1. E-mail Communication and Oral Reporting
Research and Writing in the Regulatory Context
Prof. Stafford

2. Professional E-mail Communication
Adapted from Wayne Scheiss,
Writing for the Legal Audience
(2d ed. 2014)

3. Be considerate and professional.
Keep it short – “no scrolling” or “one screen” rule.
Be professional.
No “thank u” or “LOL”!
If you’re emotional, give yourself some time before responding.
Be audience-focused. Write the kind of you like to receive and assume the audience will judge you by your .

4. Think, pause, think again. Send.
Think about whether you should use at all.
Pause long enough to review the message and correct writing errors.
Recipients
Tone
Send a clear message in every part of the . Possible “labels” for subject lines:
Action: (you’re giving instructions on an assignment)
Request: (you’re asking the recipient to get back to you)
Info: (you’re giving information, but don’t need a reply)
Confirmed: (you’re letting someone know you understand a request)
Delivery: (you’re providing something requested of you)

5. Frontload your content.
Put questions up front.
Put answers and conclusions up front.

6. Example: questions up front
NOT THIS:
Don, I’ve received a summary judgment motion from the defendant in the Henderson case, but I’m tied up with another matter. It’s essentially the same cause of action as the one you worked on in the Kleinsmith case. Kate Landers said you might have some time to put something together for me. Can you prepare a response?
BUT INSTEAD THIS:
Don,
Can you please prepare a response to a summary judgment motion in the Henderson case?
Background: I’ve received a summary judgment motion . . .

7. Example: answers and conclusions up front
From: Chris Smith To: Miranda Cathcart Subject: Answer: Radford cannot prove voluntary renunciation Miranda, You asked if Todd Radford will be able to prove the defense of voluntary renunciation in a charge of attempted kidnapping. No, Radford will not be able to prove he voluntarily renounced the attempted kidnapping. Radford’s return of the boy to the mother coincided with . . .

8. Orally Reporting Research Results
Adapted from Richard K. Neumann, Jr. & Kristen Konrad Tiscione, Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing: Structure, Strategy, and Style (7th ed. 2013)
Could be instead of memo, after you finish research and analysis but before you write memo, progress report as working on memo

9. How to communicate in a time-efficient manner?
In terms of content, think about the Brief Answer in a memo. Your oral presentation should contain the same information:
Your prediction
The applicable rules of law as you understand them
How the rules govern the facts

10. You will likely want to cover:
A brief summary of the relevant law
The key language in the relevant statute or regulation.
How much authority exists?
Is it mandatory or persuasive?
If there is relevant case law, are there factually similar cases? Are they favorable or unfavorable?
Problematic areas: irreconcilable cases, confusion in the law, scarcity of authority
Additional issues or concerns
More facts needed; facts that raise additional issues not ID’d by supervisor; your ideas about how to solve the problem

11. Preparation and process:
Consider making an outline of what you’ll say
Bring materials with you (outline, statutes, cases, tabbed books, notes, laptop)
Expect to be interrupted with questions
If you don’t know the answers, write down the questions and offer to find the answers later
Take notes!
If you don’t understand something, ask!