Things to keep in mind:

-read the "How to Please the Court" chapter on legal research 

-see the sample brief on the Web, or pull up a Supreme Court brief from the USPLUS or BRIEFS file in the GENFED library on LEXIS

-keep your point headings concise, direct, and argumentative

-all points must be one sentence legal arguments that clearly indicate which way you are advocating for your client

-there is not one BEST outline--instead organize YOUR points that you want to make

-each point & subpoint should logically follow from one point to the next

-the typical outline is usually about 1 to 1-1/2 pages long (some may be shorter & others longer...you just need as much space as you need to make your legal arguments)

-make things easy on yourself, the first point is already done for you!

-do not refer to specific cases in any of the point or sub-point headings (you will used the cases when you are presenting your arguments, but in the point headings you want the legal issues that are clearly presented laid out in such a manner that supports your client’s position)

-point headings should not be longer than one (1) sentence (except in some rare circumstances)

-DO NOT PUT “Introduction”, “Conclusion” in your outline...the only thing you will have in your brief will be a conclusion that does not receive a numeric or an alphabetic.

-to start out doing your outline, first go through the case & make notes to yourself about the legal issues & facts that support your client’s side for YOUR issue

-remember you are only supposed to do ONE issue & your partner does the SECOND issue

-I recommend taking notes on a sheet of paper that is divided between the PROS & the CONS for your issue...after you have gone through all of the cases, try to organize which points are similar

-after that, start reorganizing points into the legal arguments that you want to make

-WATCH USING THE COURT’S SPECIFIC LANGUAGE! this always gets folks into trouble...present your OWN legal points...don’t just quote what the opinions say

-watch being vague with your legal arguments and statements--be as specific and direct as possible about all of your points--watch just throwing words around and not fully clarifying how it helps your client's case

-remember only one legal point per point or subpoint heading--if you have more than one, it means that you need a separate point or subpoint

-the seven to eight pages should ONLY INCLUDE the legal argument-- you do not need to do a table of contents, case list, summary of laws, a fact summary, an argument summary, or anything else that is provided in the sample brief--focus only on your legal argument

-each question presented before the court (so each student) should have at least seven to eight pages of legal arguments--all point headings, subpoints, and minor points should be single-spaced--the text of your argument should be double-spaced

-this means that each team of two will have approximately 14-16 pages of text for their full brief--you may submit your briefs together or separately, but you must indicate who your partner is for the brief

-be sure to use cases, facts, and policy arguments to support your points:
 1) make your legal point;
 2) use other case law that supports your point or provides a standard for the court to follow;
 3) use the facts of your client's case to show how your legal argument is similar to other cases; and
 4) you may want to make policy arguments about how the law should be, rather than what it actually is

-be sure to clarify standards or tests the courts use when deciding certain types of legal issues--set up what the test is, and then apply it to your case

-when you use other cases that support your legal point, you do not need to go into an extended discussion of that case--if the facts are particularly germane to the point you are trying to make, you may want to reference more detail about the case--use the legal point from the case to support your legal point

-be sure to take on an advocacy tone in your writing--remember, you are trying to make every argument you can to help your client win

-watch being redundant with your points--if you are making slightly different points about one legal issue, clarify how that point is dissimilar from the other point

-make sure you spend some time editing the brief (watch spelling, capitalization, and grammar--do not use contractions)

-make sure that your argument flows from one section to the next--do not forget to use transitions

-after you have your outline done, remember the golden rule

-Issue-what is the issue of the point or subpoint? (About 2-3 sentences)
-Rule-what is (are) the rule(s) of law associated with the issue? (About 4-5 sentences that
discuss the case law & issues that are presented in the rules
-Application-how do the issues and the rules apply to the facts of the particular case
-Conclusion-tie together how the rule, issue & application support a finding favorable to your client on this point (no more than 1-2 sentences--note that not every point may have a concluding sentence)