Legal Writing

Quote of the Day

Today’s quote comes from an article titled “Why Is Business Writing So Awful?”

The article was written by Jason Fried, co-founder of 37signals, a Chicago-based software firm, and co-author of Rework, a book that has earned considerable praise.

From the article:

When you write like everyone else and sound like everyone else and act like everyone else, you’re saying, “Our products are like everyone else’s, too.”

If you care about your product, you should care just as much about how you describe it. In nearly all cases, a company makes its first impression on would-be customers or partners with words — whether they’re on a website, in sales materials, or in e-mails or letters. A snappy design might catch their attention, but it’s the words that make the real connection. Your company’s story, product descriptions, history, personality — these are the things that go to battle for you every day. Your words are your frontline. Are they strong enough?

Unfortunately, years of language dilution by lawyers, marketers, executives, and HR departments have turned the powerful, descriptive sentence into an empty vessel optimized for buzzwords, jargon, and vapid expressions. Words are treated as filler — “stuff” that takes up space on a page. Words expand to occupy blank space in a business much as spray foam insulation fills up cracks in your house. Harsh? Maybe. True? Read around a bit, and I think you’ll agree.

Fried’s comments apply to law firms looking and acting so much alike, as do his comments about words for the sake of words:

Why, just consider this example from Morrison & Foerster:

Innovation is what drives our people. In our world, innovation begins with listening. We listen acutely to our clients? aspirations. We value the opportunity to work with amazing clients in an atmosphere that encourages the kind of creativity that is only achievable when lawyers from diverse backgrounds approach their work with intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm. Although diverse, in certain respects we think as one.

Can you find the topic sentence in that paragraph?

Full post as published by Set in Style on May 27, 2010 (boomark / email).