I was doing some year-end housekeeping of my old Twitter bookmarks, and amongst the video of the kid riding his bike into trash bins to the tune of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” (a must watch), the video of Kawhi Leonard’s buzzer-beater in 2019, various paintings from @CanadianPaintings, a series of Logan Roy gifs for litigators, and some great quotes (e.g. “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”), I came across a gem of an idea for factum writing.
Caroline Mandell (@cjmandell) tweeted advice on how to write a perfect factum overview. Do so by answering these questions:
1. Who did what to whom?
2. What do you want to court to do, and why?
3. Is there a governing rule or principle? Do any exceptions apply?
4. What are the “deep” (decisive) issues? What order do they go in?
5. Why does the justice of the case lie with you?
If you can set out the answer to these questions clearly and succinctly, then you have a great overview. The court will know what the matter is about, and will have an insight into where you are going with your argument, and why the court should go there too.
Great advice. Thank you Caroline.