Point first, details after

Briefwriters are told to state the issue first, before the statement of facts. Why? Because knowing the issue the issue enables the reader to give meaning to the facts.

This isn’t a legal-writing thing; it’s a writing-for-humans thing. For elaboration, read this post by Roy Jacobsen, commenting on John Medina’s book, Brain Rules. Roy says that “there’s plenty in [this book] for writers to learn.” That grabs my interest.

Comments

[Roy Jacobsen]

Ray,
Thanks for the link. Medina's book is full of valuable information about how we process information, how we learn, and how we remember. The memory parts alone might be valuable to a trial lawyer when it comes to figuring out why different witnesses remember different things about an event.

Not being a trial lawyer, I'm not sure exactly how one might put that knowledge to work when cross-examining a witness, but it's food for thought.