What is a Legal Document?
A law is a set of rules that are created and enforced by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior.
There are many types of law, including property, contract, torts, and intellectual property. Some are enforceable by state or national governments, while others are private law.
Definition
The legal system is a set of rules created and enforced by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior. Often, this is done by creating statutes and judicial decisions.
Lawful, legal, legitimate, and licit all mean conforming to the law or in accordance with it (see definition). In extended use, "legal" refers especially to those that are sanctioned by law, such as a constitution, whether written or tacit, and/or those enforceable through the courts.
In legal terms, a right is a normative relationship between a right subject and a right object. This relationship is characterized by one of four Hohfeldian legal positions: claim, privilege, power, and immunity.
Purpose
A legal document is an agreement between two or more parties that is legally enforceable. This can be in the form of a contract (an agreement between two or more parties that is signed and sealed by official authority), an affidavit, a deed, or other document.
The purpose of a legal document can range from the mundane to the sublime. A common example of this is a legal contract, such as an insurance policy or lease. The best way to ensure a successful and enforceable contract is to be sure that the party signing on has an insurable interest in the other party’s assets or property.
There are many types of legal documents, and many of them can be complex and confusing. One of the most important tasks is ensuring that all the voluminous information is presented in a clear and concise fashion. A good rule of thumb is to include only the most important and relevant material and avoid jargon-laden boilerplate or flimsy text.
IRAC Method
The IRAC method is a well-recognized way of organizing a written legal analysis. It consists of articulating an important issue or question, stating and explaining the relevant legal rule, applying the rule to the facts of the problem scenario, and expressing a conclusion.
The proponents of the IRAC method say that it helps to organize legal analysis by simplifying it to a formula that reduces reasoning mistakes and makes writing easier to follow. However, the IRAC method has its fair share of opponents.
Critics of the IRAC method say that it oversimplifies a good legal analysis and leads to the overwriting and oversimplification of complex issues. They also argue that legal reasoners should not be limited to the format of IRAC because it can lead them to focus on adhering to a rigid structure, diminishing their ability to express themselves fully in the process.
Although it is an efficient framework for answering exam questions, the IRAC method is not the only way to structure an answer. Rather, it is a tool that helps you organize your thinking and writing while learning how to respond to legal issues in a concise manner that demonstrates your competency to practice law in the future.
Writing
Legal documents are long and arduous to compile, so it's important to write them efficiently. Use clear language to minimize ambiguity, and ensure that all information contained in the document is accurate and detailed.
The first step in drafting legal documents is to define the technical terminology used consistently throughout the document. This may include specialized words, ordinary words with different meanings in law, archaic vocabulary, and loan words from other languages.
Keeping sentences simple, active, affirmative, and declarative can help avoid ambiguity. Additionally, using standard typefaces, numerals, and citing case or statute law are critical elements of legal documentation.
Wordiness, characterized by the use of passive voice, double negatives, needless adverbs, preposition-heavy formulations, and superfluous phrases, weakens legal writing. Likewise, cliches are often ill-fitting for a given situation and may not be precisely what a reader needs to understand the document's gist.
Categories: Legal
A law is a set of rules that are created and enforced by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior. There are many types of law, including property, contract, torts, and intellectual property. Some are enforceable by state or national governments, while others are private law. Definition The legal system is a set of…