The Legal Writing Handbook: Aspen Coursebook

The Legal Writing Handbook, Seventh Edition offers an effective process approach to teaching legal writing. The authors take students through each of the necessary stages of the writing process, from pre-writing, drafting, and editing, to the final draft. The authors' step-by-step approach assures that students will master the writing skills they will need throughout their careers.

The Legal Writing Handbook is seven books in one: Book 1 provides students with an introduction to the U.S. Legal System; Book 2 provides an introduction to legal research, with both an introduction to sources and to research strategies; Book 3 introduces students to the process of writing formal and informal memos and opinion letters; Book 4 introduces students to persuasive writing and oral advocacy; Book 5 is a guide to effective writing; Book 6 is a guide to correct writing; and Book 7 focuses on the needs of ESL writers.

Key features:

• Chapters on reading and analyzing statutes and cases, mandatory and persuasive authority, and legal research
• Research portion has been re-written: There are now discrete chapters that describe primary sources (3), secondary sources (4), finding tools (5), citators (6), and on mandatory and persuasive authority (7)
• Step-by-step instruction on how to write formal memos, e-memos, and opinion letters
• Step-by-step instruction on how to write motion and appellate briefs
• A new section on mastering the sentence structures used in legal writing within ESL chapter.
• Online Diagnostic Exam for Grammar and Punctuation that grades itself and sends students to the parts of the book they need to review