Page 65 - RESEARCH HANDBOOK FOR LL.M. AND PHD

3. Avoid the "obvious.”

Unless you are making a really unassailable proposition, such as ”The earth revolves around
the sun,” using terms such as ”obviously,” ”clearly,” ”of course,” ”unarguable” ”simply,”
”certainly,” and ”well known” raise enormous red flags for the reader. If you have authority
for a proposition, cite it. If you don’t have any authority, perhaps the proposition is not as
”obvious” as you thought.
Besides, if your point is really that “obvious” to everyone, why waste time and space restating
it? And, how can you be so sure that another lawyer won’t come along and disagree with the
proposition that you thought was so ”clear”?
Similarly, terms such as ”many,” ”several,” ”numerous,” ”some,” and “widely held” raise flags
unless there is citation to examples. Think about how you would respond to a reader who sees
such a term used, questions your accuracy, and demands, “Name one!” If you cannot, your
bluff has been successfully called.

4. Don’t apologize for your positions.

You rarely need to preface your statements with introductory quasi-apologies or such
equivocations as ”In my opinion,” ”I think,” ”I believe,” or ”I feel.”
First, the reader of legal writing really doesn’t care what the author ”thinks,” ”believes, or
”feels.” In this genre, the only things that matter are what you can prove or logically support
through reasoned analysis and argument.
Second, the reader automatically assumes that any proposition for which you do not cite
authority must be your own opinion, so there is no need for the reminder. Just make your
points and let them be evaluated for what they’re worth.
5. Any particular law in mind?

Avoid making broad statements such as “doing X is illegal” unless you can explain which
specific statute, regulation, or common raw rule is being violated, and why. Be especially
cautious about making the claim that ”doing X is unconstitutional” unless you can back up
that claim with one or more constitutional clause(s).

54 | National Law University, Delhi