Contract Legal Writing   Yale University

Legal Research Writing
 


Yale Law School Graduate

Winner of Yale's Judge William E. Miller Prize for Best Paper on The Bill of Rights
 

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702-465-4385

Services Provided for Other Lawyers

The following list is only representative of the services Mr. Rhodes can provide.  If you have a particular project in mind that is not listed below, please contact Mr. Rhodes at stewart.rhodes@aya.yale.edu or by phone at (406) 249-6461 to discuss your project.

Legal Research and Memoranda

Mr. Rhodes provides Online (Westlaw and Lexis) and traditional law library legal research, with all cases shepardized.  Mr. Rhodes specializes in thorough, efficient, and accurate case law and statutory research which includes careful analysis of the most relevant cases and tailoring research to the needs of each client and case.  Research can be presented as compilations/summaries of caselaw in support of the work of other attorneys at the trial or appellate level, or can be done as part of the process of having Mr. Rhodes write complete motions and briefs. 

Mr. Rhodes specializes in complex issues and ground-breaking cases of first impression.  He also offers research assistance to legal authors, as is explained below.

Legal Writing and Briefs

Mr. Rhodes provides first class, Yale Law Review quality legal writing for other attorneys. He provides accurate, clear, concise, effective and persuasive legal memoranda, pleadings, motions, and briefs for filing in any state or federal court. That process can be interactive, with you as an active participant in the writing or actively involved in the review of drafts, or it can be with you conducting only a final review before signing and filing a completed, ready-to-file final draft, or anything in between at your discretion.

Mr. Rhodes Provides All Types of Legal Writing:

  • Research memorandum on any legal topic or question, whether in preparation for litigation, for in-house use for future litigation, or as preparation and assistance for publications. Mr. Rhodes is especially skilled at researching novel questions of law in cases of first impression and at legislative and constitutional amendment history.
  • Trial court pleadings, motions, and briefs, such as complaints, answers, motions for summary judgment, motions to dismiss, opposition motions in answer to opponent's motions, motions for discovery, motions in limine, etc. (and motions in support). Mr. Rhodes has written many winning motions and briefs at the trial court level in both state and federal courts.
  • Appellate briefs in state or federal courts, in civil, criminal, and constitutional/civil rights matters. Mr. Rhodes has authored numerous winning appellate briefs to state supreme courts, and has also assisted in the writing of appellate briefs in federal cases.
  • Amicus curiae briefs in state or federal courts, including state Supreme Courts, U.S. Courts of Appeals and to the U.S. Supreme Court on any matter, civil, criminal or regarding constitutional rights. 
  • Editing and cite checking the work of other attorneys.
  • Assistance with writing law review articles and articles for publication in other legal/political journals and periodicals.  Mr. Rhodes can serve as your "ghost writer" or "ghost editor" for anything ranging from a magazine article, to a law review article, to a book.   

More About Editing, Review and Critique of the Work of Other Lawyers

Mr. Rhodes also provides expert editing, draft review, cite checking, and argument/analysis critique of any document written by attorneys. Mr. Rhodes can provide crucial "fresh eyes" and critical review of any motion, brief, or other document, checking citation format, accuracy and relevance of the citation, and critiquing the argument, analysis, clarity, and persuasiveness of the writing. This can be a review of drafts at any stage in the writing process, or as a final review, from the perspective of a law clerk or judge, as a form of "moot court reading" to catch possible typos, citation errors, errors in analysis, missions, or confusing language before submitting the work to the court. Mr. Rhodes can do the same for any proposed law review articles or articles for legal periodicals before submitting those proposals to the editorial staff. Doing so can greatly increase the prospects of acceptance and publication.

Trial Strategy, Preparation, and Assistance

Mr. Rhodes provides assistance with all manner of trial preparation and assistance during trial, including formating trial strategy, preparation of exhibits, preparation of affidavits, assisting with deposition strategy, jury selection strategy, and writing opening and closing arguments. Mr. Rhodes is available to act as second chair in Montana courts or when admitted pro hoc vice in courts outside of Montana.

Appellate Practice Strategy, Preparation, and Assistance

In addition to writing excellent appellant briefs, Mr. Rhodes provides assistance with appellate strategy and preparation, to include an initial analysis of the lower court decision/trial outcome, analysis and review of the trial transcript or the lower court pleadings, briefs, motions, and rulings, as they relate to the trial outcome and to potential strategies on appeal. As noted above, Mr. Rhodes can provide assistance with research for the appellate brief to be written by other lawyers, and in particular can provide a moot court trial run of both the brief and the oral argument.

Mr. Rhodes is also available to serve as appellate co-counsel or even as lead appellate counsel in Montana, or on a limited basis if admitted pro hoc vice in other jurisdictions. Such service can include oral argument, at which Mr. Rhodes is especially skilled.

Note: Mr. Rhodes provides the above listed services only to other lawyers. He does have a very limited, select practice on behalf of non-lawyer clients in Montana, where he is a member of the Montana Bar, but otherwise all of his work is exclusively for other lawyers only. None of the services listed on this website are being offered to non-lawyers. If you are a non-lawyer who would like Mr. Rhodes to assist your attorney with your case, please have your attorney contact Mr. Rhodes.