Legal Writing and Practical Skills: Structure, Reasoning, and Persuasion
Written work
Practical legal skills test the ability to produce a structured legal document: a claim, a defence, a contract, a decision, or a legal opinion. The core structure is: facts, legal issue, applicable law, analysis, and conclusion. Learn to cite sources correctly (statute, case law, doctrine) and to distinguish holding from obiter. Understand the difference between a submission to a court and an opinion to a client in tone and content.
Reasoning
Master the syllogism: major premise (rule), minor premise (facts), conclusion. Learn to argue in the alternative, to anticipate counterarguments, and to distinguish relevant from irrelevant facts. In drafting, precision and consistency of terminology matter; defined terms must be used consistently.
Traps
Questions test whether the candidate can identify the legally decisive facts and avoid irrelevancies. Another trap is the failure to state a conclusion, or a conclusion that does not follow from the analysis. Watch for citation errors and for confusing a ratio with a passing remark.
Rule of thumb
Use the IRAC pattern (Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion) for every answer, and state the conclusion explicitly. In drafting, define terms once and use them exactly.
Worked example
A client asks whether a clause is enforceable. The answer should state the issue, the applicable rule, apply the rule to the clause's wording, and conclude with a clear yes or no plus the condition under which it changes.