trial, the court may request a memorandum on a particular point of law.
In this context, a briefing is a form of note-taking and includes a large number of sections. When writing a case description, start with the name and citation of the case. The first section of the case report usually contains a description of the facts. The second section contains a brief description of the procedural history of the case, i.e. a brief description of what happened at the trial level and at the appeal level, or what types of applications were filed and when. The third section usually contains a brief presentation of the main problem(s) that the case addresses. The fourth section usually contains the attitude of the case, that is, the final result. The last section contains an analysis of the Court`s analysis.
The judge`s name or other information may be included in a “Miscellaneous” section. In addition, any similarities or disagreements should be discussed. It is always a good idea to start the memo with an introductory paragraph so that the court is immediately prepared for the subject matter of the memorandum. Similarly, it is always a good idea to include a brief presentation of the facts of the case. The reason a presentation of the facts is essential is that the judge who knows your case may not be the person who reads the memo and writes the resulting decision. Always assume that the reader learns the case for the first time. The presentation of the facts should not be confused – it should provide a clear and concise description of the circumstances that justified and surrounded the case. In the presentation of the facts, there should be a few sentences about the procedural history of the case. For example: Writing a legal memorandum depends on the right research.
You need to do thorough and thorough research before you are ready to write a memorandum. When determining the format of a legal memorandum, keep in mind that the following sections should be included: The memo should begin with an explanation of the issue, which is the legal issue that the memo addresses. For example, if necessary, write the information in chronological order. In some situations, a different order may work better. Use the order that makes the information clear and logical. If any of the facts used constitute disagreement or an indication of uncertainty, indicate this and explain both parties. When you set the format, you can place the facts before or after the Issues section. The following paragraph or series of paragraphs should provide a short answer to the problem. The purpose of this short answer is that the reader does not need to read the entire memorandum to understand the solution to the problem. The citation of authority is not strictly necessary in this section, but can be included if necessary. Finally, the last section of the memorandum is the conclusion, offering a brief summary of the memorandum. Some law firms use their own format for a memorandum, which may differ in some ways from the examples we provide.
When in doubt, follow the conventions chosen by the office where you work. Even in the proposed format that we propose here, it is permissible and often appropriate to make decisions – how to formulate the legal question, how to include the level of detail in the factual part, organization and scope of the legal discussion. There is no single version of a memorandum that addresses all situations. The decisions you make will be influenced by the nature and degree of complexity of the legal issue and the preferences of your target audience, including the level of knowledge expected of your reader of the underlying area of the law under discussion. At the same time, it is pointed out that the reader for whom you are preparing the memorandum can only be one of the many lawyers who consult the memo, especially if the legal issue is the subject of a dispute. As the author`s list of questions included here suggests, keeping an eye on the needs and expectations of your (possibly expanded) audience is a key part of creating an effective office memorandum. The beginning of the first page of a memorandum submitted to the court should have the correct title, as required by the court`s local rules, followed by the correct title of the memorandum. It is useful to create a table of contents for the reader. A breakdown of the approach, structure and analysis allows the reader to quickly and easily find specific parts of the memorandum. In the header, specify the identity of the author, the recipient of the memorandum, the date the customer is located, and the subject.
Use a numbering sequence in the header. There will most likely be several legal memoranda attached to the case. A memorandum in the legal sense may refer to a comprehensive and organized written document that summarizes and analyzes the relevant laws on the basis of legal research to support a conclusion on a particular legal issue. A memorandum usually contains a description of the actual context of the factual purpose or model, a presentation of the legal issues to be discussed, an introduction to the relevant laws, an analysis of how the law applies to certain facts, and a conclusion. The next step in creating the memorandum is to decide on a readability logic model. This means that you write the research in a way that is easy to understand and digest. The memorandum should be clear so that the reader understands the case and the laws that affect it. This document provides a brief description of how to develop an office memorandum. The format and structure may vary somewhat from one law firm to another (and here at the law school from one professor to another). Once you`re in practice, you can customize the format to suit the needs of your desktop.
To: Name of the person who assigned the research project DE: Your name DATE: Date on which the memo is submitted in RE: Name of the client and a brief description of the subject matter of the brief. 1) a short letter, note, summary or outline. (2) A “decision memorandum” or “opinion memorandum” are short statements by a judge who announces or does not state his decision without detailed details or reasons, which may or may not be followed by a more complete written decision. These memoranda (plural) are published by the courts of appeal in a language such as the following: “The complainant`s application is rejected for the reasons set out in Albini v. Jünger” or “The next decision is confirmed.” Most of the memo is the discussion section. In this section, all legal analysis as well as any application of the law to the facts giving rise to the problem is carried out. As explained above, all lawyers have an ethical duty to inform the court of their authority that contradicts their position; Therefore, it is important that the domestic legal memorandum deals with all aspects of an issue, including the conflicting authorities. .