Effective Advocacy: A Guide to Winning Writing Techniques - Sample page

XVII.    The Conclusion or Answer

  1. Reach a Conclusion. Again, clients and assigning attorneys don’t appreciate spending several thousand dollars to learn that the answer to their question is maybe.If your research discloses a definite answer, conclude with yes or no. Yes if. . . . or no if . . . . are also acceptable provided that the ifs are fact specific, such as The client may pursue his discrimination claim if he files his notice with the EEOC by February 1.  If the answer really is maybe, at least be definitive about being hesitant: explain any split in the authority, state which view is the weight of the authority, and analogize and distinguish the facts which characterize each line of reasoning.

  2. Assume your Conclusion is the only thing your reader will read. Because it probably is the only thing your reader will read

  3. Again, use your Answer to prime your reader. A Brief Answer in the opening of your paper effectively primes your reader as to what to look for in the body of the paper. Once primed, the reader seizes on the information when it is presented later and that information clicks quickly, like a puzzle piece snapping into the space you have prepared for it.

  4. State your conclusion in plain English. Imagine running into the colleague who assigned you an issue as she is getting off the elevator and you are getting on. You have only a few seconds to answer her question, “How is the Widget research coming?” Your one-sentence answer is your conclusion.

  5. Say the conclusion aloud. Saying the conclusion aloud will force you to use plain English and simplify. Again, imagine a quick conversation with a colleague on the elevator.

  6. Conclude early. Put your conclusion at the beginning of your paper—usually on the first page, either in the Introduction or immediately after the Issue in a Brief Answer. Legal papers should not unfold like a mystery novel.

  7. Explain why. State your conclusion then explain why you reached that conclusion. Your readers cannot decide whether they agree with your conclusion unless you tell them how you reached it. Telling why in the Answer builds credibility early.

  8. Organize your conclusion to correspond to your issue. For example, if you have presented your Issue in two parts, I and II, you should also present your Conclusion in two parts, also numbered I and II. Your Argument should then use corresponding headings.

  9. Make your conclusion fact specific. Avoid legal abstractions and explain what your conclusion means for this client. Mr. Jones is negligent for not having shoveled his sidewalk because he knew that Mrs. Snugglebeam walked by his store every morning to pick up her morning paper is better than The store owner will be found negligent for not maintaining his sidewalk with reasonable care if he reasonably should have known that pedestrians were likely to use that sidewalk by 7:00 A.M.

  10. Write your conclusion after you have written your discussion. You will learn as you write, so draft your conclusion last even though it will go at the beginning of your paper.

  11. Do it once. A second Conclusion at the end often leaves the reader wondering whether that final Conclusion is different than the earlier Brief Answer. Except in a very long paper, once is enough. Instead of restating your conclusion at the end of your paper, conclude with your Recommendations about what the client should do next.