Chapter 13 - Law Office Memo

Purpose and use

• The main purpose of the office memo

  • to record the law found as a result of the research

  • to explain how the researcher analyzed the law and applied the facts

  • ultimately propose a solution

• a memo can be expensive with research time

• can be referred back to, used to discuss problems to be resolve, aid further research, and many more

Basic Question

• The basic question the memo answers is how similar precedent will be applied to your client’s case to arrive at an answer.

• This is similar to the opinion letter but here the focus is more on your thought process as to how you figure out the answer.

• Not the niceties in communicating with your client

Style

• the tone of an office memo should be objective, not persuasive

• keep yourself out of the memo (dont use I)

• avoid slang

• formal, but not so formal that its unappealing to read

• dont use elegent variation

• choose specific words, not abstract words

Format

• no one correct format

• To and From

• Re ( identify the subject matter)

• Date (date you completed it or the date you deliver it to your reader)

• Facts

  • limit them to one or two paragraphs

  • if you assume facts, clearly state that its an assumption

• Issues and answers (the heart of your memo)

  • an issue and the corresponding answer should be one sentence in length but should give the reader as much information as possible.

  • The issue is usually stated in the form of a question, and the answer is a full sentence response to the issue

• Reasoning

  • thesis, a short conclusion, statement of the rule of law, and the application of the rule of law to the facts

  • Thesis

  • Rule of law

    • the law contained in any legal sources that will be applied to your facts later in your memo

    • leave out portions that are irrelevant any omissions by using ellipses.

    • if the law is simple, you may want to explain it in your own words

    • explain abt case law

  • application of law to facts

    • explain why a constitutional or statutory provision applies or does not apply

    • explain it in a way that someone who has never read about that area of the law before can understand your memo

  • conclusion (summarize)

Memo Content

• To: Who is the memo for?

• From: Who wrote the memo?

• Re: What is it about?

• Facts: What are the facts of your case?

• Issue: What question are you answering?

• Answer: What did you find?

• Reasoning: FIRAC

• Conclusion: Repeat the answer with more detail.

FIRAC

• Facts: what are the facts of the precedent case?

  • Who were the parties

  • What did they do?

  • What was the law suit about?

• Issue: What was the issue that was presented to the Court in the precedent case?

• Rule

  • How did the court rule?

  • In making their ruling what did the court say?

  • What precedent did they create?

• Analysis

  • Compare and Contrast

  • This is where you take the facts from your case and apply them to the precedent case

• Conclusion: the answer!

  • This is where you explain why the precedent you used pushes you to the opinion you have given.

good lawyers teach the law