Structure, Layout and Style
Structure, Style, and Layout of Law Essays and Law Reports Law Essays
Unless you are told otherwise, the very minimum requirements of a law essay or problem question are an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
- Introduction: As a very basic guide, for essay style, layout, the structure of legal writing questions, the introduction will represent about 10% of your word in total numbers, draft perhaps a brief interpretation of the question and what you intend to express in the style of legal writing essay. For problematic questions, the introduction will be just short and simple, draft for example the areas of law and main statutes/cases that the question is concerned with.
- Body: The body of your answer, accounting for the majority of the word in numbers, should make out your understanding of the area and develop your discussion. It is a good idea here to keep referring expressly to the question asked.
- Conclusion: The conclusion for essay structure of legal writing, the layout of legal writing, and style questions will represent about 10 – 15% of your word in total numbers. This must summarize your main findings and points, and usually will reach a conclusion and answer the question set, which must be consistent with your findings and description in the body of the essay. You should never introduce new points or material in the conclusion. For problematic questions, the length of your conclusion will depend on how you have approached to answer the question. If you have reached conclusions in the body of your answer, there is little point increase density about them here and you may just end up summarizing your findings, For e.g. "in conclusion, Irfan has a binding contract with threshold and will be bound by its terms, as agreed between the parties on the 18th of June" etc.
A report will also often consider alternatives to the proposed change. A good structure, style, layout for a law report would be as follows:
- Title Page: The title page that shows the title of the law report, the author, the pe
You may be asked to write a legal report about a specific area of law. A law report will be a fair-minded presentation, often dealing with the present law, proposals for change and whether those proposals have been accepted by the person for whom the law report is prepared, and the date of completion.
- Summary/Synopsis/Executive Summary: (approx 10% of word calculation) – The purpose of the legal report, The scope of the legal report – issues mentioned/not mentioned, The important results and findings, The conclusions and recommendations, Acknowledgement of any assistance in researching and compiling the report'
- Table of contents: not specifying the title and contents page!
- Body of the report: Introduction – what is the law report about, Argument – divided into sections and subsections, presented clearly and confined to fact rather than analysis/opinion.
- Conclusion: Relate back to the findings in the body of the law report, Include a clear summary of the main points, Make out the findings of the research. There should be nothing in the conclusion that has not already been mentioned in the body of the report.
