Overview of the lawyer's role -- The legal system, the common law process, and kinds of authority -- Briefing and synthesizing cases -- Interpreting statutes -- Forms of legal reasoning -- The writing process and law-trained readers -- Large-scale organization : creating an annotated outline -- Small-scale organization : explaining the law -- Small-scale organization : applying the law -- Discussing multiple issues : putting it all together -- Deepening your analysis -- Writing an office memo -- Writing professional letters and emails -- Introduction to brief-writing -- Questions presented and point headings -- Writing the argument section -- Standards of review -- Writing a fact statement -- Using legal theory to sharpen your arguments -- Citations and quotations -- Paragraphs, sentences, and style -- Oral argument.