On writing, from the Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law, page 25: “Edit yourself.” Really. Do it. If you don’t, someone else will have to edit your work for you, and that’s, well, embarrassing. Further, shorten your sentences. After I write a brief, I go back and re-read it, concentrating solely on matters of style. I read […]
I get paid to do this…in reverse.
May 23, 2011 by
Law Practice Tip #8: Make things easier to understand
February 3, 2011 by
“No one will ever complain about your writing making something easier to understand.” That’s how you should try to write, whether its for a partner, a judge, or your client. Simple, clean, articulate, and careful. No one has to read what you write, and it doesn’t take much to distract the reader to something else. […]
Law Practice Tip #4: read “The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law”
December 29, 2010 by
Whether you’re a newly minted lawyer or a third year associate, a solo practitioner or one of hundreds in a national firm, you should regularly review of the basics of practicing law. Research, writing, presentation, argument, and knowledge of the law are just tools of our trade, and keeping them sharp is as important to our practice […]
Are you a good writer? Could you be a better writer?
November 23, 2010 by
“As a colleague of mine once put it, ‘I never met a man who didn’t think he was a great lover or a lawyer who didn’t think he was a great writer. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, they’re deluded.’” Theodore L. Blumberg, The Seven Deadly Sins of Legal Writing 1 (2008). (Hat tip to Wayne Schiess.) […]
Bluebooks: who needs them? (besides law students)
May 24, 2010 by
The newest Bluebook is out, edition number 19, if you are keeping track. The question is, do I really need it for my practice? [cricket, cricket] No. As well put by Raymond Ward: As a practicing lawyer, here’s what I need to know how to cite, in descending order of importance: statutes, cases, constitutions, treatises, […]
Stylebook searching
May 10, 2010 by
If you’re a student, an attorney, or an academic, then you use a style book, maybe more than one. And finally, there’s a place to search all of them….or at least 49 of them. Check it out at the onlinestylebooks.com. (via the (new) legal writer)
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