Dear 1L,

I created a new IRAC template for you.

(FYI: This is NOT in my book.)

The template shows how I structured my exam essays for EVERY course.

It worked on 3 winning bar exams, too.

It was in the 1L legal writing course, and it was devastating to both my confidence and my GPA.

—I wasn’t prepared.
—I had no guide or mentor to help me.
—I experienced the worst academic time of my life.

I never want anyone else to have to endure the same.

“They don’t teach students the practical skills to be a ‘real’ lawyer.”

Well, that is true in part, but I’ve got a different take when it comes to one skill:

That skill is legal analysis.

Here, it’s the law schools getting it right, and, too often, the “real” lawyers getting it wrong.

Do not use it to describe a court’s holdings in your brief this spring. “Find” and “hold” mean very different things.

“But Amanda,” you say, “many lawyers—even judges—use ‘find’ generically all the time to describe the actions courts take.”

 —I know. You are right about that. But that does not make using “find” right.

What’s that you say? “I would never use expletives in legal writing.”

Yeah, I hear that. But you do.

Here’s what I mean:

🔹 Definition:

On the outside, I seemed to have it all together:
—a top GPA,
—a job lined up for fall, and
—a law review Note ready to publish.

What could I be stressed about?

As it turned out, a lot.

Truth is: I’ve been scared to write about it before.

And please don’t say, “ just follow the easy ‘he/him’ rule.”
I know that “easy rule.”
The topic is more nuanced.

So here I go.

By the time you’re a mid-level associate, you’ve put in some tough time—

You’ve endured the early years of 0% control over your schedule.

—You’ve canceled social plans;
—you’ve sacrificed umpteen weekends; and

Judges hate surprises.

Like “surprise facts.”

Those are ones you didn’t describe neutrally in your Facts section.

Yet increasingly, I’m seeing briefwriters get sloppy.

Here are the rules, and I’ve also attached a chart you can save, print, and pin on your wall.*

RULES:

In addition to capitalizing the word “court” whenever you write out its full, formal name (obviously), only 3 other situations require or permit you to capitalize that word:

▪️ What’s better in legal writing? “prior to” or “before”?

▪️ Should you add extra spaces below the first line of a post?
 
▪️ What should you do if your case has multiple corporate entities?

Last week I sent answers to these 3 questions to 𝟭,𝟬𝟳𝟵 people.

It’s the winter before you start law school.

You’re excited but nervous.

You’re not really sure what to expect.

You want to be prepared.

You want to do the best you can.

“The same” wreaks havoc.

To illustrate:

🔹 "She delivered the goods to the warehouse and then sold the same."

—Does "same" refer to the goods or the warehouse?

🔹 “The contract has a 30-day notice rule. Failure to comply with same will result in penalties."

I thought I’d pass it along.
It is good advice!

➡️ Because when you start to think about your reader as you’re writing, something really cool happens:

You realize it’s not just you sitting there alone,
banging at that keyboard.

So please listen closely.

—> Most people think that “as such” means something like “therefore,” or “accordingly,” and they use it as a catch-all to stand for what they said in the preceding sentence.

For instance, many writers would use “As such” in sentence pairs like these: