A Lawyer Writes: A Practical Guide to Legal Analysis

Book Synopsis: Like the very popular first edition, this second edition puts the reader in the place of a first-year attorney faced with real life assignments. In doing so, it teaches law students not only how to succeed in law school, but also how to succeed in the practice of law. Using graphics and visual samples, the book shows best practices in both traditional and electronic environments. Speaking to its readers in a straightforward manner, A Lawyer Writes communicates essential skills and theories so that they will be retained for a lifetime of legal practice.

There are two significant changes in the second edition of A Lawyer Writes. First, two new chapters have been added: Chapter 17, Client Letters, and Chapter 19, The Transition from Objective to Persuasive Writing. (What was Chapter 17, Professional E-mails, will appear as Chapter 18.) In addition, section 8.3, Applying the Law: Counter-Analyses, has been re-organized, but the content has remained the same. All other updates to the book are smaller edits that fix errors, create consistency, or further clarify an existing idea.

A teaching website is available. To request the link and login information, please email meade (at) cap-press (dot) com.

The following book reviews are from the first edition.

“A Lawyer Writes made a great difference in my teaching this year. The book explains concisely the expectations of lawyers regarding organization of legal analysis and then explicitly shows law students how to meet those expectations. The frequent examples are a great complement to the clear and accessible text.” – Suzanne Rowe, Luvaas Faculty Fellow 2008-09, Director, Legal Research and Writing, Associate Professor of Law, University of Oregon

“One of the best parts of A Lawyer Writes is its chapter explaining rules. After my students read that chapter, they really seemed to understand the concept that rules can be stated implicitly in the cases, and that it was their job to make those rules explicit for their readers. The book also provides a number of excellent, easy-to-understand examples in every chapter, which the students found very helpful.” – Alison Julien, Associate Professor of Legal Writing, Marquette University Law School

“A Lawyer Writes is the perfect book for the first semester of Legal Writing. It explains the foundations of legal reasoning, illustrates those foundations with practical examples, and is an exemplary model of its own lessons about good legal writing.” – Steve Johansen, Professor of Law, Lewis & Clark Law School