Friday, July 11, 2008

Multi-Issue Integration

Clarity comes not just bottom up, by precise delineation, but also top down, combining points into reiteratively broader patterns. Integrating the discussion improves the reader's understanding and retention, but for most legal writers, integration stops at the issue level. A multi-issue brief typically does not significantly integrate issues. Discussing diverse issues in integrated fashion is harder than writing a separately integrated treatment of each issue, but the broadest integration most disposes the reader to a sensed closure.

Many lawyers choose ineffective presentation techniques because the courts' deliberative style misleads. A multi-issue judicial opinion must demonstrate independent resolution of each issue. A party's brief serves a different function and should not be modeled on judicial opinions. Achieving significant issue integration, without forgoing each issue's rigorous treatment, marks a superior brief.

No comments:

Post a Comment