Law Professor Antonio Gidi’s New Legal Writing Book.

28 Monday May 2018

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

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Antonio Gidi, Legal Writing Syle, Persuasive Writing

Legal Writing Style, by Antonio Gidi (West 2018), at SSRN.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3157430

Antonio Gidi, law professor at Syracuse University College of Law, recently updated Weihofen’s Legal Writing Style. Professor Gidi is a strong proponent of concise and persuasive legal writing. A preview of the book is available at the SSRN link above; just click on “Download This Paper.” Plenty for the novice legal writer and good tips for those looking to sharpen their legal writing skills. -CCE

What’s It Like In Your Judge’s Shoes?

03 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Brief Writing, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Legalese, Persuasive Writing, Readability

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Legal Skills Prof Blog, Legal Writing, Louis J. Sirico Jr., Persuasive Writing, Sherri Lee Keene

Advice on Writing to Persuade the Court, by Louis J. Sirico, Jr., Legal Skills Prof Blog (with hat tip to William P. Statsky)

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_skills/2016/06/advice-on-writing-to-persuade-the-court.html

In her article, Standing in the Judge’s Shoes: Exploring Techniques to Help Legal Writers More Fully Address the Needs of Their Audience, Sherri Lee Keene argues that lawyers writing as advocates need to place themselves in the shoes of the judges whom they seek to persuade. Of course, this is not new advice. What is helpful here is her advice on how to do it.

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Use “The Streisand Effect” To Hit The Perfect Legal Writing Chord.

15 Saturday Aug 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Civil Rights, First Amendment, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Persuasive Writing

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Breaking Energy Blog, Civil Rights, Elie Mystal, Legal Writing, Persuasive Writing, Raymond Ward, Song Lyrics

Peabody Energy Tries To Strike Song Lyrics From Complaint: Welcome To The Streisand Effect, by Elie Mystal, Breaking Energy Blog (with hat tip to Raymond Ward!)

http://tinyurl.com/ozm4j5l

Kudos to the lawyers who came up with this legal writing strategy. A couple sued Peabody Energy and alleged a civil rights violation. The police arrested the couple for holding up a banner during Peabody’s shareholder’s meeting.

The Complaint filed against Peabody Energy included lyrics to a song called “Paradise,” by John Prine. Who knows how the plaintiff’s counsel found it. The lyrics are a perfect choice.

The song is about coal mining exploitation by a company. You guessed it – the company’s name is Peabody. The lyrics about the big, bad coal company abusing the rights of common people strike the right chord.

Peabody’s reaction was understandable, but a costly mistake. Peabody filed a Motion to Strike. Strike what? The song lyrics – in a lawsuit about freedom of speech. To be kind, perhaps Peabody’s counsel did not think that one through.

The plaintiff’s response is classic and brilliant legal writing strategy. -CCE

Excellent Editing Tips From Jonathan Van Patton.

09 Saturday May 2015

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

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Editing, Jonathan Van Patten, Legal Skills Prof Blog, Legal Writing, Louis J. Sirico Jr., Persuasive Writing, South Dakota Law Review, William P. Statsky

“On Editing,” by Louis J. Sirico, Jr., Legal Skills Prof Blog (with hat tip to William P. Statsky)

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_skills/2015/05/on-editing.html

Excellent article on editing! Editing is no easy task. You have to practice to do it well.

This article focuses on editing, but also on persuasive writing. Anyone interested in writing a winning brief, motion, or opening and closing argument will like this one. -CCE

An excellent treatise on editing and writing is Jonathan Van Patten’s article “On Editing,” 60 South Dakota Law Review 1 (2015). Employing an extremely clear writing style, he states and explains his propositions on good writing. I plan to distribute the article to the editors of my school’s law reviews.

You can access the article here.

Show, Don’t Tell, When You Use The Right Word.

03 Wednesday Sep 2014

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

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Jason Steed, Legal Solutions Blog, Legal Writing, Persuasive Writing

Legal Writing: Word Choice, by Jason Steed, Legal Solutions Blog

http://blog.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/practice-of-law/legal-writing-word-choice/

Every good lawyer knows that persuasion begins with framing the issue, and framing the issue begins with effective word choice. But many lawyers don’t realize, or occasionally forget, just how effective good word choice can be—or worse, they misunderstand what it means to make effective word choices. They think, for example, that labeling an act as “extremely egregious” will help the court to understand just how terrible the act was. But every good writer knows that good writing means showing, not telling—and adverbs and adjectives are all about telling.

In other words, adverbs and adjectives are not a sign of good persuasive writing. If you find yourself using adverbs or adjectives to get your point across, then you’re probably making bad word choices. Why? Because adverbs modify verbs, and adjectives modify nouns—and if your verbs and nouns need modifying, then they probably aren’t the best verbs and nouns you could be using.

So how effective can simple nouns and verbs be? . . . .

Best Brief Writing Checklist.

08 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bad Legal Writing, Brief Writing, Citations, Footnotes, Legal Analysis, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Legalese, Plain Language, Proofreading, Quotations, Readability, Spell Checking, Statement of Facts, Summary of the Argument

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Brief Writing, Citations, Hon. Patricia M. Wald, Legal Argument, Persuasive Writing, Proofreading

“Briefly Speaking,” Brief Writing – Best Practices, Washington State Court of Appeals, Division I, CLE

http://tinyurl.com/lsrzxjy

This is the essence of writing a persuasive and winning brief. Each section is important. Ignore the guidance here at your peril.

The icing on the cake is the advice from the Hon. Patricia M. Wald, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, taken from her article, “19 Tips from 19 Years on the Appellate Bench,” The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Winter 1999). She is right – this is your opportunity to tell your client’s story. Short and to the point is always more persuasive than long-winded recitations of fact and case law.

Make this your brief writing checklist. -CCE