Some Criticisms of legal Opinions

The following are some criticisms against legal opinions. Great lawyers try to avoid them.

Other variants (IRARC)

Great Lawyers also use other variants when drafting, for example they may use IRARC when drafting an objective memorandum.

Advantages of CRARC

CRARC holds many advantages over both IRAC and IRARC for persuasive briefs. Both IRAC and IRARC begin with a neutral restatement of the issue in the case. When you restate an issue up-front, you miss an opportunity to persuade the reader.

The Anatomy of an Opinion: CRARC

Of the many organisational models deviated from IRAC, one that fully captures all elements of persuasive legal writing is CRARC.

The Anatomy of an Opinion: IRAC

IRAC stands for Issue, Rule, Application, and Conclusion.

Opinion Writing Guidelines

The type of opinion to be prepared depends upon the purpose that the appellate opinion serves. This may include:

Published Opinions

An opinion may be defined as a publicly stated, reasoned elaboration that justifies a conclusion or decision. Its purpose is to set forth an explanation for a decision that adjudicates a live case or controversy that has been presented before a court. To put it another way, a quality opinion will predict how similar factual scenarios will be treated. This explanatory function of the opinion is paramount. In the common law tradition, the court’s ability to develop case law finds legitimacy only because the decision is accompanied by a publicly recorded statement of reasoning available to all future readers.

Understand the Reasoning of the Majority Opinion

Some opinions resolve the parties’ legal dispute by announcing and applying a clear rule of law that is new to that particular case. That rule is known as the ‘ratio decidendi’ of the case. This are often contrasted with ‘dicta’ found in an opinion.

Majority, Concurring & Dissenting Opinions

In law, a majority opinion is a judicial opinion agreed to by more than half of the members of a court. A majority opinion sets forth the decision of the court and an explanation of the rationale behind the court's decision.

The formula of a legal opinion: Remember

Great lawyers do not evaluate an opinion in terms of their agreement with the result, or according to how congenial with their personal philosophy it may be, or simply because they want to apply a value judgment in the choice, interpretation, or application of the controlling legal precept, for this too may be a personal valuation. Rather, they measure opinions on:

The formula of a legal opinion: The Case Citation

Following the case name you will find some letters and numbers. These letters and numbers are the legal citation for the case. A citation tells you the name of the court that decided the case, the law book in which the opinion was published, and the year in which the court decided the case.

The formula of a legal opinion: Types of Disputes

There are two basic kinds of legal disputes: civil and criminal. In a civil case, one person files a lawsuit against another asking the court to order the other side to pay him money or to do or stop doing something. An award of money is called ‘damages’ and an order to do something or to refrain from doing something is called an ‘injunction.’

The formula of a legal opinion: Heading

The first part of the case is the title of the case. The title usually tells you the last names of the person who brought the lawsuit and the person who is being sued. These two sides are often referred to as the ‘parties’ or as the ‘litigants’ in the case. For example: Doe vs. Green. As the case moves up the ladder the names are inversed. Thus for example if Doe appealed to the court of appeal the case would be titled as Green vs. Doe.

Legal Opinions

This explains what judicial opinions are, how they are structured, and what law students and lawyers should look for when reading them.