Interactive Legal Research & Writing Lessons: Objective Writing - Components of an Objective Memo (Graham)
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Description
In this four-lesson module, you will learn about the objective memo—a major focus of most first-semester legal writing courses.
Lesson One explains the purpose of the objective memo—to predict the most likely answers to one or more legal questions and to explain the analysis that led you to those answers. This lesson also provides an overview of the parts of an objective memo. Finally, the lesson provides detailed information about the substance and structure of the first two parts—the Questions Presented and the Brief Answers—and gives you the chance to practice drafting those parts.
In Lesson Two, you will learn how to craft the third part of an objective memo—the Statement of Facts. You will learn what an effective Statement of Facts should include, how it should be organized, and how to add cohesion and color to the “story of your case.”
Lesson Three focuses on the “heart of the objective memo”—the Discussion section. You will learn how to construct a helpful roadmap segment, and you will review the parts of an effective CREAC that you learned about in a previous module. You will also learn about the final part of the objective memo—the Conclusion.
Finally, in Lesson Four, you will learn how to use the CREAC structure flexibly to organize the Discussion section of an objective memo in a way that meets your reader’s needs and expectations. This lesson emphasizes a key principle: organize around rules, not cases! You will walk through some examples of the step-by-step process for organizing your CREAC segments, and you’ll have the chance to put that process into motion on your own.
Taken together, the lessons in this module will equip you to confidently and successfully tackle the objective memo assignment that is sure to come your way in your first-year legal writing class.
Lesson One explains the purpose of the objective memo—to predict the most likely answers to one or more legal questions and to explain the analysis that led you to those answers. This lesson also provides an overview of the parts of an objective memo. Finally, the lesson provides detailed information about the substance and structure of the first two parts—the Questions Presented and the Brief Answers—and gives you the chance to practice drafting those parts.
In Lesson Two, you will learn how to craft the third part of an objective memo—the Statement of Facts. You will learn what an effective Statement of Facts should include, how it should be organized, and how to add cohesion and color to the “story of your case.”
Lesson Three focuses on the “heart of the objective memo”—the Discussion section. You will learn how to construct a helpful roadmap segment, and you will review the parts of an effective CREAC that you learned about in a previous module. You will also learn about the final part of the objective memo—the Conclusion.
Finally, in Lesson Four, you will learn how to use the CREAC structure flexibly to organize the Discussion section of an objective memo in a way that meets your reader’s needs and expectations. This lesson emphasizes a key principle: organize around rules, not cases! You will walk through some examples of the step-by-step process for organizing your CREAC segments, and you’ll have the chance to put that process into motion on your own.
Taken together, the lessons in this module will equip you to confidently and successfully tackle the objective memo assignment that is sure to come your way in your first-year legal writing class.