How to Write a Legal Report
- 1). Look up case law, statutes, and regulations that are relevant to the facts of your case. This process is commonly called "legal research," and can be performed by entering key words into a commercial legal research database such as Westlaw or LexisNexis. These services often require a membership fee, however some court houses provide free access to one or more of these services in their law libraries. All court houses have law libraries that are open to the public.
- 2). Format your law report or memo. At the top of your report state your name, the recipient's name, the date, and the subject matter to be discussed in the report. Your report should include the following headings: "Statement of the Issue(s)," "Brief Answer(s)," "Statement of the Facts," "Discussion," and "Conclusion." Each one of these headings denotes a separate section in your report. Center and underline each heading on your page.
- 3). Complete your "Statement of the Issue(s)" section by listing relevant legal issues in the form of a question. For example, "Whether the defendant was negligent when he failed to place a 'caution' sign on a wet floor" is an example of an issue statement. Your statement should identify a legal principle and a brief factual scenario that connects your case to the principle. If you have more than one legal issue, all issue statement should be numbered in the order in which they will be discussed within the report.
- 4). Write your "Brief Answer(s)" section. The "Brief Answer(s)" section should be just that - brief. Each answer should be one sentence that answers each question presented in the Issues section.
- 5). Complete your "Statement of Facts" section. Include all relevant facts from your case or hypothetical situation, such as the names of the parties, locations, dates, and the specific events or activities that give rise to a legal question. This section should not detail every fact, but only those that cut to the core of the legal issue. Use your discretion, because facts that may be irrelevant in one case may be relevant in another, for instance, the color of a defendant's hair may be relevant in a criminal case, but irrelevant in a contract dispute.
- 6). Write your "Discussion" section. Your first statement should be a brief answer to the question presented in your "Statement of the Issue(s)" section based on the facts of your case and the legal rules that you uncovered in your legal research. Begin with the case law and rules that are most relevant to your factual scenario and discuss how the rules apply to your facts. Be sure to present the strengths and weaknesses of your case for a complete discussion of the state of the law for each issue, and you should state how you think the issue will be resolved.
- 7). Write your "Conclusion" section. The "Conclusion" section does not need to be a complete restatement of your "Discussion" section, but should highlight the important elements. Begin with a brief statement of your conclusion and how the law applied to the facts brings you to the conclusion. Follow that statement with arguments supported by each case in your case law justifying your conclusion.
