Mastering Legal Analysis and Drafting

Mastering Legal Analysis and Drafting seeks to emphasize the fundamental structure and methods of legal drafting, grounded in the surprisingly few elemental rules and techniques of legal analysis. It is designed to (1) help the legal drafters identify those elemental rules and techniques, and (2) show how they are used to prepare effective legal writing in different formats, most of which share common elements and structures.

The book begins with a discussion of legal analysis, followed by a discussion of general drafting principles and rules, and then proceeds to apply these concepts to specific forms of legal writing, including client letters, demand letters, research memoranda, motions and supporting documents, appellate briefs, contracts and instruments, and legislation. It closes with a chapter on "writing to build a record" that reprises the other chapters and highlights the key concepts.

The second edition has been updated to reflect recent developments in legal practice, research, citation, and technology.

George Kuney is a W.P. Toms Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Tennessee College of Law.

Donna Looper is a retired Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee College of Law.