LEGAL DRAFTING - CIVIL LITIGATION CAPITAL UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL FALL TERM, 2014

Thomas C. Brown Office: Room TBA Office Phone: TBA (it is much better to e-mail me) E-Mail: [email protected] Class: Tuesday, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. in Room 229 Office Hours: 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. every Tuesday. (If you are unable to arrange your schedule to meet me during my office hours, please let me know. I will arrange to see you at our mutual convenience.) Required Text: Bryan A. Garner, The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style 3rd. ed. Course Description: You will be learning to improve upon the following skills: the ability to read, organize information, think logically, extricate the relevant from the irrelevant, write clearly, and (above all) follow directions. We will do this while drafting documents that every attorney drafts in her or his career. Those may consist of: an objective memo, a complaint, an answer, discovery, a motion, a contract, a type of correspondence, a persuasive memo or brief, and a proposal for settlement. . You will also learn what, in my experience, is the best way to approach the Multistate Performance Test for the bar examination. School policy requires students with disabilities to consult the Associate Dean in order to arrange accommodations. Please advise me immediately if you are requesting accommodations, so I will be able to work with the Associate Dean to do what I can to help you with this process. Attendance: Required If you miss more than three classes, you will lower your grade (e.g. a B to a B-). Please turn off all cell phones while in class. Extension Policy: The deadlines listed in the syllabus are firm. Extensions will be given only for good cause and at my discretion. No extension will be given for a 1

“computer related” problem (“My laptop ate my homework!”). I will only consider waiving a deadline if I am approached prior to the deadline. Late Paper Policy: All graded assignments are due at 6:00 p.m. on the evening of the date stated. Papers turned in late will be assessed one of the following penalties. Those turned in by 8:00 p.m. the day that they are due will receive an automatic 10-point deduction. Those turned in to my secretary, Soni Shoemaker, on the 6th Floor, prior to 11:00 a.m., the day immediately following the due date, will lose 25 points. Papers turned in any later than that will receive no credit. Remember, no excuse for computer-related problems. Topics and Assignments: The following is a list of reading assignments and drafting exercises we will work toward as we complete this semester. In addition, many days you will be drafting non-graded documents in class. It is suggested that you keep up on the reading assignments since there are many good suggestions in the text that can help you both here and during your years of practice. Some of the topics that we cover may take more time than I anticipate. As we proceed through the semester, please keep me apprised of whether the workload seems too heavy (or too light). Your experience can help me modify and develop the course. A list of week-to-week assignments, including drafting projects and their percentage weights, follows: Topic

Assignment

Week 1 – 8/26/2014 Required Text: Bryan A. Garner, The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style 3rd. ed. Basic Skills: Conceptualizing; Clarity (Basic Skills will be covered in class. No reading is required for the Basic Skills area.) Section 15; Business Correspondence, pgs. 377-384 Section 16; E-Mail Messages, pgs. 385-394 Hand out first assignment (Letter)

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Week 2 – 9/2 Section 17; Opinion Letters, pgs. 409-422 Section 18; Demand Letters, pgs. 423-430 [Section 1; Punctuation, pgs. 3-59] Assignments contained within brackets are considered refreshers and will be covered in class as time allows. Week 3 – 9/9 Section 21; Pleadings, pgs. 439-448 [Section 2; Capitalization, pgs. 61-78 Section 3; Italics, Boldface, and Underlining, pgs. 79-86] Hand out second assignment (Complaint, Answer and Discovery Documents) to be worked on in teams. Hand in first assignment (Letter) Week 4 – 9/16 Discovery Documents [information to be supplied in class] Basic Skills: Persuasion Section 17; Research (and other) Memos, pgs. 395-408 [Section 4; Document Design, pgs. 87-108] Week 5 – 9/23 Section 22; Motions, pgs. 449-462 Hand in second assignment (Complaint, Answer and Discovery documents) [Preparation for taking the Multistate Performance Test. To be covered in class.]

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Week 6 – 9/30 Fourth assignment is in-class MPT Hand out third assignment (Motion) Week 7 – 10/7 Go over MPT [Section 5; Numbers, pgs. 109-120 Section 7; Spelling, pgs. 127-146] Week 8 – 10/14 Basic Skills: Precision

Hand in third assignment (Motion)

Section 14, 23; Appellate Briefs (and Case Briefs and Trial Briefs), pgs. 369-376 and pgs. 463-500 (Trial Briefs will be covered in class.) Hand out fifth assignment (Contract) to be worked on in teams Week 9 – 10/21 Section 25; Contracts, pgs. 519-538 [Section 9; Footnotes, pgs. 163-172] Week 10 – 10/28 Section 20; Affidavits and Declarations, pgs. 431-438 [Section 11; Stuffy Words, Legalese, pgs. 215-244 Section 12; Troublesome Words, pgs. 245-358 (skim the words to get a sense of the point that Garner is making)] Hand out sixth assignment (Persuasive Memorandum or Brief)

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Week 11 – 11/4 Refresher on the MPT [Section 13; Editing and Proofreading, pgs. 359-368] Hand in fifth assignment (Contract) Week 12 – 11/11 In-Class Performance Test (10% of grade)

Week 13 -- 11/18 Review of In-Class Performance Test Speaker

Hand in sixth assignment (Persuasive Memorandum or Brief)

Grading: Turning in credible in-class writing assignments and participating in class: Non-graded (will contain comments that can help you develop your writing and will evidence your effort in the class. I have rarely in nine years had anyone use less than his or her best effort.) Five Hand-in Assignments:

In-Class Performance Test on 11/14:

15% each for the letter; complaint, answer and discovery; and the contract. 20% each for the motion and the brief. Also 5% for the inclass MPT given at mid-semester. (Total 90%)

10%

Your grade will be calculated and curved solely on the basis of grades earned in this section of Legal Drafting. Your grades will not be compared with those earned by students in other sections of the course. 5

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