TAKE HOME EXAMINATION
The assignment
You are to redraft Mr. Brown's
attempt to draft a factum. The draft factum, a very short one, is here in *doc format.
He is submitting it to Truro Supreme Court. This is a
trial court in a separate province, the
In this factum, Brown's client,
Elizabeth Fraser, seeks an adjournment of civil proceedings pending a criminal
trial.
Brown's factum is a mess. But it has all of the facts and law you need. Note
that the cases and the stated law is fictional. This
is a writing exercise, not a research exercise.
See if you can use the
main principle of "point first," the "four rules of writing"
and other techniques in class to make the language clear, direct and brief.
And see if you can use the advanced writing techniques (appearing later in the powerpoint about writing) and advanced factum
techniques discussed in our presentation concerning “argument”
in order to make an even more compelling draft.
Remember that little
things matter.
The instructional powerpoints remain on the web. Perhaps you might want
to give them a re-read before starting to edit?
The factum is for the Supreme Court of Truro. For the purposes of this
exercise, you must comply with Rule 37.10(6.1) of the Truro Rules of Civil
Procedure. (Mr. Brown has not.) This provision is as follows:
37.10 (6.1) A factum shall contain, in consecutively numbered
paragraphs,
(a) an introduction, as Part I of the factum;
(b) a concise statement of facts, as Part II of the factum;
(c) a statement of the points in issue, as Part III of the factum;
(d) a concise statement of submissions, as Part IV of the factum;
(e) a concise statement of the order sought, as Part V of the factum.
(Note that no schedules are
necessary.)
Don’t bother with the style of
cause. Just start with the heading:
SUPREME COURT OF
Factum of Elizabeth Fraser
and then follow with your first heading, and your consecutively-numbered
paragraphs.
Warning
Collaboration on the redrafts is
prohibited. Similarly worded redrafts will be noticed.