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Writing Issue Statements (Part 1)

C. Vodzak Legal Writing 0

While perusing some appellate court opinions yesterday, I realized that the development of good issue statements (also known as questions presented) continues to be a worthwhile topic to discuss.  This post will demonstrate some very basic ways to make issue statements clear and readable.

This is an appellant’s issue statement as it was quoted in one court opinion*:

WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED ERROR OF LAW WHEN IT HELD THAT A CONFLICT OF INTEREST DID NOT EXIST FOR ANY ATTORNEY SELECTED AND PAID FOR BY WASHINGTON INSURANCE TO DEFEND JANE JEFFERSON IN THE CASE OF Sink Repair Services Inc. d/b/a A.A. Adams & sons et al. (“MADISON LITIGATION”), LINCOLN COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA COURT OF COMMON PLEAS NO. 00-00000, BASED UPON THE FACTS THAT JANE JEFFERSON HAS BEEN SUED FOR INTENTIONAL CONDUCT AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES, NEITHER OF WHICH ARE [sic] COVERED BY THE INSURANCE POLICY UNDER WHICH WASHINGTON INSURANCE IS DEFENDING JANE JEFFERSON THE [sic] MADISON LITIGATION, AND BECAUSE ANY ATTORNEY SELECTED BY WASHINGTON INSURANCE HAS INHERENT AND CONCURRENT RESPONSIBILITIES TO WASHINGTON AS A THIRD PARTY PAYOR AND TO JANE JEFFERSON AS A CLIENT?

Wow.  Now isn’t that just the kind of issue statement that would make Bryan A. Garner want to pull his hair out?

I’m not a new lawyer, and I’m no dummy, but I couldn’t understand what the appellant was saying, certainly not after one reading.  Unfortunately, this way of writing issue statements is not unusual.

Here is the result of my first attempt at making the issue statement more understandable:

Whether the trial court committed an error of law when it held that a conflict of interest did not exist for any attorney selected and paid for by an insurance company to defend a client sued for intentional conduct and punitive damages, neither of which is covered by the insurance company and because any attorney selected by an insurance company has inherent and concurrent responsibilities to an insurance company as a third party payor and to the client?

Not great, but I made it a bit better by taking the following steps:

  • Eliminate the ALL CAPS formatting
  • Remove bold
  • Correct grammatical errors
  • Eliminate unnecessary words, particularly facts that are immaterial to the resolution
  • Replace proper names when possible

Do not make judges (or their law clerks) work to understand what you are trying to say when you can and should be using the issue statement as an opportunity to lead the court to the conclusion that you desire.  My improvement on the appellant’s issue statement is far from complete, but it is a start.

In Part Two, I will focus on the more substantive aspects of crafting a good issue statement.  If, like me, you are a fan of Mr. Garner’s or had the chance to read his ideas on this subject, you know what I’ll be talking about in the next post.

*The proper names have been changed.

How to Write a Statement of the Standard of Review in Five Simple Steps

C. Vodzak Legal Writing, Standards of Review 2

In an earlier post entitled Scope v. Standard (of Review) in a Nutshell, I mentioned the difficulty many lawyers have with these critical elements of appellate practice.  This is a short guide for writing a statement of the standard of review in as few as five steps.

1.  First Sentence

Because a statement of the standard of review often appears early in an appellate brief, put the issue in context first.

The district court interpreted 28 U.S.C. § 1961 to mean that post-judgment interest on prejudgment interest does not begin to run until the district court issues an order quantifying the amount of prejudgment interest due.

2.  Second Sentence

In the second sentence, identify the type of underlying issue resolved by the lower court and the applicable standard of review in a simple, concise statement.

Statutory interpretation presents a question of law over which this Court exercises de novo review.

3.  Citation

Provide a citation to mandatory authority.  Generally, one citation is sufficient for a well-established standard of review.  If no mandatory decision addressing the precise issue exists, then consider including a second citation from outside the jurisdiction.  This is not required, but it can be helpful and demonstrate your understanding of the standard of review.

Pell v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 539 F.3d 292, 305 (3d Cir. 2008). 

See also American Telephone and Telegraph Company v. United Computer Systems, 98 F.3d 1206, 1209 (9th Cir. 1996) (treating the interpretation of 28 U.S.C. § 1961 as a pure issue of law subject to de novo review on appeal).

4.  Last Sentence

In the last sentence, define the standard of review.

Under a de novo standard of review, this Court owes no deference to the district court’s statutory interpretation analysis.

5.  Citation

Again, cite to a mandatory decision supporting your proposition.

See Pell, 539 F.3d at 305.

Final Result:

The district court interpreted 28 U.S.C. § 1961 to mean that post-judgment interest on prejudgment interest does not begin to run until the district court issues an order quantifying the amount of prejudgment interest due.  Statutory interpretation presents a question of law over which this Court exercises de novo review. Pell v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 539 F.3d 292, 305 (3d Cir. 2008). See also American Telephone and Telegraph Company v. United Computer Systems, 98 F.3d 1206, 1209 (9th Cir. 1996) (treating the interpretation of 28 U.S.C. § 1961 as a pure issue of law subject to de novo review on appeal). Under a de novo standard of review, this Court owes no deference to the district court’s statutory interpretation analysis. See Pell, 539 F.3d at 305.

Adding boilerplate language or copying and pasting from other appellate briefs does nothing to aid the court and can damage your credibility.  The best practice is researching and specifically tailoring the statement of the standard of review to your case.

*Information in this post was based on a 2009 Continuing Legal Education presentation by Julia Glencer at Duquesne University School of Law.

The Use of Hardball Tactics in Legal Writing

C. Vodzak Legal Writing 0

Incivility toward lower courts and opposing counsel is nothing new, but personal attacks in appellate briefs have been on the rise despite pleas from courts and legal writing experts for lawyers to use such hardball tactics at their (and their clients’) own risk.

Recently, the Volokh Conspiracy posted a portion of the Big Dipper Entertainment v. City of Warren opinion in which the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals confronts this issue:

[The appellant] criticizes [the district court’s] finding in notably harsh terms, asserting that the district court “made no pretense” of applying the proper summary-judgment standard, that the court’s analysis of the issue (in a 32-page opinion) was “cursory,” that the court “chose to disregard” the “voluminous and detailed analysis” set forth in the report of [the appellant’s] expert, Bruce McLaughlin, and so on. ([Appellant] similarly accuses opposing counsel of making “egregious misstatement[s]” to this court, etc.)

Arguments like these—which casually impugn the motives of the district court or, more commonly, opposing counsel—are regrettably common of late. So we think it worthwhile to comment on them. In our view, a party should think twice about questioning the district court’s integrity or that of opposing counsel. That two persons disagree does not mean that one of them has bad motives. And even in the worst cases, the better practice is usually to lay out the facts and let the court reach its own conclusions.

This type of legal writing seriously detracts from any meritorious arguments, angers judges and subjects the lawyer to potential public humiliation.

Is this trend continuing because of inadequate supervision of brief-writing subordinates? Or, because some passionate trial lawyers are handling appeals?  Here is a link to another example that received a lot of attention: a recent order from a Kansas trial court.

Regardless of the possible causes, lawyers should not underestimate courts.  They should consider having an appellate lawyer write appellate briefs.  And in all cases, they should proofread explicitly for personal attacks on courts and opposing counsel.

I think the best practice is for lawyers to write persuasively so that a court can reach the desired conclusion through deductive reasoning.  This method of legal writing takes skill and experience, so I agree with the Sixth Circuit: At the very least, simply lay out the facts rather than risk your case with poor legal writing.

Point Made: How to Write Like the Nation’s Top Advocates

C. Vodzak Legal Writing, Previews and Reviews 1

Last week on Twitter, several posts linking to interviews with the author of a new legal writing book grabbed my attention.*

I never before heard of Ross Guberman, but because of my keen interest in legal writing, particularly appellate brief writing, I began to investigate.  His glowing comments about Chief Justice John Roberts as a writer and a description of his book as “writing-nerd nirvana” sealed my interest.

Ross Guberman is a legal writing consultant whose company, Legal Writing Pro, offers seminars, workshops and other programs to lawyers and judges on legal writing and drafting.  While acknowledging exceptions exist, he believes that legal writing has gotten worse over the years, pointing to an “era of cutting and pasting” as a cause.

“Literary novels and poetry require talent,” he says.  “But persuasive writing can be taught, as long as the writer has a working command over sentence structure and a good ear for language.” Guberman admits the skill is not easily learned but states that one “can go line-by-line, heading-by-heading, example-by-example and explain what’s happening in even the most famous briefs by the most famous advocates.”

Oxford University Press released his new book, Point Made: How to Write Like the Nation’s Top Advocates, which has been described as a compilation of 50 distinct writing techniques, each demonstrated through recent, short, diverse and interesting examples from top lawyers’ motions and briefs in high-profile cases.  Guberman calls his book a one-on-one conversation with a personal touch that can be both read cover to cover and used as a handy reference book. He includes useful information and offers new takes on familiar challenges to assist lawyers write more effectively.

Guberman tells lawyers how to be better writers.  He recommends studying the fresh and evocative writing of non-lawyers, such as those in Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Economist, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, while focusing on transitions, word choice, parallelism and sentence structure variety.

He encourages lawyers to use the readability statistics tool and challenges them to strive for a Flesch Reading Ease score of 40 or higher. He suggests this can be achieved by shortening some sentences, breaking down long paragraphs, replacing long words with short ones and changing the passive voice to the active voice.

“In an ideal world, I supposed that style wouldn’t or shouldn’t matter.  But in the real world, it most certainly does. Most lawyers overestimate how much time and effort that judges and even clerks can devote to deciphering the many briefs that cross their desks each week. So here’s what judges will tell you off the record: although they may not assess style consciously, when the word choice is precise and evocative, the sentences are vivid and varied, and the writer shows some personality or pizzazz, the arguments become all that much easier to understand—and to accept.”

My Bottom Line: Any time someone attempts to provide techniques or a formula for an aspect of law practice that can be learned, applied and then taught, I am pleased.  Much more needs to be said, so I am looking forward to receiving my own copy of Point Made and will happily provide a review soon after.

* My information was compiled from interviews conducted by Conor McEvily, Jay O’Keeffe and Scott Key.