A memorandum of law is a major part of legal practice and writing. It is an informative document that summarizes the research and analysis of the legal issue(s) raised by the facts of a client's case. It contains a summary of the law and how the law applies to the facts of the case. It presents an objective legal analysis and includes the arguments in favor of and in opposition to the client's position. For this assignment, your task is to select scenario 5, 6, or 7 on pages 489 to 490 from the Putman and Albright text (Legal Research, Analysis and Writing) to use as the basis for completing your Memorandum of Law. You will be required to find two pieces of statutory law and two pieces of relevant case law for your Memorandum of Law. Chapter 16 & 17 offer a full discussion of these types of memos.

Review the example Memorandum of Law on pages 464-465 and 485-487 in the Putman and Albright text.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETION OF THE MEMORANDUM OF LAW

Each of the following is required to finish your memorandum of law assignment. Please read and re-read before submitting your final product. The Memorandum of Law should have all five of the following components included:

The Caption (Date, To, From, Re: ). Detailed Facts of the case. A list of all Legal Issues (procedural and substantive issues). The Analysis - please re-write the issue for which you are going to answer. The Conclusion. You must also include the following with the assignment:

Two copies of statutory law (MUST be attached) - in the appendix. Two copies of case law (MUST be attached) - in the appendix. There should be NO table of contents for your memorandum of law. Answer at least two issues - your choice. Submit a minimum of 5 pages for the memorandum of law. In your analysis, you must explain how each piece of statutory law supports your case and how each piece of case law supports your case. I do not encourage any generalized statements or overviews.

A sample memorandum of law from a previous class is attached below. This is just a sample and not a perfect model. Plagiarizing this document can have serious consequences.