We're just going to save you from having to have that

experience.

Exactly.

Exactly.

And that's why outlining can really avoid those errors.

And a strong outline should track how the legal decision should be made, identify any legal issues that must be resolved, and show the logical steps from issue to conclusion.

And this is great because this is before you have to do complete sentences, complete citations.

They

So share a little bit about why you think this is the starting point when thinking about organizing your legal writing.

Absolutely.

So I'm sure if you have been at law school even for a month and you're listening to this, you've already heard audience and purpose.

Those are vital because organization doesn't exist in a vacuum.

Structure matters, but it only works if it's guided by audience and purpose.

And that's the lens that you should really be using for everything that follows.

Before you sit down and write, I would recommend pausing and asking yourself, who am I writing to? What do I need the reader to understand by the end? What do I want the reader to do or decide, if anything? Because legal writing is never abstract.

But beyond that,