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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

Grades can be irrelevant.

Posted on June 15, 2010
At Legal Writing Prof Blog, on-line pal and scholarship dude James Levy suggests a correlation between a law student?s grade in legal research & writing and overall law-school success. In response, I offer two personal facts: My grade in legal...

The best writing advice you?ll read today.

Posted on June 14, 2010
Ken Davis quotes some good advice from You Send Me, by Patricia O?Conner and Stewart Kellerman: Some puffed-up writers use long words, techie talk, trendy terms, and convoluted sentences to cover up or deceive or sound important or go along...

Three blog posts worth reading

Posted on June 11, 2010
Start with Peter Friedman, who links to Randall Ryder, who links to Seth Godin. Back in the day, we called that surfing.

How to request oral argument in a federal appeal

Posted on June 08, 2010
A brief in a U.S. Fifth Circuit appeal must include a statement regarding oral argument. The appellant?s brief must include either a waiver of oral argument or a request for oral argument with reasons supporting the request. The appellee?s brief...

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Bryan Garner hits the road with ?The Winning Brief?

Posted on June 06, 2010
If you live around one of the cities listed below, then you may want to sign up for Bryan Garner?s excellent CLE seminar ?The Winning Brief.? I?ve attended this seminar twice: once a long time ago, when Bryan used an...

Structured e-mail = more effective e-mail

Posted on June 06, 2010
Nowadays most writing by most practicing lawyers consists of e-mail. Most e-mails are intended either to inform or to elicit a response (or both). For tips on making your e-mail more effective at both, read The Well-Structured Email at Dan...

Good writing advice from Winnie the Pooh (via Ken Davis)

Posted on June 01, 2010
Organize first, then write. Or, as Bryan Garner advises, let the architect do his thing before the carpenter gets to work.

?It is possible to fail in many ways....? ?Artistotle

Posted on May 22, 2010
When he?s not presiding at the New York City Civil Court or teaching at Columbia Law School, Judge Gerald Lebovitz somehow finds time to write. And one of his favorite topics is legal writing. A little known fact: about 50%...

?It is possible to fail in many ways....? ?Aristotle

The Bluebook (19th ed.): Something I don?t need to practice law

Posted on May 17, 2010
At my work desk are two citation guides within arm?s reach: an old edition of the Bluebook and the second edition of the ALWD Citation Manual. I consult ALWD occasionally. I can?t remember the last time I consulted the Bluebook....

Terrific legal-writing columns from the Michigan Bar Journal

Posted on May 13, 2010
For years, readers of the Michigan Bar Journal have been treated to a terrific feature: a regular column on plain language, with each installment written by a heavy hitter (e.g. Bryan Garner, Joe Kimble, Ken Oettle). Thanks to an e-mail...

Search 49 style guides at once ...

Posted on May 10, 2010
... at OnlineStylebooks.com. (Hat tip to John McIntyre, via Language Log.)

Why is shorter likely to be more persuasive?

Posted on April 27, 2010
Mister Thorne explains why a shorter piece is more likely to hit the target than a longer one: Very often, the shortest proposal has a distinct advantage over all others ? people tend to read it first. And that?s usually...

?Shall? means ?shall.? Unless it means ?may.? And vice versa.

Posted on April 21, 2010
From Comcoa, Inc. v. Coe, 587 So. 2d 474, 477 (Fla. App 3 Dist. 1991): Of primary importance in this determination is the conclusion that, in a statute such as this one, the term ?may,? which indeed ordinarily implies the...

For instance, the ?Now into court? part and the procedural history

Posted on April 19, 2010
Read this post by Ken Davis. And ask yourself, ?If readers are likely to skip it, why am I writing it??

Proofreading pays, ...

Posted on April 19, 2010
... or put another way, failure to proofread can be costly. John McIntyre provides an example in The $18,000 typo.

Sometimes grammar determines a case?s outcome

Posted on April 10, 2010
Knowing the rules of grammar will certainly help the form of your argument. But in cases involving statutory or contractual interpretation, it might help the substance of your argument too. In Why Grammar Matters: Conjugating Verbs in Modern Legal Opinions,...

Judge Kane on jury instructions

Posted on April 08, 2010
Judge John L. Kane (D. Colo.) has written an excellent article on jury instructions. He addresses not only their content (plain English, please), but also the processes for creating and using them. His ideas are not in wide use in...

The importance of getting to the point immediately.

Posted on March 31, 2010
Wayne Schiess recently wrote an excellent post about strong openings for motions. His point (a good one) is that an opening is more likely to register in a busy judge?s brain if it?s stated immediately than if it?s buried on...

?Impact? is not only a noun, but also a verb.

Posted on March 30, 2010
The 2003 edition of Garner?s Modern American Usage says, ?Impact has traditionally been only a noun. In recent years, however, it has undergone a semantic shift that has allowed it to act as a verb.? But according to the Oxford...

Hitler should have used the ALWD Citation Manual

Posted on March 23, 2010
Those students at Harvard decide that the world needs a new edition of the Bluebook, causing Hitler to go ballistic. Along the way, he shows some personality traits shared by some ... well, just watch the video. If you?re in...

An editorial against boilerplate in persuasive writing

Posted on March 22, 2010
One of the rules I follow when writing anything intended to persuade someone else is this: No boilerplate. Here?s why. When I read someone else?s writing, I can tell when I hit a patch of boilerplate?a page or two of...

?Nation Shudders At Large Block of Uninterrupted Text,? the Onion reports.

Posted on March 10, 2010
Oh, the humanity!

Eric Turkewitz doesn?t like sentences with 300+ words, ...

Posted on March 08, 2010
... especially when they occur back-to-back as the first two sentences of a judicial opinion. For our judge friends, two outstanding colleagues I?m acquainted with: Gerald Lebovits Mark Painter

One thing you can do to improve your writing

Posted on February 24, 2010
If you?re a multi-tasker, here?s something you can do to improve your writing: Stop multi-tasking, and instead focus. Don?t take my word for it. Read this short article by Prof. Anne Enquist; she digs into the brain research and explains...

Taking punctuation a little too seriously

Posted on February 22, 2010
Some people love exclamation points. Others hate them. It?s a bad idea for a member of one camp to become romantically involved with a member of the other. Here?s the proof. (Hat tip to NOLA blogger Adrastos.)

I?ll be there; I?ll be there; I will be there (presenting)

Posted on February 22, 2010
If you don?t mind a little sun, sand, and sea with your professional development, then please consider the Legal Writing Institute?s 14th Biennial Conference, to be held at the Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort in south Florida (Gulf side) June...

Toward better presentations

Posted on February 21, 2010
If you give presentations using PowerPoint or similar software, then you may be interested in this article by Profs. Lars Smith and Ariana Levinson on drafting effective PowerPoint slides. And if you give lots of presentations, then you may want...

Why care about your writing?

Posted on February 13, 2010
I take for granted that it?s important to care about your writing. But why is it important? My friend Dan Hull answers the question better than I can. Dan?s point: caring about writing correlates to caring about the reader. If...

Bryan Garner seminars: live or on the web

Posted on February 02, 2010
If you?re looking for some quality CLE, you may want to check out Bryan Garner?s upcoming webinars and live seminars. Here?s his webinar lineup: Better Brief-Writing in 60 Minutes, Feb. 18. Better Grammar for Lawyers, Feb. 23 and Mar. 1...

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