WRITING BRIEFS
his brief. It wandered through the
endless sentences and puked up
commas. It didn’t have a point. And
the worst part was that I had to read it.
So how do we get to aggressive
legal writing that eviscerates your
opponent’s arguments? Simple.
IRAC. IRAC stands for “Issue;
Rule; Application; Conclusion.” The
Issue (“I”) explains in one sentence
the question the IRAC analysis will
resolve. The Rule (“R”) establishes
the controlling authority. But since
the Rule sits on the coattails of
the Issue it is wedged in with blunt
force to choke out any objection
that another Rule may apply. This
permits the Application (“A”) to
cherry-pick the necessary facts
for a fine-point conclusion. The
Conclusion (“C”) you need the
judge to understand now spins with
force against anything in its path
namely the contrary arguments
set forth by your opponent.
Strategically,
your
document
needs to be front-loaded with the
favorable IRAC analysis at the
beginning for two reasons. First, it
drives the judge immediately to the
correct conclusion which, naturally,
is yours. Second, it makes your
opponent’s arguments easier to
attack. Incidentally, each of your
opponent’s
arguments
should
rece ive its own IRAC analysis
in your brief so that you have the
ability to construct your opponent’s
arguments to be as strong or as
weak as you need them. This
separates every argument, explains
each clearly, and gives the judge
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CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY JOURNAL
the ability to side with the best
argument.
IV.
No
Reader
Escapes
Point Headings – They All Fall
By The Sword Of The Pen.
Using IRAC effectively in a
brief requires well-crafted point
headings. Therefore, each IRAC
analysis should get its own point
heading.
Point headings catch
a judge’s eyes and burn into his
mind the one thought you need him
to remember. Most importantly,
they set clear parameters for each
analysis which also works to roadmap a document. This is a great
control mechanism for babblers.
It also shuts out any red herrings.
Expertly crafted point headings
are about two full lines. Anything
more is too much for someone’s
eyes on a quick read. Compelling
point headings are declarative
statements – always favorable
to your conclusion – of the IRAC
analysis that it introduces. It is
the one thought that you need the
judge to remember. For example,
when I draft my briefs if my one
thought is “I am right, and you are
wrong,” I literally use that as my
point heading to drive the focus
of that IRAC analysis. Once the
analysis is complete I rewrite the
point heading so that it pulls the
essential points from the analysis.
Strategically, if the judge does
not have the time to read your
brief then he can scan the point
headings for an expert summation
Winter 2015
of your position (always first) and
then your opponent’s (limping along
in second). If he did read your brief
but is caught among the myriad of
cases that morning, then when you
are before him he has the ability
to scan your brief for the point
headings that jog his memory of
each sections’ content.
V.
Documents Need Curvy
Paragraphs, Bolded Sentences,
And Spicy Indentations.
Once the parameters of each
IRAC analysis are set off by point
headings the visual beauty of the
section is easier to manipulate since
the hard work is largely conquered.
Therefore, the face of the paper,
the position of paragraphs, bolded
sentences, and even a hyphen work
like chili peppers on black and white.
The first step to visual beauty is to
use the white spaces effectively.
For example, if the rule in your IRAC
analysis is unfavorable to you use a
block-quote of it so that the reader
naturally does not want to read it. It
is aesthetically overwhelming. The
block quote uses the white spaces
to guide the reader gently to the
next paragraph. That paragraph
should begin with a quote explaining
the rule in the way you want it
interpreted.
Personally, I love
annoyed appellate justices for these
moments. It seeps so much love into
what is an otherwise boring read.
The second step to visual beauty
is well-used punctuation marks.
For a rule-oriented profession I
am amazed at how many lawyers
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