Description
In this final communication assignment, you will persuade and
non-technical audience, a jury, that the statistical analysis that you
have done provides adequate evidence on the case they must determine.
You must explain to a jury from the general population the case, how
probability and statistics can inform it and what you found by doing
your analysis all organized in a way and using language they will
understand. Part of this will be explaining why this approach can be
used with confidence in addressing this question.
You will also demonstrate your ability to edit a professional
document to assure it is clear, complete, and concise, following the
direction provided in
the Legal Memorandum Guide
.
Proofread and edit your pre-writing document for grammar and spelling
PRIOR TO TURNING IT IN (you may use an external grammar tool to help
with this.
T
he Legal Memorandum Template
is provided to make formatting the document easier. This
example
provides some insight into the appearance of the document. The document with the appendix is no less than 2.5 pages.
Problem Description
A series of seemingly related recent automobile failures have resulted in a
class-action lawsuit (Links to an external site.)
,
Szabo v. Reliable Car Parts Corporation being filed. The ‘class’ in
this case is claiming that Reliable Car Parts manufactured a part that
does not comply with mandated performance standards in place to assure
safe operation of vehicles. The class was established as this part has
been used by many manufactures in many models of vehicles for a decade,
and therefore, involves hundreds of thousands of vehicles. They are
claiming the failure of this part has led to serious engine failures
resulting in needed vehicle repair or replacement, for which Reliable
Car Parts should be financially responsible.
The part is question is a shaft with a copper-lead bearing surface
that is manufactured for use in fuel pumps. The use of copper lead as a
bearing surface was considered a revolution in the performance
capability of this part when it was introduced. However, after a decade
in operation, the ability of this design to meet performance standards
established for safe operation of vehicles is being questioned. The
established standards require these parts may not wear more than 3.5
microns over a useful life of 250,000 miles of vehicle operation with
the fuel pump using this shaft. This standard has been established, as
wear of the shaft bear surface exceeding this amount can result in
catastrophic fuel pump failure in extreme weather conditions.
Due to the significance of this litigation, the Judge involved with
the case, The Honorable Faeza Hai, has brought you in as an expert
witness, independent of either side of the litigation, to provide the
jury with the clarity that can be brought to the question by an
engineering review. At your request, she is providing you with data
from a random sampling of 45 shafts of this design from a recent
manufacturing run, which have been put through a test simulating 250,000
miles of wear. She is requiring that you complete your work with a high
level of confidence, therefore you have suggested using a confidence
interval of .01. You are to provide the jury with which side of the
litigation you would support and why in a written document that makes
the determination clear and believable to them. The document you are to
provide is to follow the court’s template and their Legal memorandum
guide. You will also copy the document to Miles Davis, Clerk of the
Courts, Michah Bioano, Plaintiffs’ Counsel, and Jay Grabow, Defendant’s
Counsel.
Legal Memorandum Guide
This document is based on CUNY School of Law webpages “Drafting a Law Office
Memorandum1â€Â. Many elements of that document have been used below, while others have been
omitted for students who will not have access to the information required to complete the
elements of law typically included in this type of document.
INTRODUCTION
Use this document as a guide to develop and organize the content of your legal memorandum.
The document has the following sections:
General writing instructions
Memorandum header
Memorandum body content (This is different than the previous Memoranda.)
Appendices
General formatting
GENERAL WRITING INSTRUCTIONS
â–ª Use the memorandum template provided. Use the provided memorandum template to
develop your memorandum. The template includes text boxes that become available when
you click on them, type your text in them. Refer to the memorandum pre-writing example
and the memorandum example as you complete the different assignments for a guide on the
appearance of the document. (As the example does not include specific content, it is NOT a
guide for the word count or length of the document.)
â–ª Use full sentences and paragraphs. Prepare your memorandum using full sentences and
paragraphs.
â–ª Use plain language. Frequently in your professional lives, you will need to present the work
you have done to audiences who do not share your technical expertise. Therefore, being able
to explain your work in language people without your expertise will understand is an
important skill.
â–ª Revise your content prior to submitting it. When you have completed developing your
memorandum, revise, then edit and proofread your document. I recommend that you use
editing software to check your documents. (One option that has a free version is Grammarly,
but there are many others available.)
â–ª Include your name in every location that says student and your last name in the file name.
1
The structure and content of this section is based on the online “Drafting a Law Office Memorandum†webpage
from CUNY School of Law (2018). Their directions are intended for communication within the legal profession, with
many elements that require a knowledge and documentation of legal precedent. The elements that require
knowledge of law case and legal system knowledge have been omitted from this structure.
How to Write a Memorandum for Litigation
1
MEMORANDUM HEADER
This section of the document provides a reader with introductory information on the
memorandum. While it may be structured differently by different organizations, it should
always be easy to identify and read. Readability is increased not only with wording but also
with layout. Things like indenting information to align important header elements and
including lines between elements makes the parts of the header easy to find and read.
To
What is the purpose and format of this part of the header? In this section, include the person(s)
to who the memorandum is addressed. The amount of information included for each is
dependent on an organization’s level of formality and the role of hierarchy in the organization.
National culture may also play a role in these decisions, as some may place greater importance
on titles (such as Mr., Dr., or General). The person’s role title is often included, as it will dictate
what type of information they need from you. Finally, the location of the addressee can be
included, when it also suggests the type of information the document will include. When in
doubt, it is better to be more formal and include too much information than to find out it was
needed but not included.
For this document, follow the lead of the exemplar, on paper a judge is title is Honorable.
CC (Carbon Copy)
What is the purpose and format of this part of the header? In this section, include the people to
whom the memorandum is copied.
For this document, emulate the level of detail in the exemplar. Each person being addressed is
on a new line that is indented to the same extent as the first addressee.
From
What is the purpose and format of this part of the header? In this section, identify the author
(as an individual or group) of the memorandum.
For this document, emulate the level of detail in the exemplar.
Date
What is the purpose and format of this part of the header? The date of the document is
important for a reader to understand the currency of the document. For example, say a reader
knows something happened last night that will influence the issue addressed in the
memorandum. If they look at the memorandum and see it is three days old, they know
memorandum will not address the most current information and thinking on the issue.
For this document, use the due date of the final memorandum.
Re
What is the purpose and format of this part of the header? This is an alternative way of
referring to the subject line, it needs to provide the reader with a clear indication of the topic of
the memorandum. For a legal memorandum this line should indicate that this is litigation either
by using the case name or indicating there is a “claimâ€Â.
For this document, think about what is necessary to identify the topic of the memorandum,
including that this is about a lawsuit.
How to Write a Memorandum for Litigation
2
MEMORANDUM BODY – FORMAT
Section Titles
The template is set up for each section title to be on its own line and in bold font. The body
of the text starts on the line below the title and is regular 12-point Times New Roman font.
MEMORANDUM BODY – CONTENT
Include at minimum the following sections in your memorandum: question presented, brief
answer, facts, discussion, conclusion, and addendum. Any references are identified in foot
notes in enough detail for the reader to know the document title, author(s), date of
publication, and how to access the document if it is publicly available on line. (References
are not required but may be used if you do not understand the problem.)
Question Presented What is the purpose of this section? This needs to state specifically, and
objectively the question that is being addressed in this case. For this type of memorandum
there should be enough detail in the memorandum that the question is precisely and
completely understood by the reader, and it can be answered with a yes/no answer.
For this document,
â–ª Present the subject of the memorandum as specific, objective question.
â–ª After making sure that the question is stated completely, revise it to be as clear and
concise as possible. Your ability to state things completely, clearly and concisely will be
closely reviewed in this section.
Brief Answer
What is the purpose of this section? This section needs to mirror the question. It must provide
a busy reader your recommendation for the outcome of the litigation and briefly tell them
why you are able to make this recommendation.
For this document,
• Your answer to the legal question MUST be based on your analysis and what you
know the analysis can show.
• Your answer must relate specifically to the question be asked.
• After making sure that the answer is stated completely, revise it to be as clear and
concise as possible. Your ability to state things completely, clearly and concisely will
be closely reviewed in this section.
Facts
What is the purpose of this section? In this section you will clearly present the facts you used
to evaluate this case. This includes accepted standards upon which the case is founded.
However, this section must also put these facts into the context of the case.
For this document,
• Provide the context and input information you have for this situation in this section.
Merely, dumping the data on the judge, lawyers and jury will not help them
understand the situation and why the facts are important. Remember that while you
will have been working with this situation for a while, the readers you are writing for
will need to clearly understand the foundations your recommendation is based on
from the beginning understanding it step-by-step.
How to Write a Memorandum for Litigation
3
•
When organizing this information remember the audience is not made of statisticians
and organize and word this paragraph to make the information and its relevance
clear to your audience.
Discussion
What is the purpose of this section? This is the section in which you will clearly present the
analysis you completed. Start from the problem and the data and how you approached
evaluating the situation. You will present why your evaluation process is known to show the
type of information you will find from it, what you find and how your finding lead to a
recommendation.
For this document, include:
• The logic of how you analyzed the question is very important for this type of nontechnical audience. You need to convince them that your analysis is valid, and
reliable. So, while you want to identify the statistical approach, its name alone will
not mean anything to a non-technical audience. Therefore, using plain language, you
need to:
o Generally, describe what does the analysis process allow you to do and
show? This should be done BEFORE you connect the statistical approach to
this specific problem.
o Then, connecting it to the problem, describe why this approach is particularly
valuable for answering this legal question. This should include the constraints
of answering this question that makes this approach appropriate.
o The statistical approach you will be using to solve this problem may be
calculated in one of two directions. One provides a better answer for this
legal action; explain why the one you will use is a better option.
• What the outcome of your analysis was and how it led to the answer you arrived at.
Conclusion
What is the purpose of this section? This section must clearly and concisely synthesize
everything that was addressed in the document, concluding with the recommendation. As
the bookend to the summary, it is important that you word this differently than the
summary at the beginning; this allows readers a final chance to be clear on what you have
told them.
For this document, include a synthesis of:
• The question
• How you approached determining your response, that is our method of statistical
calculation (in name only)
• What you know about the situation because of the analysis, in plain language,
â–ª Your recommendation
How to Write a Memorandum for Litigation
4
APPENDICES
What is the purpose of this section? The appendices in a document are reserved for content that
may be helpful to the reader but would interfere with the document flow if included in the main
text of the document. Documents may have multiple appendices, with each one addressing a
separate topic.
▪ Each appendix starts on a new page with “Appendix,†a sequential letter (starting with A),
and a descriptive title. (see Figure 2 at the end of this document).
For this document, include a typewritten copy of your total calculations.
GENERAL FORMATTING
This section provides formatting information for your memorandum. If you do not know how to
accomplish any of the formatting requirements, there are many good online resources, please
consult them.
â–ª
â–ª
â–ª
â–ª
â–ª
â–ª
Page: 8 ½ x 11 inch plain white paper portrait (vertical) layout.
Margins: one-inch margins on all sides
Paragraph Format: General setting 0 indentations, Spacing – before 0, after 0, line spacing single. Do not add space between paragraphs of the same style.
Footer:
â–ª Justified left: the subject line text of your memorandum.
â–ª Justified right: page number (number all pages, starting with the first page.)
Font Style: Times New Roman except for the Memorandum title (see below) 1
Font Size: 12 point. (You may go down to 11 point, if it helps you keep the last few lines of
a memorandum from ending on a page alone. Keep font size consistent in the document
unless otherwise specified.
How to Write a Memorandum for Litigation
5
MEMORANDUM
TO:
CC:
FROM:
DATE:
RE:
Question Presented
Brief Answer
Facts
Discussion
Conclusion
1
Appendix A – Statistical Calculation
2
Szabo v. Reliable Car Parts Corporation
Wear Test Results
Sample #
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
Wear in Microns
2.92
0.86
3.67
2.31
4.03
4.13
1.70
2.43
0.84
4.63
3.13
2.50
3.35
2.73
0.80
2.60
3.53
3.50
1.90
2.23
2.11
1.28
0.49
1.39
2.49
2.47
3.50
0.49
3.38
2.75
1.67
2.61
3.58
1.85
2.91
1.49
1.54
3.04
3.54
3.70
1.69
1.23
2.28
The data included on this spreadsheet is the result of
test run on 45 sample shafts produced by Reliable Car
Parts Corporation. These shafts were randomly
selected in the presence of the involved parties from
a current run of Reliable Car Parts manufacturing
facility on October 14, 2020
Szabo v. Reliable Car Parts Corporation
Wear Test Results
44
45
1.21
3.41
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Honorable Waya Thlocco
CC:
William Buckley, Clerk of the Court
Paula Canton, Plaintiffs’ Counsel
Malik Thomas, Defendant’s Counsel
FROM:
Mariaelena John, Engineering Expert Witness
DATE:
December 2, 2020
RE:
Dabydeen v Bad Company Engineering Expert Witness
Question Presented
Did Bad Company’s use of carcinogenic materials in product X result in users’ cancers,
making them liable for users’ cancer treatment expenses?
In this section, you will provide a complete, concise, and grammatically correct statement of the legal
question.
Brief Answer
Bad Company is liable for customers’ medical expenses, as the company’s use of cancercausing materials in product X is statistically shown to increased cancer rates in product X
users.
In this section, you will state your finding on the answer to the legal question completely, concisely. and
grammatically correct.
Facts
In this section, you will present the case and the data you were provided to address it. Organize this to
read in a way that the readers will understand the issue at the heart of the case and the importance of
the input information in addressing the question arising from the issue. Remember the readers are
likely not statisticians, engineers or computer scientists.
Discussion
In this section, you will provide a plain language, the logic of your approach to addressing the case
(why does this approach allow you to make a determination on this case?), what you know from your
analysis of the data and your finding.
Conclusion
In this section, you will provide a synthesis of the memorandum, being sure to include the answer to
the legal question.
1
Appendix A – Statistical Calculations
Include in this section a typewritten copy of your calculations. Organize them in a way that
the steps you took are clear for the reader to see.
2
Purchase answer to see full
attachment
