Legal Writing Handbook
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II. Different Types of Legal Writing
Legal writing is used for three main purposes:
- Functional
- Informational
- Persuasive
Functional
Functional writing is writing designed to achieve a particular result. The document itself does something. Writings called instruments are ordinarily functional. Examples of functional writing are:
- wills
- contracts
- complaints
- deeds
Functional writing often must include magic words. For that reason, archaic ceremonial language is often appropriate in functional writing:
I, O. Julius Bananaberry of Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas, being over the age of eighteen years and of sound and disposing mind and memory, do hereby make, publish and declare this to be my last will and testament, hereby revoking all wills and codicils heretofore made by me at any time:
1. I request that my valid debts be paid as soon as reasonably possible following my demise.
2. I give and bequeath to my nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie Bananaberry the sum of four million Dollars, to be paid out of my estate after the payment of my debts.
3. I give and bequeath to Dionysius Hipp the following described personal property:
- My prized collection of arsenic flavorings.
- My autographed copy of "Final Exit."
- A rattlesnake.
4. I give and devise to Elspeth Bluenose the following described real property lying and being situated in the County of Pulaski, State of Arkansas:
Edgehill Subdivision, Allsopp Park, the Northeast corner of Section Twenty Two (22), and the Southeast corner of the Northeast Quarter (NE 1/4) of Section Twenty Two (22), all in Township Two (2) North, Range Twenty Two (22) West, Pulaski County, Arkansas, and the present right of way of the inside curve of Highway 10. The Northwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of the Eastwest Quarter of the Seventh.
5. I give, devise and bequeath the following described property, in equal parts, share and share alike, to Huey, Dewey, and Louie Bananaberry:
- My comic book collection
- The furniture in my recreation room
- The giant stuffed bear which I killed with a grenade from a helicopter.
6. I give, devise and bequeath all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, whether real or personal, and wherever situated, to my wife, Lovey Bananaberry. In the event that she should predecease me, I then give, devise and bequeath all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, both real and personal and wherever situated, to my cat, Rover and my dog, Fluffy, in equal parts, share and share alike, per stirpes.
6. I nominate, constitute and appoint Hiram Tweedle as executor of my estate under this will and request and direct that he be permitted to serve without bond.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this
Seventeenth day of August, 1999, in the presence of William
Jefferson Clinton and Jerry Falwell, who at my request attest the
same in my presence and in the presence of each other.
________________________________
O. Julius Bananaberry
We, William Jefferson Clinton and Jerry Falwell, do hereby certify that O. Julius Bananaberry, the testator in the above and foregoing will, subscribed the said will in our presence, at the time declaring to us that said instrument was his will; and we, at his request, and in his presence, and in the presence of each other, now sign our names hereunto as attesting witnesses, this Seventeenth day of August, 1999.
________________________________
William Jefferson Clinton
________________________________
Jerry Falwell
STATE OF ARKANSAS )
)SS
COUNTY OF PULASKI )
Subscribed and sworn to before me, a Notary Public, on this day of , 1999.
NOTARY PUBLIC
My Commission Expires:
PREPARED BY:
Harriet Cheatham
CHEATHAM & HOWE
Humongous National Bank Building
Suite 2500
Capitol and Main Streets
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
The will does not have to be persuasive. It need not be interesting. But it must be accurate, complete, and understandable.
The register of this document ranges from ceremonial to formal. Some ceremonial language is required by the law.
Informative writing is used to convey information. The goal is to communicate objectively. Examples are:
- Memoranda
- Letters to clients
- Statements of facts in briefs
Informative writing should be in the formal or informal register, depending on the recipient.
Persuasive writing is designed to convince the reader to accept a certain viewpoint. The classic example is the argument section of a brief.
Ceremonial language is almost never persuasive. It is here that your writing must be at its tightest. It must be interesting. It must be, for lack of a better word, good.
Which register applies, if any at all, to this legal opinion?
In re Jesus Ramirez
Justice Court of California, Tuolumne County
Case No. 516 (1851)
R.C. BARRY, J.P.
This is a suit fore Mule Steeling in which Jesus Ramirez is indited for steeling one black mare mule, branded O with a 5 in it from Sheriff Werk. George swares the mule in question is hisn and I beleeve so to on hearing the caze I found Jesus Ramirez gilty of feloaniusly and against the law made and provided and the dignity of the people of Sonora steelin the aforesade mare mule sentenced him to pay the costs of Coort $10 and fined him $100 more as a terrour to all evil dooers. Jesus Ramirez not having any munney to pay with I rooled that George Werk shuld pay the costs of coort, as well as the fine, and in defalt of payment that the said one mare mule be sold by the Constable John Luney or other officer of the Court to meet the expenses of the Costs of the Coort, and also the payment of the fine aforesaid.
H.P.Barber the lawyer for George Werk insolently told me there were no law for me to rool so, I told him that I didn't care a damn for his booklaw, that I was the law myself. He continued to jaw back I told him to shut up but he wouldn't I fined him $50 and committeed him to gaol for 5 days for comtempt of Coort in bringing my roolings and dississions into disreputableness end as a warning to unrooly persons not to contradict this Coort.
Aug. 21, 1851
John Luney, Constable
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