Legal Writing

Less is More

When it comes to proposals, attorneys need to do just the opposite of what many believe they should: they need to be brief. And this is generally so*, whether lots of firms are submitting proposals, or just a few.

Very often, the shortest proposal has a distinct advantage over all others — people tend to read it first. And that’s usually because they’re pressed for time. Sometimes it’s the only proposal they read.

Consider what Anne Lee Gibson — someone highly regarded for her ability to help law firms produce winning proposals — has to say in this article, “RFPs – When and how to compete”

“And remember that ?the executive summary is the most important chapter in the proposal? because it?s the section most likely to be read. Think ?less is more? throughout, because ?when asked which proposals they read first, corporate counsel almost always say, ?The shortest ones.’”

Given the great value in using as few words as necessary, as Robert Browning put it — ?Less is more? — let’s devote the next several posts to brevity: how to whittle 50 words down to 20.

How does that sound?

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* If you’re preparing a proposal and you happen to know that the key decision maker likes lots and lots of detail and believes that the more hifalutin something seems, the better it is, then ignore my advice, especially if you know the key decision maker has excess time on his hands.

Full post as published by Set in Style on April 26, 2010 (boomark / email).