Acronym for Legal Writing

Finally, try to remember that the structure of the RAIC is a guideline and that all comments in this document are also guidelines. They exist to help you argue in a more orderly way and to make that reasoning as understandable and accessible as possible to your reader. If you feel that applying any of these guidelines would create obscurity or confusion in your writings, do not apply them; Sometimes it may be better to slightly modify the proposed structure. Your goal is to argue in a deep and well-organized way and write in such a way that you clearly convey your reasoning. Your use of the RAIC should serve these purposes. On the other hand is a useful «pinball machine». Like a pinball machine, it serves to direct the silver ball upwards so that it can score extra points. Use it wherever there is more than one rule (the «Williston Rule» vs. the «Corbin Rule» for proof of forgiveness could be an example if your contract professor covers both). Or perhaps the facts are sufficiently ambiguous – by intent or negligence – to admit more than one reasonable interpretation. If so, explore both. Instead of ignoring alternative rules or avoiding conflicting facts, rejoice when the opportunity arises to use them to earn extra points. Remember the joke: «I need to find a one-armed lawyer.

I`m tired of them saying `On one side` and then `On the other side`. Well, that`s not a joke – that`s what we lawyers do: turn the question around, look at both sides. Act like a lawyer when writing answers to an exam. I have often seen students leave points behind by not exploring all reasonable alternatives. That`s why I created my own variant by adding an O for On the other hand. Go for gold. Win the war. Use both hands. Achieve dissertation excellence with RAIC-O. LSB – Legal Services Board, the regulatory authority (or super-regulatory authority) of the importance of statutory regulatory authorities. The RAIC is just as central to legal analysis as the E=mc2 formula is to physics. More than three decades ago, Terri LeClercq, a law professor at the University of Texas and a leading authority on legal writing, called the RAIC «an acronym for the golden rule for organized legal discussions.» A recent article by Stephanie LaRose, a law professor at Michigan State University, confirms that, despite some criticism, «variants of the RAIC method continue to be the gold standard for legal memoranda and abstracts.» Go for gold! (Wikipedia lists more than 20 variants of the RAIC.) The regulations help to carry out a correct legal analysis of the problem in question, using the facts of the case. The «Rules» section should be a legal summary of all rules used in the analysis and is often written in such a way that the information is described in the applicable rules or otherwise condensed analytically.

As junior law students soon learn, what we call «legal reasoning» can be expressed through the RAIC formula. It stands for Issue, Rule, Application and Conclusion. This is the format used by lawyers when preparing legal opinions. And the structure that most judges use when preparing court opinions. It`s also the kind of analysis that law professors – and especially bar examiners – are looking for. In the RAIC`s method of legal analysis, the «problem» is simply a legal question that needs to be answered. A problem arises when the facts of a case have a legal ambiguity that needs to be resolved in a case, and lawyers (whether paralegals, law students, lawyers, or judges) usually solve the problem by consulting precedents (existing laws, previous cases, court rules, etc.). For example, suppose the law requires that a lawsuit be commenced within one year of an allegedly negligent act. If the 365th day falls on a Sunday, the question would be whether or not the law counts weekends as part of its calculation of the one-year period. Will the applicant have to file an application no later than the previous Friday? Would the law excuse the weekend and consider a submission on Monday to be on time, even though it would technically be the 366th day? To answer the legal question (problem), we would move on to the following letter of the RAIC acronym: «R» – which stands for Rule.

CRRACC is an elaborate form of the RAIC: conclusion, rule, proof of rule, application, counter-argument, conclusion. The RR reminds you to specify the relevant legal rule as you have synthesized it from legal authority sources (i.e., constitutions, statutes, regulations, and decision-making or customary law), and then to support that rule statement with an organized explanation and discussion of the legal authority on which the rule statement is based (i.e., proof of the rule). The CC reminds you to put forward important counter-arguments, i.e. approaches that are opposed to how you synthesized the rule or applied the rule to your facts before formulating your conclusion. RAIC is short for Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion. These words represent the steps in the most commonly accepted way of organizing a written legal analysis: first, articulating an important legal issue or question; Second, specify and explain the relevant legal standard; Then apply the rule to your facts and conclude by explicitly answering the question or commenting on the topic. The RAIC is the most popular form of organization because it is usually the one that makes it easier for the reader to track your analysis. Following the RAIC structure provides a framework around which you can organize your writing, making your discussion easier to write (and read). When considering the other element of authority, courts tend to favour those directly responsible for security management as individuals with the power to arrest a person over individuals. The courts have made exceptions in favour of the person who carries out the detention if he is a trader.

This particular privilege is called the merchant privilege. In general, the element of authority is generally considered to be part of a two-part legal justification of legally justified detention. For example, in cases of detention by an official of the law, the courts have ruled that the official must have both a just reason and authority. Authority alone is not enough. The same reasoning applies to all inmates. Exceptions are made where an authorized person must conduct an investigation for cause and the courts generally grant a reasonable period of detention for that purpose. In the present case, the reasonable period of time during which a person may be detained is directly related to the circumstances in which the detention takes place. To repeat, as a legal writer, you will be presented with a number of facts and you will need to answer legal questions about them in a predictive or persuasive voice (unless your job is to draft laws, a will, or an agreement that includes another set of writings, includes analytical and planning skills that go beyond the scope of that discussion). As a law student, you will sometimes be asked to write something that addresses a narrow range of issues (such as a short memo); Sometimes you`ll be asked to identify any legal issues you can and then resolve them (as an answer to a certain type of exam question). Larger legal issues can usually be broken down into a series of smaller problems, allowing you to undo each component sub-question one by one, create «RAIC,» get rid of it, and then focus all your attention on the next sub-question. If you unmount the sub-questions, you need to define and organize them in such a way that they cover all the relevant legal rules and allow the reader to follow them easily. A good legal analysis of a set of facts is usually structured as a series of RAIC entities (or CRRACC).

Remember the joke: «I need to find a one-armed lawyer. I`m tired of them saying «On one side» and then «on the other side.» «Well, it`s not a joke – that`s what we lawyers do: turn the question around, look both ways. Act like a lawyer when writing answers to an exam. Identify and provide the legal conclusion you want the court to reach, note that it does NOT contain abbreviations commonly used in legal citations or in company names that we have listed elsewhere. If a person suspects that his property legally attached to him is confiscated and he can prove that his suspicions are justified, then he is said to have a reasonable suspicion. The courts also consider whether the activity in question took place in an environment where theft is common. Overcrowded public places and shops are considered more justified places where a person might have reasonable suspicions about private property or sparsely populated areas.