In most cases, the legal issue determines the topic of your writing.

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What is the purpose of your document? If you don\'t know what you need to accomplish, you don\'t have a writing goal. Your messages may conflict with each other because they have not been thoroughly thought out.

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Your writing will have a different tone if you are trying to persuade a reader than it will if you are merely informing the reader.

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Various legal documents serve various purposes. For example, a document might inform, elicit information, persuade, record, describe, satisfy court rules, threaten, or to give notice.

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Some documents might serve more than one purpose. A deed conveys ownership of property, but when it is recorded in the courthouse, it serves as a record.

Systematic Legal Writing