It's important that both lawyers take notes throughout the hearing so that they know what to write on the Order if they are assigned to do it. At the end the Judge will say, "this is what's going to happen...your client will be charged with A and C, but not B...therefore, your client needs to do X, Y, and Z." When the Judge says this, both lawyers write done the outcome. The Judge will then say for example, "Counsel for the Defendant, you'll write the Order." That lawyer will then have to type up the Order.
An Order first starts with a title. So, for example this is what one may look like:
WEST VIRGINIA MARION COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
DIVISION II
STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA,
PLAINTIFF,
VS. CASE NO. XX-X-XXX
JOHN SMITH,
DEFENDANT.
FINAL HEARING ORDER
Once the title is completed, we must then write everyone who was present during this hearing. We must write that the Defendant was present, represented by their lawyer, John Smith. The Plaintiff was present, represented by their lawyer, Jane Smith. We must also state everyone else who present during the hearing.
Then we go on to write what happend prior to the conclusions that were made. For example, we may write that the Court told the Defendant what they were being charged with and the Defendant understood their rights and what was going on.
When we are finished writing what happened prior to the conclusion, we then state that the Court accepted A, B, and C and now ORDERS that X, Y, and Z must occur. For example, if someone had a DUI and the Court accepted to expunge this charge within a year, but only if the Defendant went to class and did six months probation and community service, this is what the Court may ORDER:
The Court ACCEPTS the DUI of the Defendant, John Smith, and further ORDERS the following. It is ORDERED that the Defendant must remain on six months probation. It is further
ORDERED that the Defendant must attend Alcoholics Anonymous and show reports for these meetings. It is further
ORDERED that the Defendant complete one hundred hours of community service and report it to his probation officer. It is further
ORDERED that a true copy of this Order shall be sent to the Defendant, the Prosecutor, and the Judge to be filed into the Court system.
Once the lawyer has written the Order, they must send a copy of it to the Judge, the Prosecutor, and their client. The Judge and Prosecutor have five days from the time they receive the Order to either accept it or reject it. If they accept it, then they must sign their name at the bottom. If they don't accept it, then they must call the lawyer who wrote it and tell them why. The lawyer will then re-write the Order and send it again. However, if neither the Judge nor the Prosecutor say anything about the Order after five days of receiving it, the Judge may automatically enter it into the Court system.
Again, you provide a very thorough, detailed description of this document. As you consider ways to craft the reflective components of your final portfolio, think about discussing this document from any one of a few angles that reveal what you learned through learning to write this document. That is, discuss not only that you learned parts X, Y, and Z must be in this text but also what you learned in terms of how to write effective documents, how to write persuasive documents, how to use a written text to your advantage as the lawyer for a particular side of a case--or even how a seemingly "mundane" text serves the lawyer or the entire legal profession in terms of doing its overall work. In other words, don't stop with just explaining what you learned goes into the template for a particular document; also reflect on what your understanding of that particular document has helped you to understand about legal writing or the legal profession or the operations of the legal community more generally.
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