Once your legal research is done, you must report your results. In nearly every case this report will be in writing so there is a record of the legal research results. You may be asked to report on your legal research in the form of a memorandum to the court; more often, you will prepare an office memorandum addressing a specific legal issue for a client.

The first step in preparing a legal office memorandum is to state the goal of the legal research. The goal of the legal research is not the same as the legal issue. You may define the legal issue as whether a witness whose back was to the accident will be allowed to testify which car ran the red light. This legal issue can be analyzed in terms of the facts of the client's case and the applicable primary law. It does not tell you, however, what the goal of the legal research is. Obviously, the goal of your legal research will be different if your client is accused of running the red light than if your client is the driver who was hit. Knowing the goal of the legal research keeps you focused and lets the reader know that the research was intended to support a particular result.

After the statement of the goal of the legal research, you should state the issue addressed, including enough facts so the reader can easily see why the issue is important to the client's case. An issue phrased as “Whether a witness whose back was to the accident, but who could see the accident reflected in a plate glass window, should be allowed to testify which driver ran the red light” is far preferable to an issue asking whether a witness whose back was to the accident can testify as to which driver ran the red light.

A brief summary of the facts should follow the issue. It is not necessary to include all of the facts of the case. Instead, include only those facts that are important to the resolution of the issue. It is not important that one of the cars is blue unless the witness uses that fact to identify the car that ran the red light. Do not clutter your memo with unneeded facts. On the other hand, do not omit facts that are necessary to resolve the issue.

Include a statement of how the law applies to the facts of your case. This is called the analysis portion of the memo. Here you will explain the primary law you have located and explain why it applies to this issue. You must draw factual analogies between the facts of your case and the facts in a controlling court opinion. In many instances, you will find that several court opinions seem to be relevant to the client's legal issue. Each opinion must be analyzed on its own, but many cases can stand for the same legal proposition. It is up to you to find a logical structure to these factual analogies that satisfies the goal of the legal research.

A good legal research memorandum should end with a conclusion. Here is where the question posed in the issue is answered. Most conclusions will also include a statement about why the result is reached.