Communicating Explanatory Synthesis

Abstract

The T-R-E-A-T paradigm and the doctrine of explanatory synthesis are both organizational methodologies and substantive theories designed to improve the substance of legal writing. The TREAT paradigm doctrine holds that the presentation of legal discourse in a carefully constructed order not only promotes clarity and satisfies audience expectations but also maximizes the communicative potential and persuasiveness of the substance of the material.

Explanatory synthesis (the “E” of TREAT) improves the substance of legal writing by combining precedents and revealing the factors and policies that determine the outcome of these precedents. Explanatory synthesis follows the path of inductive reasoning through exploration of the species of situations where a given legal rule has been applied to produce a concrete outcome (i.e., the cases), and derives the genera of principles of interpretation and application of the rule that can be presented in legal writing.

Keywords: Explanatory synthesis, TREAT format, T-R-E-A-T, explanation sections, synthesis, legal writing, advocacy

JEL Classification: K1, K10, K3, K30, K40, K41