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Legal Writing Manual 3rd Edition: Chapter 16 - Transitions and Signposting

Legal Writing Manual 3rd Edition
Chapter 16 - Transitions and Signposting
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table of contents
  1. Front Matter
  2. Chapter 1 - Sources of Law and Court Systems
  3. Chapter 2 - Reading Cases
  4. Chapter 3 - Briefing Cases
  5. Chapter 4 - Local Rules and Standing Orders
  6. Chapter 5 - Time Management
  7. Chapter 6 - Metacognition and Study Skills
  8. Chapter 7 - Introduction to Citation
  9. Chapter 8 - The Legal Reader
  10. Chapter 9 - Prewriting
  11. Chapter 10 - CREAC Legal Writing Paradigm
  12. Chapter 11 - Predictive Writing
  13. Chapter 12 - Rule Synthesis
  14. Chapter 13 - Summary of Law
  15. Chapter 14 - Case Synthesis
  16. Chapter 15 - Parts of a Memo
  17. Chapter 16 - Transitions and Signposting
  18. Chapter 17 - Persuasive Writing
  19. Chapter 18 - Policy
  20. Chapter 19 - Parts of an Appellate Brief
  21. Chapter 20 - Assessing Your Own Work
  22. Chapter 21 - Conducting Peer Review
  23. Chapter 22 - Writing for Exams
  24. Chapter 23 - Legal Phrases

Chapter 16: Transitions and Signposting

Using transitional words and phrases as signposts in your writing will help guide the reader through your analysis. Remember that you want to make your writing as accessible as possible to your reader. The reader, using your transitions, can better follow your analysis because you have shown the reader how each sentence relates to the next. The reader will find your writing to be more credible because the reader will not struggle to understand your point. 

Keep in mind that your written product should be designed to serve as a tool that the reader can use to make a decision. Complement your roadmap in your introductory paragraph by providing transitions and signposts as you proceed through your legal analysis to guide the reader.

You do not need to include a transition with every sentence! This will clutter your writing and make it more difficult to understand your analysis. Instead, use transitions when you want to signal that you are 

  1. Moving on to the next item in a list
  2. Providing an example
  3. Generalizing
  4. Analogizing or comparing
  5. Presenting an opposing viewpoint
  6. Emphasizing a particular thought
  7. Expanding to explain intricacies of a larger concept
  8. Preempting a counteranalysis or counterargument
  9. Concluding a piece of analysis or argument

Below are lists with suggested words and phrases you can use to signpost in your writing.

Sequencing

After

Before

During

Finally

First, second, etc.

Further

Initially

Last

Later

Meanwhile

Next

Since

Subsequently

Then

To begin with

Until

Introducing an Example

As in

For Example

For Instance

Including

In particular

Like

Namely

Notably

Say

Such as

To demonstrate

To illustrate

Generalizing

As a rule

For the most part

Generally

In general

In most cases

On the whole

Usually

Analogy/Comparison

Also

And

As

Comparatively

Compared to

Compared with

Equally

Here

Identically

In comparison

In like manner

In the same way

Just as

Likewise

Much like

On one hand

Similarly

To

Together with

Too

Contrast/Opposition

Alternatively

Although

At the same time

Besides

But

By contrast

Conversely

Despite

Even though

However

In contrast

Nevertheless

Nonetheless

Not

Notwithstanding

On the contrary

On the other hand

Rather

Regardless

Though

Unlike

Emphasis

Additionally

Again

Apart from this

By analogy

Certainly

Especially

Even more

Explicitly

Furthermore

Importantly

Indeed

In effect

In fact

Markedly

Moreover

Namely

Particularly

Significantly

Specifically

To emphasize

Explanation of Intricacies

Additionally

Also

And

Another reason

As well

Besides

By the same token

Frequently

Furthermore

In detail

In like manner

In other words

In particular

In relation to

Moreover

More specifically

Namely

Nor

To clarify

To explain

Preemption of Counteranalysis or Counterargument

All the same

Although

At the same time

Despite

Even assuming

Even if

Even though

Notwithstanding

Though some might argue

While it could be

Conclusion

Accordingly

As a consequence

Because

Finally

In conclusion

In summary

Lastly

On balance

Overall

So

Therefore

Thus

To conclude

To summarize

Ultimately

Annotate

Next Chapter
Chapter 17 - Persuasive Writing
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