Persuasive Writing for Legal Arguments

Persuasive legal writing is a specific skill. It is not the same as being a good researcher or a clear writer. You can cite every relevant case and still produce a submission that loses its reader on page two. Structure, framing, and tone all matter in ways that are learnable.

The course in brief

Six sessions over three weeks. We cover argument architecture — how to lead with your strongest point, how to handle unfavourable precedent, and how to use facts rhetorically without distorting them. Participants work through a single extended legal problem across all six sessions, building toward a full written submission.

The instructor, Fenwick Adair, has worked as a litigation lawyer and an academic writing coach. His sessions are structured around example submissions — some strong, some weak — and the group works through exactly what makes the difference.

The most common mistake is treating the judge or decision-maker as an opponent to be defeated. They are a reader. Write for that reader.