Write On ings ( known as point headings ) should be a single persuasive sentence setting forth the legal argument and connecting it to the relevant facts for that particular argument . 6 Effective headings advocate and create page breaks that focus the reader ’ s attention on the key points of the argument . 7 Readers typically remember the first and last sentences in a paragraph or section better than the middle sentences . The first and last sentences of a section or paragraph are called “ positions of emphasis .” 8 Headings allow the writer to have additional sentences that are in positions of emphasis and thereby target the audience with more effective advocacy .
Bonus — Word Choice :
In addition to structural approaches to targeting an audience , advocates can also look at substantive language to help target the audience and thus maximize the impact of writing and advocacy . For example , when I ’ m drafting an appellate brief or preparing for oral argument , I review previous decisions from the court before which I ’ m arguing , not only to determine what the law is , but also to determine what language or facts the court has emphasized in the past . In doing so , I can tailor my writing to emphasize similar language or similar facts . In doing so , I ’ m using the court ’ s decisions in the same way a marketing team uses the information it gains from a focus group to target a specific audience for a Super Bowl advertisement . If I do this effectively , my writing will be more persuasive to my specific audience – the Court .
Ultimately , as lawyers our job is often to
persuade a judge , jury or another attorney that our position is legally sound . To do this effectively , we must consider not only the statutes , regulations and case law that control the legal issue , but also how to best target the audience . In my experience , by considering what will appeal to our particular audience and tailoring the structure and language of our writing to the needs and wishes of that audience , we can better advocate our client ’ s position . ____________________ Jared Carter is an Assistant Professor of Law at Vermont Law School . Jared teaches legal activism , legal writing and appellate advocacy at VLS . He also directs the Vermont Community Law Center , a non-profit legal services organization focused on social justice , constitutional rights and consumer protection . ____________________
1
The Business Research Lab , http :// www . busreslab . com / index . php / articles-and-stories / research-tips / advertising / the-role-of-focusgroups-in-advertising / ( last visited March 14 , 2017 ).
2
Targetsmart , http :// targetsmart . com / offering / polling / ( last visited March 14 , 2017 ).
3
Richard C . Wydick , Plain English for Lawyers ( 5th ed . 2005 ).
4
Id .
5
Id .
6 http :// web . csulb . edu /~ cdamschr / PDFs / ConstructingSentences . PDF ( last visited March 14 , 2017 ).
7
Writing User-friendly Documents , www . plainlanguage . gov / howto / guidelines / Reader-Friendly . doc ( last visited March 14 , 2017 ).
8
Grammar Handbook , http :// handbook . grammarly . com / handbook / sentences / sentencestyle / 2 / sentence-emphasis / ( last visited March 14 , 2017 ).
22 THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • SPRING 2017 www . vtbar . org