Litigation

Legal Writing: Three Tips from Three Sources

By Evan Schaeffer

Today's post contains three quick tips for legal writers. By following the links, you'll also find lots of additional advice:

• When addressing a court, don't adopt the technical business jargon of the parties without explaining it. (Tip from an opinion by Judge Richard Posner, as detailed in a post at the Pennsylvania Litigation Blog)
• Don't commit the double-identification sin ("the sin"), in which a writer inserts a parenthetical clarifying that which does not need to be clarified ("the unnecessary clarification") (Tip from "Writing the Persuasive Brief," by Judge William Eich in the Wisconsin Lawyer)
• Don't commit the used-car-salesman error, in which you try too hard to sell your position to a court. (Tip from "Persuasive Strategies for Appellate Brief-Writing," from Barger on Legal Writing).

Thanks to Celia C. Elwell, a paralegal in Oklahoma City, for these links. For much more on legal writing (one of my favorite topics), see the legal writing category on this weblog.

Full post as published by The Illinois Trial Practice Blog on January 29, 2008 (boomark / email).