U.S. Legal Reasoning, Writing, and Practice for International Lawyers

This comprehensive legal writing text for international LL.M. students reflects the author's experience as a lawyer, professor of legal writing to international LL.M. students, and applied linguist who taught academic English as a Second Language to international university students.

The book has a unique set of features:

• It introduces the common-law system in the U.S. and contrasts it with the civil-law system, while teaching legal reasoning and writing skills that international students need, such as how to draft memos, contracts, emails, and letters to clients, opposing counsel, and colleagues, as well as how to do legal research;
• It teaches law-school skills such as how to read cases and write case briefs and outlines, and how to take final exams;
• It helps students to address their second-language difficulties with targeted material that provides specific advice related to common student grammar issues, legal English vocabulary, the use of plain English, and the rhetorical style of U.S. legal writing;
• It discusses current legal practice, by describing the culture, hierarchy, and economics of law firms, what partners expect from associates, and how to communicate with colleagues; and
• It provides an extensive selection of real writing samples redacted from actual attorney work product.