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Tag Archives: Legal Writing Prof Blog

What Does “Shall” Really Mean?

05 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Contract Law, Legal Analysis, Legal Writing

≈ Comments Off on What Does “Shall” Really Mean?

Tags

Legal Analysis, Legal Writing, Legal Writing Prof Blog, Professor Joe Kimble, Professor Mark E. Wojcik

Shall Means “Must.” Unless it Means “Should.” Mark E. Wojcik, Professor of Law, John Marshall Law School (Chicago), Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://bit.ly/2dg7M46

In the legal writing world of contracts, legislation, and case law, legal writers debate about the meaning of the word “shall.” Many legal writing scholars have argued that “shall” means “must” without exception, and that is what I was taught in paralegal school. Professor Wojcik makes a convincing argument for dropping the ambiguous “shall” in favor of words that leave no question about what they mean. -CCE

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Legal Writing Tips from “Dear Scrivener.”

29 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bad Legal Writing, Editing, Legal Writing, Plain Language, Readability

≈ Comments Off on Legal Writing Tips from “Dear Scrivener.”

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Grammar & Punctuation, Judith D. Fischer, Legal Writing, Legal Writing Prof Blog, Scott Moise

A Potpourri Of Tips About Legal Writing, by Judith D. Fischer, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legalwriting/2015/03/a-potpourri-of-tips-about-legal-writing.html

For a potpourri of tips about legal writing, see Dear Scrivener by Scott Moise in the March 2015 South Carolina Lawyer. . . .

Continue reading →

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Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! The 20th Edition of The Bluebook Will Be Out Soon!

08 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! The 20th Edition of The Bluebook Will Be Out Soon!

Tags

Bluebook Citation Format, Legal Writing Prof Blog, Mark E. Woicik, The Bluebook

20th Edition of the Bluebook Expected by this Summer, by Mark E. Woicik, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legalwriting/2015/03/20th-edition-of-the-bluebook.html

Be still my heart! -CCE

Professor Brian Sites of Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law shared the news that the 20th edition of The Bluebook ‘will be available in the late spring/early summer of 2015.’ Oh, goodie! Click here for more information.

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Another Kimble Legal Writing Example – This Is How You Do It.

29 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Editing, Legal Writing

≈ Comments Off on Another Kimble Legal Writing Example – This Is How You Do It.

Tags

Joseph Kimble, Judith D. Fischer, Legal Writing, Legal Writing Prof Blog, Legalese, The Green Bag

Lawyers Are Poor Drafters, by Judith D. Fischer, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legalwriting/2015/01/lawyers-are-poor-drafters.html

Most lawyers are poor drafters, writes Professor Joseph Kimble of Western Michigan University-Cooley Law School. In a recent article, Kimble identifies two key reasons for this: law schools have tended to neglect legal drafting, and lawyers often mimic the antiquated language in form books and poorly drafted statutes. To illustrate the problem, Kimble offers a court order prepared by lawyers and judges at a recent symposium. Displaying the order and his revised version side by side, he points out, among other things, that the original has 125 words more than the revision; the original includes several legalese phrases, such as pursuant to; and the original includes unnecessary cross-references. For his full analysis, see You Think Lawyers Are Good Drafters? in the autumn 2014 issue of The Green Bag.

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The New ALWD Citation Guide.

05 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in ALWD, Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on The New ALWD Citation Guide.

Tags

ALWD Citation Manual, Citations, Coleen Barger, Legal Writing Prof, Legal Writing Prof Blog, Legal Wrting, The Bluebook

The Inside Scoop About The New ALWD Citation Guide, by Legal Writing Prof, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://tinyurl.com/n9beufc

Let’s not forget that the 20th edition of the Bluebook is coming, although the publication date has yet to be announced. -CCE

At the LWI conference, members got inside information about ALWD’s new citation guide. It’s no longer called a manual–the title of the fifth edition is the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation. Chief editor Coleen Barger and contributor Brooke Bowman explained that the new guide has eliminated the differences between it and the Bluebook. That means, among other things, that large-and-small caps are now prescribed for certain law review citations and abbreviations and citations have been standardized to comport with traditional formats.  But the new guide will be easier to use than the Bluebook. Plentiful symbols clarify when spaces are needed, and law review formats are integrated into the subject matter sections but clearly labeled by a title, an identifying marginal line, and a warning symbol.

A companion site includes exercises that students who purchase the book can access. An on-line teacher’s manual will be available soon and will include comparison charts between the fourth and fifth editions and between the fifth edition and the Bluebook. . . .

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Student Guide to Footnotes and Citations in Scholarly Writing.

22 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Footnotes, Legal Writing, Research, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Student Guide to Footnotes and Citations in Scholarly Writing.

Tags

Citations, Footnotes, Law Review Articles, Legal Writing Prof Blog, Mark E. Wojcik, Professor William Mock, SSRN

When a Rose Isn’t ‘Arose’ Isn’t Arroz: A Student Guide to Footnoting for Informational Clarity and Scholarly Discourse, by Mark E. Wojcik, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://tinyurl.com/nm4p2x6

Professor William Mock has authored an article meant to help students cite more sensibly. The article begins with welcome advice: ‘Not every proposition in a law review articles requires citation, nor does every footnote require cited authority.’ (And in case you’re worried already, that sentence has two footnotes in the orginal!).

It is the kind of article that should be given to incoming law journal editorial boards to help student editors (and research assistants) understand the distinctions among different types of footnotes.

You can share this link for students to download a copy of the paper from SSRN.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1019891

(With students, we recommend giving the link rather than the document itself so that students will also learn how to do research on SSRN–a source that gives them information not found on Westlaw or Lexis or Bloomberg).

If law journals adopt more sensible rules for citations rather than strict mathematical formulas (such as 1.8 pages of footnotes for each page of text), law reviews have a chance to increase their readability and usefulness to readers.

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Controlling Crowded Sentences. Shorter Is Not Always Better?

22 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Editing, Legal Writing, Proofreading, Readability

≈ Comments Off on Controlling Crowded Sentences. Shorter Is Not Always Better?

Tags

Controlling Crowded Sentences, Editing, George Gopen, Judith D. Fischer, Legal Writing Prof, Legal Writing Prof Blog

Controlling Crowded Sentences, by Judith D. Fischer, Legal Writing Prof, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://tinyurl.com/kacsecz

In his recent article Controlling Crowded Sentences, rhetorician George Gopen shows how to make Gopen the most of stress positions. He starts with a sample thirty-six word sentence and then revises it six different ways. Some revisions are a bit longer than the original, but Gopen emphasizes that ‘I do not hold with those who advise ‘to make it better, make it shorter.’ Each revision has a different purpose: one places a person in a subordinate role, and another builds empathy for her. The article appeared in the spring 2014 issue of Litigation.

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Garner’s Interview With Appellate Judges On Oral Argument and Brief Writing.

20 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Appellate Judges, Appellate Law, Bad Legal Writing, Brief Writing, Court Rules, Courts, Federal District Court Rules, Federal Judges, Judges, Legal Analysis, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Statement of Facts, Trial Tips and Techniques

≈ Comments Off on Garner’s Interview With Appellate Judges On Oral Argument and Brief Writing.

Tags

Brief Writing, Bryan Garner, Chief Judge Sandra Lynch, Judge Frank Easterbrook, Judge Pierre Leval, Judge Stephen Reinhardt, Jurisdiction, Legal Writing, Legal Writing Prof Blog, Oral Argument, Scribes Journal of Legal Writing

Scribes Journal Presents Interviews With Judges, By Legal Writing Prof, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://tinyurl.com/najqatd

In the latest issue of the Scribes Journal of Legal Writing, Bryan Garner continues his series Scribes 5-14of interviews with judges. This time he talks with five United States Court of Appeals judges to collect some inside information about brief writing and oral argument. Here are some of the judges’ pithy quotes:

Judge (and former Chief Judge) Frank Easterbrook of the Seventh Circuit said a lawyer should know why the court has jurisdiction. He imagines having a button he could press to send a lawyer out to the street if the lawyer can’t explain the basis for appellate jurisdiction. ‘Because if we don’t have jurisdiction, why are we here?’

Judge Pierre Leval of the Second Circuit said the first thing he looks at in a brief is the argument headings ‘to get a sense of what’s involved.’  Then he can read the facts in context.

Chief Judge Sandra Lynch of the First Circuit said many lawyers look ‘frozen’ when a judge asks a question. But instead, they should think, ‘This is a great way that I can hit a few more balls out of the park; I can help my case.’

Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the Ninth Circuit likes briefs written in ‘simple, clear sentences.’ And he likes ‘a story that flows so you can tell what it’s about and why . . . something I can follow easily.’ . . .

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Legal Writing Faculty – It’s Okay To Sweat The Small Stuff.

16 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bad Legal Writing, Citations, Education, Legal Writing, Legalese, Paralegals/Legal Assistants, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Legal Writing Faculty – It’s Okay To Sweat The Small Stuff.

Tags

Above the Law (blog), Joe Patrice, Legal Assistants, Legal Writing, Legal Writing Course, Legal Writing Prof Blog, Local Rules, Louisa Heiny, NYU, Paralegals, S.J. Quinney College of Law, Santa Clara Law Professor Ray Bernstein, University of Utah, Yale

A Law Professor’s Detailed, Thoughtful, and Comprehensive ‘Local Rules’ for Class: A Response to “Above the Law,” Legal Writing Prof Blog (guest post from Louisa Heiny, Adjunct Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law of the University of Utah, responding to recent post at Above The Law Blog)

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legalwriting/2014/02/atl.html

I used to teach Legal Writing and Legal Analysis to paralegals. Students had to work hard to earn a good grade in those classes. Some students appreciated the emphasis on grammar and punctuation, adhering strictly to court rules and the Bluebook, the eradication of legalese, and the insistence that details matter. Regrettably, not every student felt the same way, and missed the point. There was a reason why the bar was set high for my students. I wanted them to succeed once they were on the job.

If I learned anything from teaching, it was that the majority of students, when challenged, will work hard to meet high standards and expectations set for the class. If a teacher’s expectation are low, the work turned in will be mediocre at best. Both law and paralegal students face tough competition upon graduation. Quality matters more than ever.

It is nice to see that there are still legal writing faculty who set insist on quality. -CCE

I admit it: I read Above the Law. I read it every day. It’s even on my Facebook feed. It’s sometimes snarky, often witty, and has published some of the most ridiculously funny cease and desist letters I’ve ever seen. I use material from Above the Law in class to show students what not to do.

I’ll also admit that when I read the headline in Above the Law, ‘A Law Professor’s Detailed, Ridiculous, Condescending ‘Local Rules’ For Class,’ I panicked. There was a serious possibility that I was about to read my own syllabus. I’m an adjunct, so there was also a possibility that I was about to be fired.

After a moment’s relief that I was not the target of ATL’s ire, I read the article. Written by Joe Patrice, the post skewers the ‘local rules’ created by Santa Clara Law Professor Ray Bernstein for his legal writing class. While my own syllabus isn’t as detailed, Professor Bernstein has created a detailed, thoughtful, and comprehensive set of local rules designed to put students on notice of class requirements, as well as prepare them for the practice of law. . . .

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Use Footnotes for Legal Citations?

07 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Brief Writing, Citations, Footnotes, Legal Writing

≈ Comments Off on Use Footnotes for Legal Citations?

Tags

ABA Journal, Bryan Garner, Citations, Footnotes, Legal Writing, Legal Writing Prof, Legal Writing Prof Blog

Garner Argues For Footnotes In Judicial Opinions, by Legal Writing Prof, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://tinyurl.com/jwd8rpg

Count me as one who disagrees with putting citations in footnotes. Mr. Garner has advocated this position for some time, and he has won some converts.

When I am reading a brief or opinion, I want to look at the citation at the time I am reading the argument. The strength of the authority will influence how persuaded I will be by the argument. Because persuading the reader is basically what legal writing is all about, I do not want my reader to lose focus or be distracted in any way. For me, having to move my eyes down to a footnote to find the authority used for an argument would tedious and irritating. I am afraid that I will never agree with Mr. Garner on this point. -CCE

In his February ABA Journal column, Bryan Garner continues his long-running campaign for footnotes in judicial opinions. He argues that citations in the text make legal writing cumbersome. And he points out that while they might have been practical in the days of the typewriter, now “we can easily sweep those interruptions out of the way.”

Garner admits that not everyone agrees with him; so far, only a minority of judges has adopted his proposal. . . .

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