Pre-Writing

• 1). Review all facts in the case. Separate facts into three categories: legal, emotional and background.
  
  
• 2). Choose legal facts necessary to apply the statutes and legal principles governing the case. For example, if a statute requires drivers to yield to pedestrians, a legal fact would be that your client was a pedestrian when struck by the car.
  
  
• 3). Determine the emotional impact of a fact using commonsense standards. For example, even if a statute applies to all pedestrians, it is emotionally significant that a pedestrian was in a wheelchair when hit by the car.
  
  
• 4). Select background facts that provide context for the client's case. For example, explain that the client was on his way to the doctor when the accident occurred.
  
  
• 5). Decide which organizational format best fits the facts. Choose a chronological format to highlight key dates. Use a topical format if objects or events tell the story.
  
  

Writing Facts and Problems

• 1). Prepare a statement that summarizes all legally significant facts even if adverse to your client. Write descriptive sentences in an objective tone without forming conclusions. For example, instead of writing that the driver was speeding, say that he was traveling at 65 mph in a 35-mph zone. Lawyer Mark Gannage believes that specifying whether the parties agree on or dispute certain facts adds credibility to the statement.
  
  
• 2). Apply the relevant law to the facts to formulate as many problems and questions as are needed to address the main issues presented by the case. Write questions in the "under-is-when" format. For example, "Under New York's negligence laws, is a driver negligent for striking a pedestrian when the pedestrian did not obey the crossing guard's warning not to enter the street?"
  
  
• 3). Review the statement of facts and questions for content and style. Make sure questions do not add facts not summarized in the statement. Make sure questions explain the actions of both parties that form the dispute.