The Paradigm for Predictive Legal Writing: IRAC Method 
Research, Writing & Advocacy 2006-07
THE PARADIGM FOR PREDICTIVE LEGAL WRITING: Using “IRAC”
I. INTRODUCTION This handout sets out the basic paradigm, or organizational structure, of predictive legal analysis, referred to throughout this course as “IRAC.”1 IRAC is a general analytical paradigm; as you gain experience in your legal writing, you will be able to modify this paradigm to fit a particular legal issue. Once you understand the IRAC structure and are able to use it fluently, you can decide when it might be appropriate to modify the IRAC paradigm in a particular situation. Understand that an IRAC is not a stand alone legal document. The IRAC analysis is part of the discussion section of an office memorandum. You will learn how to do a complete office memo later in the semester. In law offices, a memorandum of law is generally written by an associate lawyer for the benefit of a supervising lawyer who, along with the client, will make case management decisions based on the legal conclusions (the predictions) the associate has made in the memorandum of law. Predictive legal writing uses IRAC structure because it is a logical way to explain and justify prediction. Because of this, lawyers have come to expect that structure when they read an intraoffice memorandum of law. If the document deviates from that structure for no apparent reason, it will confuse the reader and force him or her to work harder to understand what you have written. This means that you may lose your audience and that your reader may not trust the document as much as he or she would have if you had followed the expected structure.
For more detailed explanation of the IRAC paradigm, see Linda H. Edwards, Legal Writing: Process, Analysis, and Organization 83-100, 103-17 (4th ed. 2006) (“Edwards”).
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II. IRAC ORGANIZATION OF A SINGLE ISSUE Once a lawyer has identified the issues which must be considered in a legal memo, he or she must begin the careful process of analyzing each issue
THE PARADIGM FOR PREDICTIVE LEGAL WRITING: Using “IRAC”
I. INTRODUCTION This handout sets out the basic paradigm, or organizational structure, of predictive legal analysis, referred to throughout this course as “IRAC.”1 IRAC is a general analytical paradigm; as you gain experience in your legal writing, you will be able to modify this paradigm to fit a particular legal issue. Once you understand the IRAC structure and are able to use it fluently, you can decide when it might be appropriate to modify the IRAC paradigm in a particular situation. Understand that an IRAC is not a stand alone legal document. The IRAC analysis is part of the discussion section of an office memorandum. You will learn how to do a complete office memo later in the semester. In law offices, a memorandum of law is generally written by an associate lawyer for the benefit of a supervising lawyer who, along with the client, will make case management decisions based on the legal conclusions (the predictions) the associate has made in the memorandum of law. Predictive legal writing uses IRAC structure because it is a logical way to explain and justify prediction. Because of this, lawyers have come to expect that structure when they read an intraoffice memorandum of law. If the document deviates from that structure for no apparent reason, it will confuse the reader and force him or her to work harder to understand what you have written. This means that you may lose your audience and that your reader may not trust the document as much as he or she would have if you had followed the expected structure.
For more detailed explanation of the IRAC paradigm, see Linda H. Edwards, Legal Writing: Process, Analysis, and Organization 83-100, 103-17 (4th ed. 2006) (“Edwards”).
1
II. IRAC ORGANIZATION OF A SINGLE ISSUE Once a lawyer has identified the issues which must be considered in a legal memo, he or she must begin the careful process of analyzing each issue