Here’s where we make use of those hard-earned legal citation skills from law school. Even if we're not strictly correct with these next steps, it shows we're thinking beyond the immediate task and it’s a good way to stay involved in the matter beyond the discrete task when checking back with our supervisor. Here we can restate the answer to the question and, more importantly, our recommended actions following this memo. bold / underline to direct attention, italics for quotes, and using paragraphs).Ĥ. “Moving Forward” / Next Steps (section 8) □ using subheadings to guide the reader and □ using clear and logical defined terms □ extracting the key statutory sections / case law quotes into the memo It’s hard to give tips on getting to the right answer (it really just depends on experience, time and brainpower), but a general rule is to make this a standalone document with maximum readability by: This is where we set out the relevant factual background (if known), key assumptions (if any), and detailed legal analysis. It’s also helpful to list out what is explored in the rest of the memo (i.e. The remainder of the memo is there to explain the reasoning behind the answer if the reader wants to know more. It should be written so that a reader can get the answer and the recommended next step(s) by reading just the Introduction and Executive Summary. This sets out the answer to the question. It’s also helpful to provide enough context so that somebody who may not be involved in this matter can understand what’s going on.įor complex legal questions, I would write this out and confirm with my supervisor before diving into the legal research. This is where we state the exact question that this research memo is answering. If you’re starting out, here’s an example research memo and some tips I’ve learned to structure and write these monsters: As a junior lawyer, I probably spent 500+ hours writing research memos.
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