9.3

Briefs

• Segment ProgressBar


INTRODUCTION


For your final written assignment, you will spend most of your time on the trial brief. It argues your client's point.













---

Lecture Notes . . .

THE TRIAL BRIEF
A Trial Brief is sometimes called a Memorandum of Law, or (on rare occasions) Points and Authorities.

One note. The most common error made by students when drafting a trial brief is that they fail to make the transition from researcher to advocate. No matter what you have found in your research, when you write, you argue forcefully on behalf of your client's position.

The more forceful and confident you are in your writing, the more likely you are to end up with a document that advocates your client's position convincingly.

Use the examples in the manual, and (again) the Legal Writing Labs. You can use either the combined form (Motion, Notice, & Brief combined) or you can create three separate documents. (Unless your instructor gives you other directions.)



---

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Time Sheets




You are required to keep track of your billable hours when working on legal research and writing assignments and to turn them in with your written assignments. Click on the examples of Time Sheets below to zoom in and compare. Yours should look like the Good example.





The Good

Notice the accurate hours and the detailed descriptions.



The Bad

Not a very accurate time sheet. Very little attention to detail.



The Ugly

Obviously created after-the-fact. Don't let your time sheet look like this!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A TIME SHEET that automatically adds up your billable hours. You should keep track of any research or writing you perform on behalf of your client, including training exercises and assignments in this program.