Sorkin's L.S. blog

Exercises posted

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:41:00 +0000

The first four exercises are now posted under Course Materials.

Microsoft Word tips

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:38:00 +0000

Section symbol (§):

In Word 2007, click on Insert in the toolbar, then select More Symbols, Special Characters, Section, and Insert.
In Word 2003, click on Insert, then select Symbol, Special Characters, Section, Insert, and Close.

Ordinal numbers without superscripts (e.g., 4th, not 4^th):

In Word 2007, click the Office button at the top left, then select Word Options, Proofing, AutoCorrect Options, and AutoFormat As You Type. Click to uncheck the box next to Ordinals (1st) with superscript, then click OK and OK again.
In Word 2003, select Tools, AutoCorrect Options, and AutoFormat As You Type. Click to uncheck the box next to Ordinals (1st) with superscript, then click OK and OK again.

Page numbers, centered on the bottom of each page:

In Word 2007, select Insert, Page Number, Bottom of page, and Plain number 2 (then press Esc to return to the document).
In Word 2003, select Insert and Page Numbers. Under Position, select Bottom of page (Footer); under Alignment, select Center, and click OK.

Double spacing:

In Word 2007, use the mouse to select the text that you want to double space, then right-click and select Paragraph.... Under Line spacing, select Double, and set Spacing Before and After to 0 pt.
In Word 2003, select the text to be double spaced, then click on Format and Paragraph. Under Line spacing, select Double, and set Spacing Before and After to 0 pt.

To avoid placing a section heading at the bottom of a page:

In Word 2007, use the mouse to select the section heading, then right-click and select Paragraph.... Select Line and Page Breaks, and check the box next to Keep with next.
In Word 2003, select the heading and click on Format and Paragraph. Select Line and Page Breaks, and check the box next to Keep with next.

Cites within Cites

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:39:00 +0000

How do you cite to a case that is cited within another case?

Ordinarily, you should cite to the case that best supports the proposition, but you can include additional information in the citation. If a recent case cites to an older case and both cases support the proposition you are using, here are your options:

Recent Case. Older Case. Recent Case (citing Older Case). Older Case (cited in Recent Case).

(If you are using a direct quotation that appears in both cases, substitute "quoting" or "quoted in" above. See ALWD Rule 46.4 for examples.)

For a closed-universe assignment (like the first memo in L.S. I, where only the materials provided with the assignment may be cited), I suggest citing only to the case that is in the assignment packet. It's not necessary to tell the reader where the proposition originally came from, as long as you cite to a case that supports it.

Welcome - Spring 2010

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 03:38:00 +0000

Welcome to law school! For those enrolled in Section D of Lawyering Skills I at John Marshall (Spring 2010), our first class meeting will be Monday, January 25, 2010, at 6:00 pm in room 522. The course syllabus and other materials are posted at LawyeringSkills.com.

You might also find this article helpful (for this class and others):

Orin S. Kerr, How to Read a Legal Opinion: A Guide for New Law Students
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1160925
http://volokh.com/files/howtoread2007version.pdf

Third Memo Assignment

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:00:00 +0000

The third memorandum assignment is now posted on the website (under Course Materials).

Superscripts in Microsoft Word

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:41:00 +0000

To turn off the feature in Microsoft Word that automatically formats ordinal numbers as superscript text (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd), try these steps:

Go to Tools / AutoCorrect Options. (In Word 2007, click the Office button at the top, then Word Options, Proofing, AutoCorrect Options.) Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab, then uncheck Ordinals (1st) with superscript.

Second Memo Assignment

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:52:00 +0000

The second memorandum assignment is now posted on the website (under Course Materials).

Legal Research

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:57:00 +0000

We'll be discussing legal research in class over the next few weeks. I've posted the first few research exercises on the course website, under Course Materials.

For both the research exercises and the memorandum assignments, you will use materials in John Marshall's library, as well as the Lexis and Westlaw online legal research services.

The online catalog for the law school library is at catalog.jmls.edu. The library also has a number of electronic resources available online.

Questions Presented and Thesis Paragraphs

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Two of the most important part of a legal memorandum are the Questions Presented section and the thesis paragraph at the beginning of the Discussion section.

The Questions Presented section tells the reader what overall issue (or, occasionally, issues) you will address in the rest of memo. Since you haven't yet told the reader about the facts of your case, you'll write the QP in generic terms. Here is a short article that you may find helpful as you work on this part of the memo:

David E. Sorkin, Make Issue Statements Work for You
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1100023

Begin the Discussion section of your memorandum with a thesis paragraph. An effective thesis paragraph should state the overall issue and break it down into its main components (usually by stating a legal rule).
When you state the overall issue, state it in terms of your case (i.e., name names) rather than generically. Then state the broad rule that governs the overall issue. This rule serves as a road map of the rest of the Discussion section--in other words, the components of the rule correspond to the main issues to be addressed below. A legal rule should normally be stated in present tense using generic terms rather than in terms that are specific to your case.

The second paragraph of the Discussion section begins the analysis of the first main issue (the first component that was mapped out in your thesis paragraph). If it is a simple issue, one paragraph may suffice; identify the issue, state the applicable legal rule, apply the rule to your case, and state your conclusion. If it is more complex, however, you'll want to break it down into subissues, and address each one separately. To do that, begin by stating the issue and the applicable legal rule, then use the components of that rule as a road map of subissues to be addressed in the paragraphs that follow. (Think of this paragraph as a "mini-thesis" paragraph for the first main issue; it serves the same purpose for that issue as the main thesis paragraph does for the overall issue.)

These brief articles describe what goes into an effective thesis paragraph:
Susan Duncan, Thesis Paragraphs
http://ssrn.com/abstract=990435
K.K. DuVivier, Road Maps
http://law.du.edu/images/uploads/Lawyering_Process_/Duvivier_articles/jan%201993.pdf

(Both Chapter 6 in the textbook and, to a lesser extent, the above articles suggest that you ought to do more in a thesis paragraph than just identify the issue and state a rule that maps it out -- they say you should also describe how the rule applies to the issue and then offer a conclusion. I don't think those last two parts are essential; use your judgment in deciding how much to include.)

Plagiarism follow-up

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:32:00 +0000

To follow up on our discussion of plagiarism, here are some additional materials that you may find helpful:

David E. Sorkin, Practicing Plagiarism
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1100323
This is a short column about plagiarism that I wrote for the Illinois Bar Journal several years ago.

Judith D. Fischer, Avoiding Plagiarism in Legal Documents
http://ssrn.com/abstract=992332
K.K. DuVivier, Nothing New Under the Sun--Plagiarism In Practice
http://law.du.edu/images/uploads/Lawyering_Process_/Duvivier_articles/may%202003.pdf
These short articles (from Kentucky and Colorado's state bar journals) also discuss plagiarism in the practice of law.

Richard A. Bales, Quotations
http://ssrn.com/abstract=919303
This article is about the use of quotations in legal writing, but it includes a brief discussion of plagiarism. (Professor Bales's view on direct quotes seems to be similar to mine: Don't use them unless you have a very good reason.)

Also, the Legal Writing Institute offers a collection of materials on plagiarism.

Memo format and structure

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:42:00 +0000

We went over the Memorandum Format instructions in class yesterday, and began discussing small- and large-scale organization. If you haven't already done so, you may find it helpful to look over the two sample memos that I've posted, along with the Brief Guide to IRAC.

As I mentioned in class, tomorrow we'll be looking at Exercise 7-B (pages 187-188 of the Shapo textbook), regarding the Questions Presented section.
We'll also discuss Legal Rules: Elements, Alternatives, and Factors and the material on plagiarism in the Course Rules and Ethics Guidelines.

FYI -- here is a link to the web page of John Marshall's Writing Resource Center.

Welcome!

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Welcome to The John Marshall Law School, and to Lawyering Skills I! Our first class meeting (for my class, section H) is Monday, August 24, 2009, starting at 2:00 pm.

The course syllabus is posted here.

For the first week of class, please read the first two chapters in Writing and Analysis in the Law. (You may skip over the exercises for now, although we may discuss some of them in class.) The first several pages of chapter 1 are posted here, in case you don't yet have the textbook.

You might also find this article helpful (for this class and others):

Orin S. Kerr, How to Read a Legal Opinion: A Guide for New Law Students
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1160925
http://volokh.com/files/howtoread2007version.pdf

Coming soon...

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:04:00 +0000

Course materials for Lawyering Skills I (Fall 2009) will be posted soon at LawyeringSkills.com.

Referring to statutes

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:12:00 +0000

A short form citation to a statute (just like short form citations to other types of authorities) saves space and minimizes the disruption to the flow of your writing. In a typical memorandum or other short legal document, cite to a statute using a full citation only once, and then use short form citations for subsequent references to that statute.

Rule 14.6 in the ALWD Manual (page 116) provides some examples of short form citations for statutes. You have several options--just make sure that it will be clear to the reader what statute you are referring to. If your memo cites to only one statute, a briefer short form such as "§ 16" is plenty.

For citations within textual sentences, take a look at Sidebar 14.2 on page 118 of the ALWD Manual (and perhaps also Rule 6.11). I suggest trying to avoid the need to spell out "Illinois Compiled Statutes." Hopefully you will have already cited to the relevant statute by the time you are referring to it within a sentence, so "§ 16 of the Animal Control Act" or "§ 16"--or even just "the statute"--may suffice.

Memo #3

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:36:00 +0000

The final memo assignment is now posted (under Course Materials).

Canons of construction

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:53:00 +0000

This is the article on canons of statutory construction that I mentioned in class yesterday:

Karl Llewellyn, Remarks on the Theory of Appellate Decision and the Rules or Canons About How Statutes Are to Be Construed, 3 Vand. L. Rev. 395 (1950).

(If the link doesn't work, try retrieving 5 Green Bag 297 on Westlaw or 5 Green Bag 2d 297 on Lexis.)

Memo #2

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:33:00 +0000

The second memo assignment is now posted (under Course Materials).

The thesis paragraph

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:00:00 +0000

A thesis paragraph should state the overall issue and break it down into its main components (usually by stating a legal rule), providing the reader with a road map of the rest of the Discussion section.

On a smaller scale, the first paragraph of your analysis of a complex issue can do the same thing: identify the issue and break it down into its components, each of which will be addressed in turn. (Think of this as a "mini" thesis paragraph, if that helps.)

These brief articles describe what goes into an effective thesis paragraph:
Susan Duncan, Thesis Paragraphs
http://ssrn.com/abstract=990435
K.K. DuVivier, Road Maps
http://law.du.edu/images/uploads/Lawyering_Process_/Duvivier_articles/jan%201993.pdf

(Both Chapter 6 in the textbook and, to a lesser extent, the above articles suggest that you ought to do more in a thesis paragraph than just identify the issue and state a rule that maps it out -- they say you should also describe how the rule applies to the issue and then offer a conclusion. I don't think those last two parts are essential; use your judgment in deciding how much to include.)

Questions Presented

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:00:00 +0000

The Questions Presented section of a memo tells the reader what overall issue or issues you will address in the rest of memo. Here is a short article that you may find helpful as you work on this part of the memo:

David E. Sorkin, Make Issue Statements Work for You
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1100023

Plagiarism

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 14:00:00 +0000

In addition to the discussion in the Course Rules and Ethics Guidelines, here are some additional materials about plagiarism that you may find helpful:

David E. Sorkin, Practicing Plagiarism
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1100323
This is a short column about plagiarism that I wrote for the Illinois Bar Journal several years ago.

Judith D. Fischer, Avoiding Plagiarism in Legal Documents
http://ssrn.com/abstract=992332
K.K. DuVivier, Nothing New Under the Sun--Plagiarism In Practice
http://law.du.edu/images/uploads/Lawyering_Process_/Duvivier_articles/may%202003.pdf
These short articles (from Kentucky and Colorado's state bar journals) also discuss plagiarism in the practice of law.

Richard A. Bales, Quotations
http://ssrn.com/abstract=919303
This article is about the use of quotations in legal writing, but it includes a brief discussion of plagiarism. (Professor Bales's view on direct quotes seems to be similar to mine: Don't use them unless you have a very good reason.)

Also, the Legal Writing Institute offers a collection of materials on plagiarism.

Questions and rules

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:45:00 +0000

In chapter 7 of the writing textbook, take a look at Exercise 7-B (pages 187-188), regarding the Questions Presented section of a memo. We'll get to this next Tuesday (9/2).

Also on Tuesday, we will discuss Legal Rules: Elements, Alternatives, and Factors and the material on plagiarism in the Course Rules and Ethics Guidelines.

The legal memo

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:06:00 +0000

This Thursday (8/28) we're going to talk about the legal memorandum. Please read Memorandum Format along with the assigned chapters in the textbook. There are also some sample memos linked from the Course Materials page. When we get to small-scall organization (chapter 5), we'll discuss the IRAC model; you may find this Brief Guide to IRAC helpful.

One more thing -- here is a link to the web page of John Marshall's Writing Resource Center.

Assignment for first class

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Our first class meeting is Thursday, August 21, 2008.

For that class, please read chapters 1 and 2 in Writing and Analysis in the Law. (You may skip over the exercises for now, although we may discuss some of them in class.)

The first several pages of chapter 1 are posted here, in case you don't yet have the textbook.

Welcome!

noreply@blogger.com (DES) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:17:00 +0000

Welcome to The John Marshall Law School, and to Lawyering Skills I.

Here is a short article that you may find helpful as you begin your legal studies:

Orin S. Kerr, How to Read a Legal Opinion: A Guide for New Law Students
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1160925