§ 30. Be forthright in dealing with counterarguments.
Exercises
Basic
Identify a judicial opinion that is written in such a way that the losing party would probably be satisfied that the court dealt fairly with the points it raised. If you're part of a writing group or class, be prepared to explain why that is so.
Intermediate
Identify a newspaper editorial that does not deal squarely or fairly with counterarguments. If you're part of a writing group or class, be prepared to (1) explain what the counterargument is, and (2) speculate about why the writer ignored the counterargument.
Advanced
Rewrite the editorial to make it more credible.
© 2001, Bryan A. Garner
These exercises appear in Bryan A. Garner's Legal Writing in Plain English: A Text with Exercises, published by The University of Chicago Press and available at bookstores and on the Web at www.press.uchicago.edu.