Jing Zhi Wong - Legal Writing

Reading List - Legal Writing, Advocacy

[C] Legal Writing

Appellate Briefs

Paul Tan, 'Writing a Persuasive Appellate Brief' (2007) 19 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 337 <https://journalsonline.academypublishing.org.sg/Journals/Singapore-Academy-of-Law-Journal/e-Archive/ctl/eFirstSALPDFJournalView/mid/495/ArticleId/678/Citation/JournalsOnlinePDF>

Andrew H Baida, 'Writing a Better Brief: The Civil Appeals Style Manual of the Office of the Maryland Attorney General' (2001) 3(2) Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 685 <https://lawrepository.ualr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1180&context=appellatepracticeprocess>.

See also, adoption of this article as resource for AAT Moots: Peter Billings, 'Evaluating the Pedagogic Value of Mooting and 'Nooting' at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (Cth)' (2017) 43(3) Monash University Law Review 687, 711 (n 99) <https://www8.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MonashULawRw/2017/21.pdf>

Re Lord Goldsmith Peter Henry PC QC [2013] SGHC 181[27]-[38], [57]-[58] (VK Rajah JA) <https://www.elitigation.sg/gd/s/2013_SGHC_181>

Justice Jennifer Davies, 'Effective and Persuasive Written Advocacy: Conducting a Commercial Trial - Handy Guide' (Federal Court of Australia, Speech. 7 August 2013) <https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/digital-law-library/judges-speeches/justice-davies/davies-j-20130807>.

Justice K M Hayne, 'Written Advocacy' (High Court of Australia, Paper, 5 and 26 March 2007) <https://www.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/speeches/current-justices/haynej/haynej_05mar07.pdf>.

Justice Stephen Estcourt, 'Use of Written Submission' (Supreme Court of Tasmania, Legalwise 10 Points in One Day Seminar, 28 February 2014) <https://www.supremecourt.tas.gov.au/publications/speeches-articles/legalwise-10-points-one-day-seminar-use-written-submissions/>.

Justice M J Beazley, 'Advocacy: a view from the bench' (2013) NSWJudSchol 5 <http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/NSWJSchol/2013/5.pdf>.

Justice McMurdo, 'Advocacy and the Written Word' (Paper, 5 March 2005) <https://archive.sclqld.org.au/judgepub/2005/mcmurdo050305.pdf>.

Skeletal Arguments

Practice Note [1983] 2 All ER 34, [1983] 1 WLR 1055, CA (Sir John Donaldson MR)

Practice Note (Presentation of Appeals) [1983] 2 AR 34.

Pleadings

Peter Young and Hugh Selby, Rose's Pleadings Without Tears in Australia (Federation Press, 1997).

[D] Trial Advocacy

Iain Morley QC, The Devil's Advocate: A Spry Polemic on How to be Seriously Good in Court (Sweet & Maxwell, 3rd ed, 2015).

[E] Judgment Writing

Justice Michael Kirby, 'On the Writing of Judgements' (Speech) <https://www.michaelkirby.com.au/images/stories/speeches/1980s/vol21/829-Aus_Conf_on_Literature_and_the_Law_-_On_the_Writing_of_Judgments.pdf>.

Judicial Decisions: Crafting Clear Reasons (National Judicial College of Australia, 2008) <https://web.archive.org/web/20231102013755/https://www.njca.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Judicial-Decisions-Publication-Crafting-Clear-Reasons-NJCA-2011.pdf>, archived at <https://perma.cc/ZTE3-YXWY>.

Theo Tsavdaridis, 'Oral Decisions in the Real World' (National Judicial College of Australia, Oral Judgments Course, 30 June 2022) <https://localcourt.nsw.gov.au/documents/judicial-speeches/Presentation_-_Oral_Decisions_in_the_Real_World_-_National_Judicial_College_of_Australia_-_Oral_Judgments_Course_-_Deputy_Chief_Magistrate_Tsavdaridis_30.6.2022.pdf>, archived at <https://perma.cc/8TLP-UW2S>.

"... 34. I do note, however, for the guidance of Magistrates in hearings of this kind, that the delivery of ex tempore reasons such as these could be better organised than in this case. The reasons were, as in CF v KT, somewhat discursive. A better approach would be to organise such remarks under headings, such as, for example: the nature of the application; the legislative framework; a summary of the evidence; a summary of the submissions; relevant factual findings and the reasons therefor; and the conclusion. Approaching the matter in this way would have the benefits of imposing the discipline of fleshing out the reasoning process in the mind of the judicial officer, and at the same time exposing the reasons, and necessarily making it easier for the losing party to understand. It may also make the judgment both easier for an appellate court to understand, and possibly more difficult to attack on appeal. I offer this not as a counsel of perfection but hopefully as a practical guide.": HEG v Queensland Police Service & UHB [2024] QDC 134, [34] (Kent KC DCJ).