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Miscellaneous

the (new) legal writer

A collection of resources for lawyers, who write. From Raymond Ward, an appellate lawyer with Adams and Reese LLP in New Orleans.

Post Frequency: 5.3/day

Last Entry: March 26, 2011 at 15:44:07

Why Johnny can???t write

Posted on July 29, 2008
I had occasion today to peruse the web sites of two law schools, just to see what their legal-writing programs look like and who teaches them. At both, it appears that 100 percent of the teaching is done by fellows....

Cheryl Stephens, Plain Language Legal Writing

Posted on July 27, 2008
Cheryl Stephens, of Building Rapport, the plain-language blog, is a leader in the field of plain language communication, and provides training and workshops to clients all over North America. She is making a guest appearance today promoting her new book,...

Transparency can be beautiful

Posted on July 24, 2008
There?s a lesson for legal writers in these photos of glasswing butterflies: Transparency can be beautiful. Transparency in writing means that nothing in the writing obstructs the message, as a clean picture window does not obstruct the view. Writing that...

Cast of characters

Posted on July 22, 2008
If you?re telling a story involving many players, how do you help the reader keep the players straight? You might do what Judge John R. Brown did in Grigsby v. Coastal Marine Service of Texas, Inc., 412 F.2d 1011 (5th...

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Wayne?s document-design cheat sheet

Posted on July 19, 2008
Wayne Schiess has posted an excellent summary of basic document-design principles for lawyers and other writers. If you?re interested in the scientific research supporting Wayne?s principles, read Painting With Print by Ruth Anne Robbins. If you just want a one-minute...

Wayne???s document-design cheat sheet

Posted on July 19, 2008
Wayne Schiess has posted an excellent summary of basic document-design principles for lawyers and other writers. If you???re interested in the scientific research supporting Wayne???s principles, read Painting With Print by Ruth Anne Robbins. If you just want a one-minute...

Tip of the day: Proofread appendices

Posted on July 09, 2008
Today?s West Headnote of the Day carries a useful lesson: Conduct of Department of Justice attorney in scribbling in the margin of district judge?s opinion, submitted as appendix to Department?s brief, the word ?WRONG? beside several findings of district judge...

Prolixity is the soul of witlessness.

Posted on July 08, 2008
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) requires a complaint to set forth ?a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief ....? So what happens when you file a complaint that is 465...

Another lesson in hyphenating phrasal adjectives

Posted on July 04, 2008
A couple of weeks ago, a headline in a law-oriented magazine prompted me to write on the importance of hyphenating phrasal adjectives. Today a different headline teaches the same lesson more vividly, and this time, the headline writer gets it...

The dumbass defense

Posted on July 04, 2008
Here?s an interesting pleading filed by a member of the Texas State Bar, asserting the dumbass defense. I quote: Defendants assert that Plaintiff?s damages were caused in whole or in part by his own contributory negligence. Specifically, the plaintiff is...

Of ostriches? heads

Posted on July 02, 2008
Over the last few days, Howard Bashman and Judge Richard Posner have debated a singular-versus-plural question. It started with this sentence in a Posner opinion: The reference of course is to the legend that ostriches when frightened bury their head...

Richard A. Posner, How Judges Think

Posted on July 02, 2008
A better title for this book might have been What Makes Judges Tick. In it, Judge Posner explores not only the various non-legalistic ways that judges decide cases, but also the things that motivate the behavior of Article III judges,...

Stylistic imitation

Posted on June 24, 2008
Today?s installment of Garner?s Usage Tip of the Day included this quotation. This is why I preach against over-reliance on form files and encourage writers to nurture their own individual style. ?Much bad writing today comes not from the conventional...

Remembering George Carlin

Posted on June 23, 2008
The passing of George Carlin is a loss to those who love direct, concise writing, devoid of bullshit. As a remembrance, here is a little piece I wrote about the writing lessons contained in his book Brain Droppings. (If you...

Orwell, Carlin, and the abuse of the English Language

Posted on June 23, 2008
Watching this video of George Carlin reminded me of another George: Orwell. Read Politics and the English Language, then watch this video; you?ll see the connection. If Carlin were making this video today, he?d probably have something to say about...

Point first, details after

Posted on June 21, 2008
Briefwriters are told to state the issue first, before the statement of facts. Why? Because knowing the issue the issue enables the reader to give meaning to the facts. This isn?t a legal-writing thing; it?s a writing-for-humans thing. For elaboration,...

Cert. petitions in the U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on June 18, 2008
If you have a case poised for a shot at the U.S. Supreme Court, then you?ll want to read Tips on Petitioning for and Opposing Certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, by Mayer Brown appellate lawyers Timothy Bishop, Jeffrey Sarles,...

Why we should hyphenate our phrasal adjectives

Posted on June 17, 2008
A magazine I?m looking at now has a story with this headline: 401(k) Excessive Fee Litigation This leaves me to wonder what is excessive: the fee or the litigation? The story reveals that it?s about litigation over excessive fees. A...

The editor is the writer?s best friend.

Posted on June 16, 2008
Every good writer needs a good editor. We know that?s true for all writers?except for the one we see in the mirror. If that sounds like you, and if you?d like your writing to be better than just okay, then...

If you write for publication

Posted on June 15, 2008
If you write for publication (law reviews, bar journals, magazines), then you?ll benefit from Framing Academic Articles, by Gregory G. Colomb and the late Joseph M. Williams. It describes how to write an introduction that grabs readers? attention?how to make...

McElhaney on briefwriting

Posted on June 13, 2008
Here are some tips for more lively briefs, courtesy of Jim McElhaney. The advice is sound, though I?d treat his rules as general rather than absolute.

Storytelling symposium

Posted on June 12, 2008
The Legal Writing Institute has uploaded volume 14 of its journal, featuring symposium on storytelling. I haven?t had a chance to read any of the articles yet, but many of them look intriguing. (Hat tip to Legal Writing Prof Blog.)

Candor toward the tribunal

Posted on June 11, 2008
Spotted on Legal Antics: ?Comes now the Appellant, by counsel, and moves the Court to reschedule the Oral Argument currently scheduled for August 1, 2007. The grounds for this motion are that undersigned counsel will be out of town in...

Next up on my reading list

Posted on June 10, 2008
My copy of Making Your Case, by Justice Antonin Scalia and Bryan Garner, finally arrived today. Judging by the first 16 pages (all I?ve read so far), it?s easy to read and hard to put down. I look forward to...

Some enjoyable reading (for me, anyway)

Posted on June 07, 2008
Because I practice law in Louisiana, I rarely need to read decisions from the U.S. First Circuit, which means that I rarely get to read decisions written by Judge Bruce M. Selya. But I came across one a few days...

Good advice for summer associates

Posted on June 05, 2008
If you?re a summer associate, then Ross Guberman has a 12-step program for you to improve your writing and impress the firm. (Hat tip to Ross-Blakley Law Library Blog.)

A short history of written advocacy

Posted on June 03, 2008
In The Art of Written Persuasion: The Rise of Written Persuasion, Troy Simpson traces the rise of written advocacy in England and Wales, Australia, and America. This article is the first of a series. In future installments, Simpson will examine...

Coyote v. Acme

Posted on June 01, 2008
What would happen if Wile E. Coyote, after suffering the 85th malfunction of an Acme product, found a lawyer who (a) was fluent in legalese, and (b) was willing to file suit against Acme? Ian Frazier, author of Coyote v....

Words, by Kenneth P. Nolan

Posted on May 25, 2008
Like rappers and shock-jocks, lawyers are guilty of cheapening language, and in the process we have made our profession less civil. So says Kenneth P. Nolan in this article from the Summer 2007 issue of Litigation. Take a few minutes...

On the importance of proofreading everything

Posted on May 21, 2008
Holden Oliver at What About Clients? exhorts us to proofread our invoices and everything else that our clients read. Why? Because the reader is the client. He also reminds us that ?invoices, if done correctly, are a great way to...

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