In the news: "Lawyers are famous for redundant writing and using long words where shorter words would suffice. So, how do you improve your legal writing? Consultant Elizabeth Lampert and attorney John di Bene look at some key elements to keep in mind while writing that next brief, memo or e-mail."

Read full text

Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire. 31 August 2010. Copyright 2009.  ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscribe  <http://store.law.com/registration/register.asp?subscribeto=nw>.

This post was written by Mister Thorne: "If you're an attorney -- especially one who cares for the finer points of English -- then you should (in my opinion) subscribe to Garner's Usage Tip of the Day. (Click here.)

If you write to persuade and strive to improve, the daily tips are like having a writer's little treasure chest..."

Continue reading this interesting post and reach the active links by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Set in Style, 19 July 2010, reproduced with permission of the author

This post was written by Laura Bergus: "Spindle Law is an innovation in legal research and writing, aimed at helping legal professionals and students collect and share nuggets of legal wisdom, from the general to the excruciatingly specific..."

Continue reading this interesting post and reach the active link by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Lawyerist.com, 13 July 2010. © 2007-2010 Lawyerist Media, LLC. Reproduced with permission of the site editor, Sam Glover.

This post was written by Wayne Schiess: "Part 1: What is plain English--really?

All legal writing should be appropriate for its audience--it should speak to the reader in words, sentences, and forms the intended reader can understand. Thus, transactional legal writing--legal drafting--should be appropriate for its audience: the parties to the transaction and, if they are represented by counsel, their lawyers. But in many transactions, particularly consumer transactions, the parties are not represented by counsel. The transactions are between nonlawyers without counsel or between a sophisticated party, who dictates the terms, and a nonlawyer consumer. Those nonlawyer consumers need plain English. To meet their needs, I offer this broad description of plain-English legal drafting:

• Plain English is a form of English that can be read and understand by the typical nonlawyer.

Here are some specific traits of plain-English legal drafting:..."

Continue reading this interesting post and reach Parts 2 & 3 by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Legalwriting.net Blog, 21 June 2010. Copyright 2008. Reproduced with permission of the author

This post was written by Mister Thorne: "You might say that Marilyn Bush LeLeiko has lots of experience as a legal writing consultant: she's been at it since 1987, and she's helped attorneys at more than half of the top 100 AmLaw firms improve their legal writing skills.

And you might say she knows how to satisfy clients, else she could not have amassed an impressive array of testimonials from so many satisfied clients -- including, but not limited to, attorneys and managing partners from some of the best known law firms, and general counsel of the largest government agencies.

If you're an attorney and you want to improve your legal writing skills, consider Marilyn's advice. And if you don't think you need to improve your writing skills, think again. There's always room for improvement.

What do judges want (or not want) to see in an attorney's writing?

Clarity is key. Judges are very busy...

Clear organization is an important element of clarity...

Conciseness is also vital...

Writing skills -- just how important are they to an attorney?

It depends on the practice area and the work environment. For most attorneys, writing skills are very important. You need to communicate with your supervisor, with your client, with co-counsel and opposing counsel, and (if you're a litigator) with the court..."

Full text and active links are available by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Set in Style, 15 June 2010, reproduced with permission of the author.   

This post was written by Evan Schaeffer: "From the Journal of the New York State Bar Association: "Writing Bad Briefs: How to Lose a Case in 100 Pages or More," by Judge Gerald Lebovits. (Link from the (new) legal writer.)"

To reach the blog post and the active links, click on the author's name.

Source: Trial Practice Tips Weblog, 18 June 2010, reproduced with permission of the author.

This post was written by Leora Maccabee: "I first heard of Bryan Garner while clerking for the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota. I was having a difficult time crafting an appellate brief on some case involving criminal fraud. My supervisor looked at me, pointed to his bookshelf and said, "Grab the red one." He was pointing to Bryan Garner's The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style. As the saying goes, I would never be the same.

There's little doubt that the man is a legal writing genius. Editor of Black's Law Dictionary. Prolific writer of almost every book on legal style written in the last ten years (or at least the good ones), he now spends his time writing, interviewing judges about writing, and teaching lawyers how to write. I was lucky enough to join him for the latter on Tuesday for six hours as he schooled 40 Minneapolis lawyers in the fine points of "Advanced Legal Writing & Editing."

I highly recommend taking Garner's CLE yourself, or reading one of his numerous books on legal writing, but if you're pressed for time, or want a few tips to tide you over until Garner next comes to your city with his LawProse CLE seminars, here are my top ten (paraphrased) takeaways from Garner's "Advanced Legal Writing & Editing." Agree? Disagree? Add your thoughts in the comments..."

Continue reading this interesting post and reach the active links by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Lawyerist.com, 23 April 2010. © 2007-2010 Lawyerist Media, LLC. Reproduced with permission of the site editor, Sam Glover.

This post was written by Mister Thorne: "This post is the second in a series about proposals to provide legal services.

Consider a proposal to handle IP matters for some new company planning to do business around the world.

The proposal describes the firm's trademark practice. Here's a snippet of it:

By virtue of the breadth and depth of the firm's trademark practice, we have garnered excellent relationships with leading trademark prosecution practitioners in virtually every commercially significant country.

That's 28 words; let's see what we get when we abbreviate that for busy readers.

First, a few observations:

1. Note the dramatic shift in point of view. The firm's trademark practice is third-person, but what follows is in first-person. Readers prefer a steady point of view; dramatic or frequent shifts in point of view disrupt continuity..."

Continue reading this interesting post by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Set in Style, 26 April 2010, reproduced with permission of the author

This post was written by StephanieWestAllen: "Ever since I first learned of Reader Expectation Theory (RET) over two decades ago, I have tried to follow its guidance. And, yes, I often forget. Nevertheless, year after year, my support of the method has been enthusiastic. Friends and colleagues (including professional writers and writing teachers) to whom I have introduced this way of writing have been grateful..."

Continue reading this interesting post by clicking on the author's name.

Source: idealawg, 18 April 2010, reproduced with permission of the author.

This post was written by Wayne Schiess: "The beginning of a sentence is an important place. It's often where you win or lose the reader's attention and focus. Here is one weak way of beginning a sentence that legal writers usually ought to avoid.

Throat-clearing phrases

It should be noted that this sentence is just fine. Moreover, I would like to point out that there is nothing wrong with this sentence, either. It must be acknowledged that there is nothing wrong with beginning sentences with these phrases..."

Continue reading this interesting post by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Legalwriting.net Blog, 25 March 2010. Copyright 2008. Reproduced with permission of the author