writing a memo 13
:
This problem involves a critical comparison of opposing claims, analytical thinking, and problem-solving. For this writing assignment, students will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of and ability to explain the problem, and the needed outcome
- Demonstrate the logic of how you went from the problem posed to the recommendation made
- Demonstrate an ability to addressing the audience described for this assignment
- Demonstrate the use of appropriate tone
- Revise, edit and proofread the writing assignment to create an organized, complete, clear and concise document.
Writing Requirements:
In this final deliverable, students will demonstrate an understanding of the problem and fully develop all required elements of the memorandum for this writing assignment. Refer to the Legal Memorandum Guide to find the formatting of the memorandum, the elements required, and the content to be included. Review and revise your pre-writing document using the input from your classmates’ peer reviews of your work to assist your own revision process. Be sure to edit the document for grammar and spelling prior to turning it in. For convenient reference, the assignment is included below.
Step 1: Review Peer Review Feedback and Integrate Your Revisions
Give careful consideration to all of the feedback provided by your peers. Determine which feedback you believe suggests improvements that you can make to your document and make the needed revisions to your document. As this is your work, you may decide you disagree with some comments or agree with the comment but not the recommended action; you do not need to implement suggestions you disagree with.
Step 2: Return to the Memorandum Guide and Complete Missing Elements of Your Memorandum
The work you did in the pre-writing assignment did not produce the complete memorandum. That assignment was designed to get you thinking about important elements of the assignment, without having to produce the entire document. You will take what you started and have revised and with the use of the memorandum guide, you will complete all elements of the memorandum, being careful to remember who you are writing to.
Step 3: Revise, Edit and Proofread your Memorandum
- Revise – re-examine your memorandum to be sure you have included the required elements and that they are logically and clearly organized.
- Edit – After you have finished with the overarching content and organization, review your document for clarity and conciseness. Can you use more precise words (while still using language that is familiar to the general audience you have on a jury)? Are you using words or phrases that do not enhance the meaning of your sentences? Can any of your sentences be reworded to be more compact, while maintaining the meaning?
- Proofread – After you have made any content or organization changes you want to make, review your document for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Using the Microsoft Word grammar and spelling check (with preferences set for professional work) or another resource such as Grammarly (there is a free and a subscription version of this resource), is often helpful. However, even with these tools, you need to oversee the suggestions they make, as they sometimes suggest things that will change your meaning or make incorrect recommendations when you have long complex sentences. Yet, even with these limitations, they can help you quickly identify many errors in your writing.
Problem Description: Critical comparison of opposing claims, analytical thinking, and problem-solving
Shaft wear in excess of 3.50 could lead to catastrophic failures of a certain model fuel pump in extreme weather conditions. Engineers for the manufacturer of the shafts claim that the shaft wear is within acceptable limits. Lawyers representing a class action legal suit filed against the company feel that recent vehicle failures for vehicles with this shaft are due to faulty bearings causing abnormal wear and, thus, feel that the company should pay for the necessary vehicle repair and parts replacement.
The amount of shaft wear (in microns.) after a simulated mileage of 250,000 miles was determined for each of n = 45 fuel pumps having copper lead as a bearing material, resulting in and s = 1.25. Use the appropriate hypothesis test at level .01 to determine if the shaft wear is within acceptable limits. Please state any assumption you have made, if necessary.
- Conduct the appropriate hypothesis test. What determined your choice of the alternative hypothesis? Whose claim would you support?
- Be sure to present the logic of your statistical approach clearly and completely to convince the Judge and jury of your position.
- Write your response as if you were presenting evidence as an unbiased expert witness.
Audience: Your document is addressed to the judge in the case – The Honorable Frida Harb, and copied (CC) to Michael Franks, Clerk of the Court. The case this memorandum supports is Tierney v. The True Car Parts Corporation.
The jury will also be reviewing the case documents. Therefore the jury is an important audience even though this group is not formally addressed in the document. This part of your audience is assumed not to have the specific technical knowledge of the field the witness is explaining. The expert witness must persuade the audience of their expertise and their presentation of the case is the most credible assessment of the facts possible.
Officers of the court, legal advisories, and opposing expert witnesses are important secondary audiences, making it necessary to address any ideas that would counter your case and present why they do not disqualify your case.
Document: This document should present as a memorandum to the court in the case Tierney v. The True Car Parts Corporation.
Rubric
Writing Assignment 3.3 P&S 2019F
| Criteria | Ratings | Pts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeMemorandum header is completedThe layout and content follow Document/Memorandum header instructions in the Legal Memorandum Guide |
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6.0 pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeThe Question Presented is included and meets all requirementsThe Question Presented is stated as a legal question. It is written in a clear and concise way. |
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4.0 pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeThe Brief Answer is presentedThe Brief Answer is stated as a response to a legal question. It is written in a clear and concise way. |
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4.0 pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeThe Facts section is presented completely and clearlyThe Facts section clearly and concisely presents a full picture of the data provided to use to address this legal question. |
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4.0 pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeThe Discussion section is presented clearly, concisely and completely.The discussion section clearly and concisely presents a complete explanation of how the data was used to examine the problem and how that informed the legal answer. |
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8.0 pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeConclusion is includedA conclusion is included that meets the requirements in “How to Write a Business Memorandum”. Additionally, the conclusion is clear, complete, and concise. |
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6.0 pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeAppendix is includedAn appendix is included and formatted correctly |
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2.0 pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeThe assignment does not address the correct problem (minus 1 point) |
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0.0 pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeThe correct audience was not addressed (minus 1 point) |
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0.0 pts |
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This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeThe Appendix included uses the statistical calculations using the correct approach and getting the correct answer |
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6.0 pts |
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Total Points: 40.0 |
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