Properly citing legal authority is important in legal writing. It involves knowing how to cite cases, laws, and other legal sources correctly. This helps to support and give credit to the ideas and arguments in a legal document. Credible citations and sound reasoning based on those citations are important for persuading a court to support your client’s position. To write persuasively, it’s important to use a clear and organized outline and plan for your citations. This will help guide the reader to your conclusion. Developing a well-structured and persuasive legal argument takes careful planning and outlining. When planning out your essay, be sure to plan out your citations as well. Think about what legal sources will best help you make your argument. Consider whether your case is controlled by the Constitution, statutes, or common law. By choosing the most persuasive legal authorities, you can make your argument stronger. 1) The Constitution or relevant laws are the most important legal authorities in Florida courts.
2) Decisions from the Supreme Court of Florida are next in importance, followed by district court decisions.
3) Decisions from other state courts can also be persuasive if they support your argument and are in line with the majority of legal opinions.
4) Well-reasoned trial court decisions can also carry weight.
5) Restatements and comments can be influential if adopted in Florida, but are generally just persuasive.
6) Finally, the credibility of treatises and texts depends on the reputation of the author and publisher. Legal encyclopedias like Florida Jurisprudence 2d and American Jurisprudence are good for finding cases, but they should only be used as secondary sources. Law review articles are also helpful for research, but they are not very persuasive. When courts make decisions, they have to consider the facts of the case and the legal rules that should be applied. Appellate courts have to think about the broader implications of the trial court’s decision. Court decisions are important because they set a precedent that other courts will follow, and we can argue that a decision is binding, persuasive, or in need of overruling. Our legal system relies on previous court decisions, or precedent, to guide how cases are decided. There are two types of precedent: binding (which must be followed) and persuasive (which is just for guidance). Precedent helps make the law more consistent and stable, and holds judges accountable for their decisions. When citing cases, it’s important to distinguish between the essential parts of the decision and other less important statements. When choosing which cases to cite, consider the authority of the court and how recent the decision is. Cases with similar facts to the one you’re dealing with are the most persuasive. If the facts are not similar, the argument must show that the decision still applies. When writing about court cases, organize your writing by the main ideas instead of just listing cases. Use direct quotes for important points. If a case has been changed in some way, find a simpler citation for the same idea if you can. When citing multiple cases, start with the most important court and the most recent cases. Keep the number of cases cited to a minimum. Use introductory signals and explanations for each case. Only use a long list of cases to refute someone saying a law is not clear. When you use information from a book or article, make sure to say the exact page so people can find it. If the information is from a judge who didn’t agree with everyone else, or if it’s from a big group of judges, you should explain that in brackets after the citation. Place the citations in a way that makes sense with the sentences. Don’t use too many long quotes, and use different words to show how the information is related to what you’re saying. Use the right words to show if the information supports, compares, contradicts, or gives background to your point. Using the right words shows that you know what you’re talking about. Citing sources correctly in legal writing is really important. Judges and lawyers pay attention to it, and it can make a big difference for your case. There are specific rules for citing sources in Florida courts, and it’s important to follow them. There are also some helpful books on legal writing that can give you good tips. Good citations can make your arguments stronger and help you win your case. In legal writing, it’s important to follow the decisions of higher courts in the same district. Sometimes judges’ opinions are just their personal views and aren’t binding in other cases. Precedent and interpretative issues are important in understanding case law. It’s important to cite court cases correctly in legal writing. This column is written by the Appellate Practice Section, who are a group of lawyers in Florida. They work to make sure the justice system is fair and to improve the way the law is practiced. They want to teach lawyers to serve the public and do their job well.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/the-art-of-persuasion-through-legal-citations/
Leave a Reply