legal memo 法律备忘录(3)

legal memo

the facts, and (4) C onclusion. It is a general framework that most readers expect you to use in explaining your legal analysis. If you work well from an outline, you can start your outline with these sections for organizing your notes. (But do not label these very basic sections in your final memo.) If you do not ordinarily start a writing project with an outline, be sure to check your organization after you have written your first draft so that your paper conforms generally to the IRAC order.

Issue: Beginning your discussion of a rule with a thesis sentence will help your reader focus on whatever aspect of the larger rule or area of law you intend to discuss and lead the reader through your explanation.

Rule explanation: After stating an issue, the reader will expect you to identify and explain any relevant rules. It is not enough to merely state a rule in a sentence or two. Instead, the unfamiliar reader will expect you to explain that rule. For example, if the rule contains vague words or phrases, you should define those. You should also explain how the rule works, what the underlying reasoning or policy is, and perhaps how the courts have used the rule in the past. If a case example might illustrate any of the rule aspects that you have discussed, include it briefly and explain how it relates to your point. Never assume that the meaning and workings of a rule are obvious. Novice legal writers tend to spend much more time discussing their facts than they do explaining the relevant law, but for a legal reader, both aspects of the analysis are important.

Application of the rule to the facts: Only after you have explained a rule will the reader know which facts are important and which are not. In your fact-application section, show how the rule applies to the specific facts in your case. Be sure to detail your reasoning process for the unfamiliar reader, even if it seems obvious to you. It is not enough to merely recite the relevant facts and state a conclusion. The reader will expect you to spell out the connections between rules and facts.

Conclusion: Stating a conclusion at the end of your discussion of an issue or a sub-issue may seem a bit repetitive, but it ties up the discussion nicely and helps the reader understand that you are finished with that issue.

If your memo covers only one narrow question or aspect of a rule, you may apply the IRAC order to your entire discussion. If, however, your memo covers more than one conceptually distinct question, you may be applying the IRAC structure more than once within your discussion. It is largely your judgment call as a writer whether you should “IRAC” an issue overall or whether you should IRAC sub-issues as well.

If your issue is complex or if your rule structure contains several distinct elements or aspects, it may be best to IRAC some parts of the discussion separately. For example, assume that your memo addresses whether a prosecutor will be able to prove two of the four necessary elements of a crime in your client’s case. You should first give an overview of the rule (e.g., list the elements of the crime), then use IRAC to organize your explanation of the first disputed element, before using a new IRAC structure to organize your explanation of the second disputed element. If you discuss all the rules or facts together (e.g., relating to both the first and second elements), the unfamiliar reader may become confused.

Presenting Your Content

In deciding what information—and how much detail—to include in your memo, remind yourself again that you are writing for an unfamiliar reader. If it would be helpful to your reader, give some overall context, use explanatory transitions, and provide enough detail to show that your analysis of the law is correct.

Context usually includes background information related to your more specific issue that helps the reader place any new information in a larger framework. Context may also influence the meaning and significance of a particular statement of law or fact, just as it does for non-legal information. For example, if your legal issue centers

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