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Legal Writing

Building Rapport

advocating plain language, clear design, sensitivity to audience concerns, and civility

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Last Entry: April 04, 2010 at 16:26:00

Props for Plain Language

Posted on August 13, 2008
If you find it difficult to write in plain language because of long-established habits, try writing with one of these pens from IWOOT. Dare you to write jargon with one of these!

A new logo for information literacy

Posted on August 11, 2008
A new, international, logo has been developed to represent information literacy.The sponsor, Information Literacy Section of IFLA, for UNESCO, says:The aim of creating this Logo is to make communication easier between those who carry out information literacy projects, their communities, and society in general...

Creativity is a need

Posted on August 09, 2008
I have been meaning to write about creativity. I have also bewen meaning to do a regular week-end post about creativity.... Any person engaged in a profession that draws heavily on left-brain activity, will come to appreciate the need for some counter-balancing right-brain activity...

Strange days in Canada

Posted on August 04, 2008
Today is a holiday of some sort across most of Canada.Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan Day) Ontario (Simcoe Day + others) British Columbia (British Columbia Day) Alberta (Heritage Day) New Brunswick (New Brunswick Day) Manitoba (Civic Holiday) Nunavut (Civic Holiday) Nova Scotia (Natal Day) Northwest Territories (Civic Holiday) Prince Edward Island (Natal Day)At my house it is this kind of holiday: Boys will be boys on planes, trains, and automobiles

Public speaking and me and you and Lisa

Posted on August 04, 2008
I found out about Lisa Braithwaite's Speak Schmeak blog and this post: What if your worst public speaking fear comes true? through Business Communication Headline News.Preparing to share some of it with you, I discovered I have not addressed public speaking on this blog...

Postcard from the ledge

Posted on July 28, 2008
Dropping in on Wayne Schiess of Legalwriting.netthen I'm off to see Allision C. Shields of the Legal Ease blog Having lots of fun on my blog tour. Wish you were here--oh, you are!

Oral culture: people doing

Posted on July 28, 2008
Think on it: In the absence of elaborate analytic categories that depend on writing to structure knowledge at a distance from lived experience, oral cultures must conceptualize and verbalize all their knowledge with more or less close reference to the human lifeworld, assimilating the alien, objective world to the more immediate, familiar interaction of human beings...

Raymond Ward Gets It

Posted on July 27, 2008
Today I am visiting Raymond Ward's the (new) legal writer. Check out both Ray's legal writng blog and Minor Wisdom where he explores modern culture and the blues.

Keeping the faith

Posted on July 26, 2008
At some point in her life, every woman --as a member of the Sisterhood-- (even a presidential candidate) must host a Tupperware party.On Saturday, July 26, 2008, every member of the Glitter Power Sisterhood must post a photo of her glitter toes. These are mine.

We'll always have Paris

Posted on July 24, 2008
My current stop is with Terry Kaufman of Your English Success. Terry's approach to improving communication in the English language is exemplified in this graphic from his website:Thanks for the visit, Terry. I am honored to be a member of your advisory board.

A few stops along the way

Posted on July 23, 2008
Golly! I am having some kinda fun on my blog tour. Here are some blog stops I've made today:The regularly scheduled stop, at Lawsagna where Anastasia Pryanikova explores the world.And a couple other stops:Writers Editing Workshop Library Boy

Stop 3 on my tour--Steve Matthews

Posted on July 22, 2008
Steve has posted the interview with me. His interest is very much appreciated. Steve writes the Vancouver Law Librarian blog.An addenda to the interview, my book is also available in paperback.Cheryl

Plain Language Wizard on blog tour

Posted on July 21, 2008
Here is the Plain Language Wizard, all set for her blog tour.Well, this is it. Today is the start of my blog tour with an interview by Jennifer N. Sawday. I'm honored to be invited to such terrific blogs, like Anastasia Pryanikova's Lawsagna, and Terry Kaufman's Your English Success...

Day 2 of my blog tour

Posted on July 21, 2008
My world-wide blog tour continues:Helping Clients Who Have Language Challenges (Personal Injury and Social Security)Robert A. Kraft bloghttp://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/367487/31371718

Calls to action

Posted on July 15, 2008
One of the features of a letter is (or should be) the "call to action" at the end. This is one of the things that I discuss in my newly-released book that focuses on legal correspondence.Today Allison C. Shields at Legal Ease Blog explores the role and offers examples of these calls in different types of writing.

Enter my contest

Posted on July 14, 2008
Want to try plain language on impenetrable law? Now?s your chance. Tackle a section of U.S. Copyright law that ordinary people hate to ponder.Enter the Plain Language Legal Writing Contest, and rewrite the Fair Use section of the U.S. Copyright law. To see the law and get contest info, go to http://plainlanguagelegalwriting...

Finding the right voice

Posted on July 14, 2008
On occasion, I hire a ghostwriter to produce a first draft that I can "personalize". Last week, Ace Ghostwriter raised with me the issue of "voice". A new client (that I referred) was concerned whether Ace could write in "newclient voice". Ace told me she had not realized she had been "channelling" my voice, but now was certain she could channel another...

Keep it short and simple, silly

Posted on July 13, 2008
Decision by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Leighton:"Plaintiff has a great deal to say,But it seems he skipped Rule 8(a). His complaint is too long, Which renders it wrong,Please rewrite and refile today."...Lawyer?s complaint is too longFrom CNN?s Bill MearsWASHINGTON (CNN) ? Keep it short, keep it simple...

Have you been puzzled by the garbled

Posted on July 10, 2008
Have you been puzzled by the garbled words that appear in some conversations on the Internet--especially on photo captions? Me, too. Well, today I came across an explanation.Since you must be into the use of language--your are reading this blog--learn about the relatively new language LEET, or l33t...

The Whodunit Rule?

Posted on July 09, 2008
Dr Rosemary Camilleri of Writing at Work offers up a new name for the sentence based on Sentence-Verb-Object order: The Whodunit Rule. I like it.Dr. Camilleri also reports on new research to support the value in this sentence structure.

5 benefits of adopting plain language

Posted on July 02, 2008
David Siecker calims to be America's best communicator... Well, he does a fine job of explaining the good in plain language:5 Benefits of adopting plain language: * Reduce the amount of time it takes for individuals or organizations to comply with your instructions...

Foresight--the gift of composure

Posted on June 27, 2008
Yesterday I was in a professional office waiting room. A woman came in and exchanged a few words with the receptionist, then she said, "I didn't know what to expect". That hit me in the gut. Most of us would never say it aloud, at least not those with insecurities, anxieties, or parents with alcoholism...

Different strokes for different folks

Posted on June 20, 2008
A single post by Megan Casey offers several examples of adapting the delivery of a single message for readers with different needs or information processing styles.

National Aboriginal Day in Canada

Posted on June 20, 2008
June 21 is National Aboriginal Day because of the cultural significance of the summer solstice. The first day of summer and longest day of the year, is celebrated as the rebirth of Mother Earth. The many Aboriginal communities mark this day as a time to celebrate their heritage...

Define corporate-speak

Posted on June 14, 2008
"corporate-speak" -- language that is bland, undifferentiated, hard to read with meaning obscured by jargon, waffle, hype, verbiage, legalese and conventionality.adapted from "Writing as branding" by Matthew Stibbe of Articulate Marketing on BadLanguage http://www...

Wrestling with Rudeness: Advice for Addressing Incivility

Posted on June 14, 2008
Just want to share this press release about a new book on civility:Rude behavior can make you want to scream, but confronting a rude person can make you squirm. Given the choice between standing up to a bully and seething in silence, many people pick the latter, at a loss for how to deal with a rude person without intensifying an emotionally charged situation...

"Transparency" is murky

Posted on June 13, 2008
"Transparency" is one of the vogue words in government that I hate, along with "embed" and "empower". Not to mention "environmental scan".Yesterday the word came up on a listserve and was explained as "It has to do with making processes clear -- how decisions get made, for example, or how money gets spent...

One headline at a time

Posted on June 12, 2008
While I was travelling on business last month, I had little time for the news. So I scanned a lot of headlines, and decided to suggest that the headline writers are making things abstruse. How our endorsees fared TuesdayPlainer:How our picks did Tuesday.

And an "L" for "listless"

Posted on May 25, 2008
The Word of the Day at Dictionary.Com is "listless":Having no desire or inclination; indifferent; heedless; spiritless.Reading the definition this Sunday morning, I saw this interpretation: without a list.I had been traveling and working so much in the past 2 months that I could not keep up with my posting here and, as time went by, I felt even more listless about posting...

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