The Law Offices of Patrick, Wayne and Swayze

The Law Offices of Patrick, Wayne and Swayze

To: Legal Assistant

From: Susan K. Patrick, Esq.

RE: Predictive Office Memo

Your case briefs were well received. As such, I would like for you to draft a memo explaining the test that the Virginia courts apply to determine if an agreement is unconscionable – this is the same question that I provided to you in the case brief memo.

We do not have a client who is currently dealing with this issue; however, this has become a topic that we could be dealing with in the future. Typically, we would have a fact memo to give you. However, since we don’t have any facts to apply, don’t draft a Fact section or rule application paragraphs. Instead, focus on explaining the law and how the court applied the law in the rule explanation paragraphs.

Please review Chapter 12 of Legal Writing and Analysis for the format that is used; however, do not include a Fact Statement. The overall format should include: Heading, Question Presented, Brief Answer, Discussion, and Conclusion.

The Heading, Question Presented, Brief Answer, and Conclusion sections are very straight forward. The vast majority of this memo should be the Discussion section. This section should be broken into two different parts: (1) Gross disparity, and (2) Overreaching or Oppressive Influences. These are the two parts of the two-prong Virginia test.

Within each of the two sections, there should be a discussion of at least two of the cases (but no more than three) using rule explanation paragraphs. The format for the Discussion section should be:

Discussion

Umbrella paragraph that provides the reader with a big picture understanding of the two-prong test.

1. Gross Disparity

Rule explanation paragraph for one of the four assigned cases focusing only on gross disparity from that case.

Rule explanation paragraph for one of the other four assigned cases focusing only on gross disparity from that case.

2. Overreaching or Oppressive Influences

Rule explanation paragraph for one of the four assigned cases focusing only on overreaching or oppressive influences from that case.

Rule explanation paragraph for one of the other four assigned cases focusing only on overreaching or oppressive influences from that case.