Detailed table of contents available
Part One - The Theme
- 1. Brass Tacks: "Explain who, what, when, where, why, how"
- 2. The Short List: Number your path to victory
- 3. Why Should I Care? : Give the court a reason to want to find for you
- 4. Don't Be Fooled : Draw a line in the sand
Part Two - The Tale
- 5. Panoramic Shot : Set the stage and sound your theme
- 6. Show, Not Tell : Let choice details speak for themselves
- 7. Once Upon a Time : Replace dates with phrases that convey a sense of time
- 8. Headliners : Use headings to break up your fact section and to add persuasive effect
- 9. Back to Life : Center technical matter on people or entities
- 10. Poker Face : Concede bad facts, but put them in context
- 11. End with a Bang : Leave the court with a final image or thought
Part Three - The Meat
- 12. Russian Doll: Nest your headings and subheadings
- 13. Heads I Win, Tails You Lose : Argue in the alternative
- 14. Sneak Preview : Include an umbrella paragraph before your headings and subheadings
- 15. Wish I Were There : Start each paragraph by answering a question you expect the court to have
- 16. Sound Off : Start the paragraphs with numbered reasons
- 17. Long in the Tooth : Say "me too"
- 18. Peas in a Pod : Link your party with the party in the cited case
- 19. Mince Their Words : Merge pithy quoted phrases into a sentence about your own case
- 20. One Up : Claim that the case you're citing applies even more to your own dispute
- 21. Interception : Claim that a case your opponent cites helps you alone
- 22. Rebound : "Re-analogize" after the other side tries to distinguish
- 23. Not Here, Not Now : Lead with the key difference between your opponent's case and your own
- 24. One Fell Swoop : Distinguish a line of cases all at once
- 25. Not So Fast : Show that the case doesn't apply as broadly as your opponent suggests
- 26. Authority Problems : Suggest that the case deserves little respect
- 27. Ping Me : Introduce your parentheticals with parallel participles
- 28. Speak for Yourself : Include a single-sentence quotation
- 29. Hybrid Model : Combine participles and quotations
- 30. Lead 'Em On : Introduce block quotations by explaining how the language supports your argument
- 31. Race to the Bottom : Use footnotes only in moderation to address related side points and to add support
Part Four - The Words
- 32. Zingers : Colorful verbs
- 33. What a Breeze : Confident tone
- 34. Manner of Speaking : Figures of speech
- 35. That Reminds Me : Examples and analogies
- 36. The Starting Gate : The one-syllable opener
- 37. Size Matters : The pithy sentence
- 38. Freight Train : The balanced, elegant long sentence
- 39. Leading Parts : Two sentences joined as one
- 40. Talk to Yourself : The rhetorical question
- 41. Parallel Lives : The parallel construction
- 42. A Dash of Style : The dash
- 43. Good Bedfellows : The semicolon
- 44. Magician's Mark : The colon
- 45. Take Me by the Hand : Logical connectors
- 46. Bridge the Gap : Linked paragraphs
- 47. Join My Table : Tables and charts
- 48. Bullet Proof : Bullet points and lists
Part Five - The Close
- 49. Parting Thought : End the argument with a provocative quotation or pithy thought
- 50. Wrap-Up : Recast your main points in a separate conclusion
Appendices
