Legal Writing

Lawyers & Lists

Consider the beginning of this press release published by a law firm:

EpsteinBeckerGreen Ranked Among Top Firms for Diversity by MultiCultural Law Magazine

7/22/2010

NEW YORK (July 22, 2010) ? National law firm EpsteinBeckerGreen is pleased to announce that the Firm has been ranked among the leading law firms for diversity by MultiCultural Law magazine.

EpsteinBeckerGreen ranked 3^rd in the magazine’s listing for the “Top 50 Law Firms for Partners” and ranked 6^th in its “Top 25 Law Firms for African-Americans” listing. The Firm also ranked 21^st in its “Top 100 Law Firms for Women” listing.

“Our Firm is committed to maintaining a diverse workforce and fostering a work culture that promotes diversity in which our attorneys and staff members can develop to their fullest potential,” said Douglas Hastings, Chair of the Board of Directors and a Member of the Firm’s Health Care and Life Sciences practice in the Washington, D.C. office.

The reader’s eye is drawn to the second paragraph because of the greater spacing between the lines than in the surrounding paragraphs. The extra spacing is due to the use of superscripts in the ordinals (e.g., 3^rd).

Is there a better way of presenting the information?

Let’s see:

EpsteinBeckerGreen Ranked Among Top Firms for Diversity by MultiCultural Law Magazine

NEW YORK (July 22, 2010) ? National law firm EpsteinBeckerGreen is pleased to announce it has been ranked among the leading law firms for diversity by MultiCultural Law magazine.

EpsteinBeckerGreen ranked:

#3 in “Top 50 Law Firms for Partners”
#6 in “Top 25 Law Firms for African-Americans”
#21 in “Top 100 Law Firms for Women”

“Our Firm is committed to maintaining a diverse workforce and fostering a work culture that promotes diversity in which our attorneys and staff members can develop to their fullest potential,” said Douglas Hastings, Chair of the Board of Directors and a Member of the Firm’s Health Care and Life Sciences practice in the Washington, D.C. office.

The advantage?

There are several:

1. It’s easier for readers* to parse a list when it is set as a list.
2. It’s easier for readers to parse cardinals (#3) than ordinals (3^rd).
3. Setting this list as a list gives it greater emphasis.
4. It looks more professional.

______
* It’s a very good thing to serve readers, to make it easier for them to read what you’ve published, especially when you hope to convert those readers from potential clients to the sort that pay.

Full post as published by Set in Style on August 16, 2010 (boomark / email).