WRITING STRONG

ARGUMENTS FOR LAW

Most university assignments require you to construct an argument. This may be different from the kind of
descriptive writing that you did before coming to university.
Legal assignments (either essays or problem/scenario questions) are no exception, and the model for
producing a strong argument is fundamentally the same for any type of assignment in law or business.

What makes good argumentative writing?

 State a point of view and give a clear line of reasoning to support it
 Offer evidence or examples to support your argument
 Show where the evidence came from show that it is reliable, by referencing
 Show that you have considered the possible arguments that might contradict your case
 Be able to demonstrate why your argument is reasonable
Adapted from Stella Cottrell, Study Skills Handbook

The argument process:

Assertion + Evidence + Reasoning = Argument

Adapted from Ramsay, Maier and Price’s AER Model of constructing an argument

Thus an academic argument must have these three components, assertion, evidence and reasoning.

Assertion: This is making a statement about something.

Evidence: This can include:

• Quantitative data
• Qualitative data
• Case studies
• Material from academic texts (books or journals)
• Organisational and business documents
• Material from reports of regulatory or government bodies
• Material from professional or trade journals
• Personal communications

The library is the best place to start looking for evidence.

Reasoning: This shows the relationship between different concepts, assertions and evidence etc. It is up
to you as the writer to provide the reasoning that shows you understand how concepts might link
together, and draw conclusions from the evidence.
Example
Assertion:
Amazon charges different prices to different buyers of the same product, depending on their profiles.

Evidence:
Tanner (2014) has reported that Amazon has varied prices by as much as 166%, based customer profile.
Dyer (2015) states that this is through the use of cookies.

Reasoning:

Reasoning is your interpretation of the facts and opinions given by other writers.

This suggests that Amazon is using some type of customer profiling, possibly cookies, to assess the price
levels that individual customers are willing to pay, and offering goods at those price levels.

This is interpretation, it shows your marker how you understand the evidence. This makes an argument.
However, you can make the argument stronger.

Evaluate the evidence:

• How strong is the evidence?

• How did Tanner find out that Amazon varies prices by up to 166%?
• What research methods were used?
• How does Dyer know that this is achieved through the use of cookies?
• Was this discovered through research or guessing?
• What about the age of the research, is it dated?
• Can the evidence be relied on?

Strengthening your argument based on the evaluation of the evidence:

Thus, the evidence appears to support the assertion that Amazon charges different prices to different
buyers, depending on their profile. However, it is not clear how the evidence was collected. The source is
four years old and Amazon may have changed their practices in that time. There is no information about
how Dyer found out that this was through the use of cookies, thus this may be a guess. Therefore it cannot
be confirmed whether or not Amazon is using this practice or whether cookies have been used in its
operation.

To ensure that your arguments are strong, make sure your arguments have:
• An assertion - a statement about something.
• Evidence - the academic material you are using for reference (what has been said about the topic).
• Reasoning - the relationship between different concepts, assertions and evidence. Your analysis of
the evidence to decide whether it supports the assertion and why.

You evaluate the evidence to decide how strong or reliable it is?

You show marker your evaluation of the evidence by writing about any doubts you have, or showing how it
supports the assertion.

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How does this relate to law assignments?

The “assertion, evidence, reasoning” method outlined here can be used for law essays as well. Use legal
evidence (case law, statutes or other reliable legal information) as the evidence, and ensure you show your
legal reasoning clearly. As Wilson and Kenny suggest in The Law Students’ Handbook (2010, p.156):

’Some legal reasoning [is] like a three-legged stool: the

arguments…together…support a particular position’.

For this reason, taking a methodical approach (outlining the relevant legal evidence and showing your
reasoning before coming to a conclusion) is particularly important in law assignments.

When answering problem or scenario questions, law lecturers often recommend the use of the ILAC
method:

 I = Identify the issue

 L = Outline the relevant law
 A = Apply it to the case
 C = Conclude your argument

This model is really no different to the “assertion, evidence, reasoning” method, so be reassured that you are
doing the same thing with all of your assignments, in terms of producing strong arguments :

Identify the issue and legal principle (I+L) + Assertion + Evidence

Explain the aspects of the law/ruling and apply them to the situation at hand (A+C) = Reasoning

References:
• Cottrell, S. (2008), The Study Skills Handbook. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan
• Ramsay, P., Maier, P. & Price, G. (2010), Study Skills for Business and Management Students.
Edinburgh: Pearson Education
• Wilson, S., & Kenny, P. (2010), The Law Students’ Handbook (2nd ed). Slough: McMifflin

Produced by, Judith Martin & Aron Truss, adapted for use with reading software by Claire Burrell. Faculty of Business
and Law Study Support. studysupport@port.ac.uk