Legal Writing for Students & New Lawyers: Writing Effective Memoranda of Law | CPDonline.ca

Legal Writing for Students and New Lawyers: Writing Effective Memoranda of Law

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Credits
Professionalism (Ethics, etc.): 1.25
80 minutes
Published
2017
Presenter(s)
Mark Gannage
Neil Guthrie
Source
Toronto Lawyers Association (TLA)
Provider
CPDOnline.ca
Language
English
Length
80 minutes
Price
$349.00 plus tax
Includes Handouts

Students and new lawyers are frequently asked to write memoranda of law for lawyers and/or their clients The purpose is to answer one or more questions based on a specific set of facts. A memo thoroughly analyses the germane law and applies it to those facts. The ability to write an effective legal memorandum is an essential skill early in one’s legal career.

Anyone can write a memo. But writing an effective one is more challenging and presents an opportunity for you to excel and stand out. Learn how to improve your memo-writing skills in this hands-on program. You are encouraged to submit in advance your writing samples. (You may remain anonymous and all confidential information must be removed.) Parts of some samples will be used as a teaching tool.

Professionalism Content: 90

Participants will be encouraged to submit in advance writing samples and parts of the samples will be used as a teaching tool to demonstrate:

  • Drafting in plain language, including theory and practical application (40 minutes)
  • Being sensitive to clients’ circumstances, special needs, and intellectual capacity (e.g., multi-cultural, language, gender, socioeconomic status, demeanour) (10 minutes)
  • Practice management tips (timing, file-management, defensive practice, limitations of advice etc.) (25 minutes)

Presenters

Deputy Judge Mark Gannage Deputy Judge

Prior to his appointment to the Ontario Court of Justice, Deputy Judge Mark Gannage, was litigation counsel at Torys, McCarthys, Stikeman Elliott and Goodmans, as well as a certified adjudicator who served on various tribunals.  Deputy Judge Gannage has given seminars and workshops to judges, lawyers, judicial law clerks and law students on legal writing and other topics and has moderated numerous education programs, author talks and TLA special events. He is the author of Gannage’s Ontario Civil Litigation Commentary and Checklist (Thomson Reuters), three chapters in Bullen & Leake & Jacob's Canadian Precedents of Pleadings (Thomson Reuters), has published articles in the Annual Review of Civil Litigation, The Advocates’ Quarterly and other refereed journals, and two federal law reform works. He is a Contributing Editor of the Toronto Law Journal. A former full time and adjunct law professor, Deputy Judge Gannage conceived, designed and taught U of T Law School’s first course in Advanced Legal Research, Analysis and Writing.

Neil Guthrie Director, Professional Development, Research & Knowledge Management

Neil Guthrie is Director of Professional Development, Research and Knowledge Management at Aird & Berlis LLP. Neil teaches legal research and writing at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, and in the LPP at Ryerson University. His writing tips appear regularly on slaw.ca and have been collected, revised and expanded in Guthrie’s Guide to Better Legal Writing (Irwin Law, 2017).