Legal Writing

When they?re in a hurry, attorneys will write things (e.g., articles for a seminar on changes in tax laws) like this:

Under Internal Revenue Code § 57, there are several tax preferences for individuals listed that are deductible for computing regular taxable income but which are added back when determining alternative minimum taxable income.

The fortunate attorney is the one who has an editor who reviews things first (e.g., BEFORE what the attorney wrote is printed and the binders are assembled):

Under Internal Revenue Code § 57, you can deduct some expenses when computing your regular taxable income, but not when computing the alternative minimum taxable income.

The editor makes the fortunate attorney look good, especially to seminar attendees who aren?t attorneys ? they?re people looking for attorneys they can comprehend.