A legal memo with the right argument but the wrong structure can lose its case before anyone reads past the first paragraph. This Training Course by the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy starts where most legal writing actually goes wrong — common drafting errors and weak proofreading — before building up the skills needed to produce memoranda and correspondence that read as professional and hold up under scrutiny.

Participants move from diagnosing what makes legal writing different from other writing, through structuring a proper memorandum and formatting official correspondence, to developing a professional style suited to judicial and administrative authorities.

Who Should Attend?

• Lawyers and legal consultants in the public and private sectors.
• Legal affairs officers in companies and government institutions.
• Legal writers and correspondence coordinators.
• Law graduates looking to build practical drafting skills.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Identify and correct the most common errors in legal drafting.
• Apply the linguistic features that distinguish strong legal writing.
• Structure a legal memorandum correctly, from title to legal opinion.
• Draft and format official legal correspondence for different authorities.
• Develop a professional legal writing style that stays clear and concise.
• Follow the correct protocols for communicating with judicial and administrative bodies.

Module 1: The Errors That Undermine a Legal Document

• Linguistic errors that change legal meaning, and inconsistent use of terminology.
• Errors in the logical organisation of legal content.
• Steps for a proper review, and the tools used in legal proofreading.

Module 2: What Makes Legal Writing Different

• The concept of legal drafting and why it matters in practice.
• Key linguistic features of high-quality legal text.
• Avoiding ambiguity and double meanings in legal expression.

Module 3: Building a Legal Memorandum That Works

• Internal versus external memoranda, and their core components.
• Elements of a memorandum: title, facts, legal characterisation, opinion.
• Sequencing legal arguments logically and applying formal drafting conventions.

Module 4: Official Correspondence, Done Right

• Definitions, purposes, and types of legal correspondence.
• The standard format of official legal correspondence, including opening and closing phrases.
• Differences between legal and administrative correspondence.

Module 5: Writing With Authority — Style and Institutional Communication

• Characteristics of a professional legal writing style, balancing clarity and conciseness.
• Strengthening legal arguments through clear expression.
• Rules and protocols for addressing judicial and administrative bodies correctly.