List the Best Arguments for Each Side for Your Memo

Dear 1L, This week, most of you will start your big memo.

This is where ALL 1Ls waste a ton of time.

—They read the hypo & the research cases.
—They predict which side of the issue should “win.”
—Then they write a memo to bolster their own prediction.

And then it comes.
It always comes.

It’s the great, internal DEBATE:

Was the original prediction “right”?

Self-doubt, hand-wringing, even self-flagellation ensues.

And it wastes days upon days on end.

▶️ PLEASE: do not do that!

Instead:

—SKIP all the predicting over which side should “win.”
—DO brainstorm and list the best arguments for EACH side.
—Only then should you flip a coin and write the memo where you have one side come out on top—ever so barely.

That way, you will identify the most persuasive way to use each case to support each side.

Only then can you come up with the best arguments to rival the other side’s best arguments.

But if you don’t give a full stab at coming up with the best arguments for each side first, you won’t even get to thinking about the best way to defeat those arguments.

You will leave points on the table.
And that would be a shame.

Please do reach out to let me know if you have any questions.

***
This is CRUNCH TIME for fall semester. I know you are all sucking wind. I’ll be here trying to up the oxygen level in the room for all of you.

Fondly,

💌 Amanda

P.S. The issues in these 1L fall memos are HARD. There is no clear-cut winner. If there were, that would be way too easy.

So don’t beat yourself up over which side to choose. You can get an A writing the memo either way.

P.P.S. I’m giving a free talk tonight for 1Ls with Albert Tawill from Lateral Hub and Jonah Perlin from Georgetown Law School.