Interoffice Memorandum of Law Assignment
Due date: February 8, 2001
Your assignment is to write an interoffice memorandum of law evaluating a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the person who lost Williams v. Elllington, 936 F2d. 881 (1991). You must look up the decision and find out who lost and why, read the rules and precedents on search and seizure given in Arguing the Case, and any applicable Federal or Supreme Court rulings. In addition, please observe the following rules:
- Follow the standard structure for the interoffice memorandum: heading, statement of assignment, issues, facts, analysis, conclusion, recommendation.
- If your research yields several cases on point, choose one or two to incorporate in your memorandum. If no cases are on point, choose one or two that can be usefully distinguished from this case. Keep your memorandum brief, but thorough. Your target length should be five to seven double-spaced pages.
- Follow the IRAC structure in your analysis of each issue, that is, Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion (see the article on IRAC in Making the Case).
- Be sure to follow the correct rules on the hierarchy of courts, and distinguish mandatory from persuasive authority when necessary.
- Use the format given in the reader and proper legal citation style.
- Use a dictionary or a legal reference work to understand the materials, if necessary.