Legal writing

Legal Writing: A Competency-Based Approach by Dean Gil Marvel P. Tabucanon

The language used to create laws seems complicated not only to most lay men. To comprehend and practice jurisprudence takes much effort from law practitioners as well, especially law students aspiring to become lawyers. To aid and guide them to properly understand and effectively perform their craft, Rex Book Store will soon release the book Legal Writing: A Competency-Based Approach by Gil Marvel P. Tabucanon. Legal Writing: A Competency-Based Approach is a reference material intended for students and practitioners of law. It presents to them an easier approach to construct legal pleadings with samples. It also provides them with definitions of legal terms for better understanding and simple, but useful tips to enhance their legal writing skill. Gil Marvel P. Tabucanon is a lawyer recognized for his contribution to the growing field of ‘alternative dispute resolution’ (ADR). He was the magna cum laude when he graduated from the University of the Philippines-Tacloban where he majored in Literature. He also earned a Bachelor of Laws from the University of San Carlos. After receiving a Fulbright Scholarship, he attained a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Dispute Resolution at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2005. At present, he is the Professional Lecturer II of the Philippine Judicial Academy, the dean of the Western Leyte College School of Law in Ormoc City, and an author for Rex Book Store.

PREFACE

LegalWriting: A Competency-Based Approach presents a novel approach in learningthe art of writing in the field of law. It is a reference text notonly for law students seeking to improve their competencies in drafting legal materials but also for lawyers needing to further hone their craft. It presents a step-by-step guide in writingpleadings, memoranda, opinion letters and in general how to argue using the law. It also provides them with parallel examples of what are considered 'poor' and 'good' writing styles.

Legalwriting is all about simplicity, clarity and persuasiveness. One would not become less of a lawyer for being understandable. It isa lawyer’s distinction to be able to present his position clearly, and thereforepersuasively, in his writing. Language and logic are the raw materials of theprofession, not discounting, of course, ethics. Gone are the days of kilometric sentences, redundancies ad nauseam, and ambiguitiesmeant to confound rather than communicate. Pompous and ponderous abstractionsare no longer in vogue. The trend in international legal practice is for moreterse, plain and down to earth presentation of legal ideas that are ‘graspable’to both layman and legal professional. As Judge Learned Hand famously said: 'the language of the law must not be foreign to the ears of those who are to obey it.' This is what the book is about.

Gil Marvel P.Tabucanon Macquarie University - Sydney gil.tabucanon@mq.edu.au