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Tag Archives: Acronyms

Judge’s Benchslap Orders Parties To Rewrite Their Acronym-Loaded Briefs.

20 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Acronyms, Bad Legal Writing, Brief Writing, District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, Legal Writing, Readability, Style Manuals

≈ Comments Off on Judge’s Benchslap Orders Parties To Rewrite Their Acronym-Loaded Briefs.

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Acronyms, Benchslap, Legal Writing, Ross Guberman

Alphabet Attack, by Ross Guberman, Legal Writing Tips for Attorneys and Judges

http://legalwritingpro.com/blog/alphabet-attack/

I wonder how many judges have wanted to do this? -CCE

It wouldn’t be spring in America without some federal judges publicly criticizing attorneys in a genre now known as ‘benchslap.’

The offended court this time: the D.C. Circuit. The court’s target: acronyms in briefs filed in a complex telecom dispute. The benchslap: ‘It is ordered . . . that the parties submit new briefs that eliminate uncommon acronyms used in their previously filed final briefs.’ The court even cited its own practice handbook for good measure: ‘[i]n briefs the use of acronyms other that those that are widely known should be avoided.’ . . .

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Too Many Acronyms = Alphabet Soup.

16 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Abbreviations, Acronyms, Bad Legal Writing, Brief Writing, Court Rules, Courts, Initialisms, Legal Writing, Local Rules, Spell Checking

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ABA Journal, Abbreviations, Acronyms, Brief Writing, Court Rules, Debra Cassen Weiss, Legal Writing

Check Your Briefs For Acronym Overuse, DC Circuit Clerk Tells Lawyers In Campaign Finance Case, by Debra Cassen Weiss, ABA Journal

http://tinyurl.com/mff4sqx

Acronyms continue to bedevil the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Parties before the court are advised in circuit rules to avoid little-known acronyms; lawyers who didn’t heed the advice were called out in a 2012 opinion. Now the clerk’s office is doing its part to police the briefs. . . .

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Internet’s Largest, Comprehensive Directory, and Search Engine for Acronyms, Abbreviations. and Initialisms.

05 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Abbreviations, Acronyms, Initialisms, Legal Writing, References

≈ Comments Off on Internet’s Largest, Comprehensive Directory, and Search Engine for Acronyms, Abbreviations. and Initialisms.

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Abbreviations, Abbreviations.com, Acronyms, DailyWritingTips Blog, Initialisms, Mark Nichol, Stands4 Netowrk

Abbreviations.com, a Member of the Stands4 Network

http://www.abbreviations.com/

What the heck is an initialism? Happily, Mark Nichol at DailyWritingTips Blog has a complete explanation here: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/initialisms-and-acronyms/. -CCE

We are the world’s largest and most comprehensive directory and search engine for acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms on the Internet. Abbreviations.com holds hundreds of thousands of entries organized by a large variety of categories from computing and the Web to governmental, medicine and business and it is maintained and expanded by a large community of passionate editors. Read more about our awards and press coverage.

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Are Acronyms Effective or Alphabet Soup?

15 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Acronyms, Closing Argument, Cross-Examination, Direct Examination, Jury Persuasion, Legal Writing, Making Objections, Opening Argument, Oral Argument, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire

≈ Comments Off on Are Acronyms Effective or Alphabet Soup?

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Abbreviations, Acronyms, Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Jury Persuasion, Legal Writing, Persuasive Litigators Blog, Trial Tips & Techniques

DUA: Don’t Use Acronyms, by Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Persuasive Litigators Blog

http://tinyurl.com/p66tcgk

I’m monitoring a criminal trial this week, and at the end of opening statements, the judge looked at the jury and said, ‘Okay, both sides have been referring to ‘AUSAs’ — they know what that means and I know what that means, but I’m guessing that you don’t know that that means?” Head nods from the jury. ‘It means ‘Assistant U.S. Attorney,’ continued the judge, “so please fill that in wherever you hear it.” Good solution? Better than nothing. But it would have been best if both sides would have simply used the title instead of abbreviating it. The tiny amount of additional time it takes to say ‘Assistant U.S. Attorney’ rather than ‘USA’ is well worth it in terms of clarity and understanding.

But some attorneys, experts, and other witnesses continue to love the economy of the acronym. But particularly in spoken communication, and particularly in front of a jury, that economy comes at a cost: meaning lost in translation and increased cognitive workload even when it is translated. Practical persuaders before a lay audience are well advised to avoid acronyms almost entirely. Okay, I say almost entirely — there are some exceptions (and besides ‘Generally Avoid Acronyms’ would have been ‘GAA.’) The few acronyms that ought to still be used are those that have such widespread familiarity that they almost become words in their own right: USA, CNN, or ASAP. In all other cases where the acronyms don’t benefit from automatic translation, the litigator is best off choosing the full expression and not the acronym. This post takes a look at a few reasons, implications, and replacements for trial persuaders looking to lose the alphabet soup of acronyms. . . .

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Benchslap Open Season on Acronyms.

30 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Acronyms, Appellate Law, Bad Legal Writing, District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, Legal Writing, Legalese, Readability

≈ Comments Off on Benchslap Open Season on Acronyms.

Tags

Acronyms, Benchslap, Brief Writing, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, D.C. Circuit Judge Kavanagh, D.C. Circuit Judge Silberman, Legal Writing, Legalese, Mark Hermann, Ross Guberman

Alphabet Attack, by Ross Guberman’s Legal Writing Blog

http://legalwritingpro.com/blog/alphabet-attack/

It wouldn’t be spring in America without some federal judges publicly criticizing attorneys in a genre now known as ‘benchslap.’

The offended court this time: the D.C. Circuit. The court’s target: acronyms in briefs filed in a complex telecom dispute. The benchslap: “’It is ordered . . . that the parties submit new briefs that eliminate uncommon acronyms used in their previously filed final briefs.’ The court even cited its own practice handbook for good measure: ‘[i]n briefs the use of acronyms other that those that are widely known should be avoided.’ . . .

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