HOW TO WRITE A LEGAL ARTICLE?

How to write or how not to write is something that one cannot be taught, it comes from within, the ideas, the topic one relates to. However, legal article is different from the other form of writing, it needs to becorrect; true and contain lots of research work. One can only write if he is interested in the subject matter otherwise it will be just a normal piece of paper with not much relevance. As a law student or even as your lawyer two things are tested-

• Interpretation skill
• Writing skill
  And one needs to be perfect in the art of writing legal article.
  There are certain guidelines which is required to be kept in mind before one can start writing a legal article.

a) Headline of the Article- Why should one read your article and not the others. The “Headline” of the article must be relevant, catchy but one should not get carried away by putting all ideas in the headline, it must be meaningful, make sense and must be connected to the article. Reader must understand the article otherwise they are going to avoid it and move further.

Also, the first paragraph determines the quality of your article therefore always try tomake impressive start because first impression is the last impression.

b) To the Point- The article should strictly relate to the topic and should not divert from it because by doing so the reader loses his track. It should be short and crisp. Keeping it short is going to attract more readers, also the article must have short sentences and more paragraph and points as it is easier for the reader to read it. The article must either ask a question, makes a statement or give a solution.The writer must be well-read about the topic he is dealing with in the article.
Also make a checklist before sending the draft because article must be in flow and in one format, one thing followed by the other. It must not be jumbled up therefore the writer must keep in mind that first he should state thefacts, followed by issue involved, then there must be rule application (which areas of law one is using), then analysis and lastly conclusion.

c) Use of legal jargon- One needs to know its audience then select its vocabulary. If a person is writing to address common man, he should try to avoid complicated terms, and if usage is necessary same should be explained in laymen’s language. If one is writing for some competition, then he should use his legal jargon but it should not appear that one is trying to flaunt.

d) The Proof- In order to prove one point, the article can contain survey or graph, this give more emphasis as well as add to the value of the article. For example- “Should Section 377 be legalised?” These are tiny things but have great importance, sometimes one could add image as it becomes eye-catchy but it must be relevant. Too many images are just big NO but one or two would not harm at all.

e) Abstract- If a person is writing an article which is little lengthy then it must have an abstract. Abstract must be of one to three paragraphs and must convey as to the issues one is dealing with in the article.

f) Case Laws- One should try to use different case law, helping the reader to understand the situation and also it gives the writer leverage over other writers but one should not use the cases just for the sake of it, it must be relevant. Citation of the cases is equally important, there are several form of citation but The Bluebook citation always work.

g) Conclusion- There must be a conclusion in the article which should be straight forward. It must summarise the whole article and should provide with an alternative or should make a statement and also give the reason for the same to justify your statement.
Besides these basics thing, another important thing is research work. One should start their research work firstly by going to library, it can be a college library or public library where one can find books related to the issue involved. Then the writer should shift to search engine. Database must be searched and used properly. Few legal websites like HeinOnline, LexisNexis etc. are really useful in writing and learning about the topic. The research must shift from general to specific.
Have an angle to your article, instead of covering whole of the topic, try to stick to one-two essential areas and cover everything about that sub-topic instead of trying to write everything about the topic, this will help in bringing clarity to the article. Hence, inculcating everything along with creativity and originality the legal article is going to make much sense and will gain recognition.

Author: This blog is written by Ms. Ayushi Dubey, a passionate blogger & intern at  Aapka Consultant.

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