Build Your House, Part 2 – Blueprint
William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act 1, Scene 2
”There’s nothing ill can dwell in such a temple. If the ill spirit have so fair a house, Good things will strive to dwell with’t.”
Yogi Berra
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”
Below is a simple outline for planning a lengthy writing process, allowing you to work on several briefs simultaneously while managing the rest of your practice. It is necessary to jump into (and out of) each brief at a sensible point. Just like a contractor has to build more than one structure at a time, it is rarely possible to work on just one brief at a time. If you know where you are in the process, it is easier to start again after setting your brief aside for a few days.
Blueprint the Writing Process. Estimate how long it will take to do the following tasks:
Review the appellate record
Identify legal issues
Conduct legal research
Refine legal issues based upon research
Create an annotated outline of the brief
Write the brief – break down the writing into each section of the brief, such as statement of the case, facts, and arguments by issue.
Edit the brief
Proofread the brief
Review everything with a final checklist
An appellate lawyer has to think of him or herself as a professional writer, who is working on several projects at a time. Having discipline to work steadily based upon a process helps to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
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