Legal Writing

Style Matters

Posted on February 05, 2008
So says Brian J. Paul (an appellate attorney with Ice Miller) in his article “Toward a More Impure Wrting Style: The Opinions of Judge Posner and Chief Judge Easterbrook and What the Bar Can Learn from Them.” ____________If writing is thinking (and vice versa), then Paul is brilliant...

On the Beauty of Brevity

Posted on February 05, 2008
The Law Blog gives kudos to Bryan Gates, an attorney whose six-word memoir says just this: Angry guy gets law license, sues. Click HERE for details as well as responses (and the opportunity to contribute) to this: Law Blog Contest of the Day: Any readers out there care to summarize their legal careers, their law school experience or [...

Men, Women, and Others (at Wilson Sonsini)

Posted on February 04, 2008
A bit over a year ago, I was reviewing this piece about diversity at Wilson Sonsini’s Web site. What struck me was the reference to women “who belong to a racial, ethnic, or gender minority group.” I wondered: “What is a gender minority group and who are women who belong to such groups? Hermaphrodites? Androgynes? Genderqueers?” I [...

On the Value of Writing Skills (to a law student)

Posted on February 03, 2008
According to Candace Cook — a student at the New England School of Law, strong writing skills can open doors. She tells this story at her blog: In addition to these classes [Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property and Legal Research & Writing], I’ve started interviewing for summer internships...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Something to Ponder

Posted on February 02, 2008
I’m reading this speech (delivered at the Legal Writing Institute conference in Seattle) written by George Gopen (Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University Law School) when I run across this: “Writing is thinking; thinking is writing. If you can get better at one, you can get better at the other...

My, How Things Change

Posted on January 31, 2008
This post by Jack Balkin refers to this post by Orin Kerr about the rapid increase in law review citations to blogs like the Volokh Conspiracy. From Balkin’s post: The legal academy is gradually becoming acclimated to blogs as vehicles of scholarship and scholarly quality...

Legal Writing Tips

Posted on January 30, 2008
Attorney/Author Evan Schaeffer offers some legal writing tips.

Good & Bad at Winston & Strawn

Posted on January 29, 2008
I just reviewed this client alert that (not which) was published by Winston & Strawn. It has some good qualities, and some not-so-good qualities. What struck me first about this alert was the typography. While most firms make the mistake of setting body copy in a sans-serif face, Winston & Strawn’s alerts have a much more [...

Once Again: Why Do Lawyers Need Editors?

Posted on January 29, 2008
So they don’t write stuff like this: The government has also increased its emphasis on charging individuals with FCPA violations, including seven so far this year. or like this: The Court found that the investors had alleged reliance not on any allegedly false statements or deceptive conduct of the suppliers but on the financial statements said to have [...

White Paper Discusses Editing Legal Documents

Posted on January 27, 2008
This white paper discusses a method for “editing a legal document collaboratively.”

Commitment Checks for Legal Writing

Posted on January 27, 2008
Here’s an interesting idea (published by the Los Angeles Times): Rob Harrison, a lecturer in legal writing at Yale Law School, has been using commitment bonds for the last decade to help students overcome writer’s block. Students have given him checks of up to $10,000 written to charity and authorized Rob to mail the checks [...

Keeping Up on Women Attorneys of Color (and Other Topics)

Posted on January 27, 2008
This post (at How the University Works) discusses “racist and sexist trends in corporate and professional fields.” The post links to a video of Michelle Masse discussing opportunities for professional women, and to this article by Marina Angel about the “devastating effect on women” from the “organizational changes in the legal profession” in the past 30 [...

Pullman & Comley’s Tradition of Excellence

Posted on January 25, 2008
Pullman & Comley is just another firm that claims it’s got a long tradition of excellence: Welcome to Pullman & Comley, LLC. Our firm has played an active and distinguished role in the Connecticut and New England business community since 1919...

Regarding the Rule of Agreement

Posted on January 19, 2008
Here’s a fundamental rule of grammar (the rule of agreement): every part of a sentence should agree with every other part. Now, read the following sentences. Do you see how they all violate the rule of agreement? CPDB prides itself on our strong client and community relationships and we are able to offer individuals, families and [...

Coming Soon: Attorneys Who Can Write Well

Posted on January 18, 2008
Here’s an interesting story from Inside Higher Ed. It’s about this new program at Hamline University meant “to produce lawyers capable of exploring social and political issues through fiction and creative nonfiction writing.” Here’s a notable quote from the article: ?At the end of the day, lawyers are story-tellers...

Legal Writing Awards

Posted on January 17, 2008
Do you know an attorney whose writing is so good that it rates an award? Do you know a law firm that publishes a newsletter that’s so good the firm deserves an award? How about a law firm that deserves an award for one of its advertisements, or for its quarterly magazine? How about a [...

The Mystery Matador

Posted on January 17, 2008
Let’s suppose you’re a successful attorney, a senior partner at a great big law firm who makes $600 an hour. You surely don’t need any help with your writing, right? OK. Let’s suppose you’re a young associate. You’re in the early stages of your career...

Writing Techniques for Winning Cases

Posted on January 17, 2008
Want to learn how to write so well that judges are inclined to decide in your favor? Then consider learning how from one who knows: lawyer and best-selling writer Gary Kinder. Here’s the scoop on some upcoming CLE seminars Kinder will be holding...

Posner Advises Counsel to Dispense with Jargon

Posted on January 17, 2008
Here’s the last paragraph of a decision issued yesterday by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeal. It was written by Judge Richard Posner, who is so well known for his way with words: A note, finally, on advocacy in this court. The lawyers? oral arguments were excellent...

Following Well-Established Rules

Posted on January 15, 2008
In English, as in Law, there are accepted ways of doing things. If you deal in both subjects (English and Law), you should find out what those accepted ways are, and then adhere to them (unless you have one heck of a good reason for deviating from them)...

Advice From a Master

Posted on January 14, 2008
Most attorneys write client alerts and such in this fashion: the first draft is the final draft. Here’s what one famous writer had to say of first drafts: “The first draft of anything is shit.? More advice from the same writer: ?I write one page of masterpiece to ninety one pages of shit...

Praise for Posner

Posted on January 10, 2008
In this article, Dahlia Lithwick calls this opinion, written by Judge Richard Posner, “the most readable piece of legal writing in history.” I wonder what that’s all about.

Precision: Why Attorneys Need Editors

Posted on January 09, 2008
Consider the following two sentences: “The quickest way to get there is through this door.” “The fastest way to get there is through that door.” The first regards time; the second regards speed. Suppose you’re in a rush, and you forget the big difference between quickest and fastest...

Webinar on Writing Skills for Regulatory Attorneys

Posted on January 09, 2008
Robert J Michalik, Esq., founder of RegulatoryPro.com, “a consulting firm providing general and specialized services to the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries,” will be hosting a Webinar on writing skills for regulatory attorneys...

United States v. Plain English

Posted on January 08, 2008
In the case of Watson v. United States, the Supreme Court opted for the “everyday meaning” of the word “use” to rule in favor of Michael Watson who, the government argued, used a gun during a drug-trafficking crime. The court figured that “receiving” a gun is not the same as “using” it...

The Most Popular Attorney-Authored Article

Posted on January 08, 2008
Last November, I wrote this post about an article (titled “Plain words please courts”) that appeared in Construction Law. The article was written by Michael Mendelblat and David Nitek of Herbert Smith. Today, it’s the most popular article at Linex Legal, a clearinghouse for attorney-authored articles.

Missing an Opportunity to be Noticed

Posted on January 08, 2008
Yesterday, the New York Times ran this article by Adam Liptak about United States v. Arnold. If the case was so interesting that the Times gave it space, then (I thought) Big Law attorneys who focus on privacy rights must be giving it a good deal of attention...

Trusting Word

Posted on January 07, 2008
Do you trust Word (the word processing application)? Couldn’t it be wrong about the spelling of a word? Couldn’t it make a grammatical error? The following appeared while Word was checking grammar: That’s one bulleted point in a list that begins with the following: An editor can help you avoid:

Exemplary Legal Writing

Posted on January 07, 2008
The Green Bag announces its choices for Exemplary Legal Writing 2007.

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.