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15 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Memorandum of Law
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Objectively written document where the researcher informs the reader of the law governing a specific situation
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Opinion Letter
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Formal correspondence from an attorney to a client or other attorney explaining an attorney's interpretation of the law as applied to a factual situation
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Memorandum of Points and Authorities
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Formal document filed with the court, written in an argumentative or persuasive manner and advocating a certain position
Attempts to persuade court to follow an interpretation of the law that favors the author's client often to support or oppose a motion |
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Trial Brief
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Formal document filed with the court at the beginning of trial, author tries to persuade the trial judge to interpret the law in a way that is favorable to the author's client
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Appellate Brief
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Document filed in a court of appeal in support of or in opposition to a appeal
Contains arguments related to legal errors that may have occurred at trial |
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Cause of Action
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The basis upon which a law suit may be brought to trial
Set of facts that the law recognizes as entitling a person to relief from the courts Common Research Task |
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Topic Sentence
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Introduces the issues or sub-issues and connects back to the thesis paragraph
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Different types of documents used to convey the results of legal research
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Memorandum of Law
Opinion Letter Memorandum of Points and Authorities Trial Brief Appellate Brief |
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Other names used to refer to a memorandum of law
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Memo
Legal memorandum Interoffice memo Predictive memorandum |
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Purpose of a Memorandum of Law
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To inform reader (usually an attorney) of the state of law concerning a certain issue
Contains legal analysis of the facts and the law Should contain all relevant law, even law that does not support your client's position |
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Why is it important that a memorandum of law include all law, even that which doesn't support your client's position?
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Should include all reasonable arguments and inferences that can be drawn from the law, whether they support your client or not
However, researcher often gives an opinion, a prediction, as to what law and what arguments seem to be the strongest (Opinion must be supported by relevant legal authority) |
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General formal of a memorandum of law
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-A concise statement of the relevant facts
-A statement of the issue or question forming the basis of the research -A discussion of the law and facts -Conclusion |
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Steps to follow in order to write a memorandum of law
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Important to organize ideas and findings in an outline
Outline should contain main points of the law that support each point Legal analysis usually follows the IRAC rule -identify Issue -Rules of law -Apply law to facts -Conclusion |
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One way to organize a memorandum where the controlling law is found primarily in statutory law
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Break down the relevant code sections into the various elements and then discuss each separately
-May need to refer to case law interpreting some or all elements of the code -If the code section applies to your facts, you need to discuss each element |
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One way to organize a memorandum where the controlling law is found primarily in case law
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Begin by setting out the elements of the cause of action as described in case law
Then discuss each of the elements, bring in additional case law where needed |