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Miscellaneous

the (new) legal writer

A collection of resources for lawyers, who write. From Raymond Ward, an appellate lawyer with Adams and Reese LLP in New Orleans.

Post Frequency: 5.3/day

Last Entry: March 26, 2011 at 15:44:07

Odds and ends

Posted on January 07, 2009
Here are a few things I spotted yesterday that are worth a look: The origins of error, by John McIntyre. The errors John speaks of are ?rules? that don?t exist?things like split infinitives and ending sentences with prepositions (both okay,...

Banished words

Posted on December 31, 2008
It???s that time of year again. The good folks at Lake Superior State University have just released the 2009 list of banished words. If you like to play buzz-word bingo, then peruse the list and update your game cards. (Hat...

My New Year's resolutions

Posted on December 31, 2008
I???ve never made New Year???s resolutions before. Now is a good time to start, because there are some good books that I want to read???or finish reading. So for 2009, I resolve to do the following: Finish Thinking Like a...

Perspectives on legal research and writing

Posted on December 28, 2008
The Fall 2008 issue of Perspectives is now available. For those who don?t already know, Perspectives is a periodical for teachers of legal research and writing, published three times a year by West. The second-best thing about Perspectives (after its...

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Louisiana legal-writing seminar

Posted on December 23, 2008
For those who like to plan their CLE way ahead of time: the Louisiana State Bar Association is holding a legal-writing seminar in New Orleans on March 20, 2009. The seminar will be held at the Sheraton, 500 Canal Street....

Write like a human being

Posted on December 19, 2008
The January 2009 issue of the ABA Journal includes a column by Jim McElhaney on direct examination. The column includes this tidbit for legal writers:Legalese is a poisonous set of verbal habits that we unconsciously turn on or off, depending...

Write like a human being

Quotation of the day

Posted on December 15, 2008
?Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.??Francis BaconHat tip to the Free Dictionary.

Briefwriting tip of the day

Posted on December 12, 2008
Today?s briefwriting tip comes from Judge Posner, via Avitia v. Metropolitan Club of Chicago, Inc., 49 F.3d 1219, 1224 (7th Cir. 1995):As a reminder to future appellants, we point out that a statement of facts which, as the Club?s does,...

Overstatement

Posted on December 11, 2008
At Robust Writing, Jesse Hines has written an excellent post on Overstatements: An Enemy of Honest and Accurate Writing. I would add that overstatement is an enemy of persuasion, as it?s highly likely to set off the judge?s bullshit detector.

10 keyboard shortcuts you should know

Posted on December 09, 2008
If you work with a keyboard, then you should know Dan Pinnington?s 10 skills to make your typing faster and easier. I?ve been working with computers since 1982?virtually my entire adult life?and I learned three new things by readings Dan?s...

Our Christmas newsletter

Posted on December 07, 2008
I?ve uploaded our annual Christmas newsletter. If you?re interested in reading it, click here.

What not to write in an e-mail

Posted on December 05, 2008
Death by Email has a top 10 list of phrases to never write in an e-mail. The author, Roger Matus, advises, ?If you find yourself typing one of these phrases, perhaps you should delete the entire email.?Hat tip to the...

An idle thought

Posted on December 03, 2008
I figure there?s nothing like gross over-generalization to stir up some comment and debate. So here goes.There are two things that most litigators should know how to do: fight and persuade.Fighting is not the same as persuading. In fact, some...

Counting Each Shot: The FTD Version

Posted on December 02, 2008
Here is an article of mine, recently published in the November 2008 issue of For the Defense. The title is Counting Each Shot: Techniques for Emphasis and De-emphasis. The lesson is how to use the structure of a written piece...

The elephant in the room

Posted on November 29, 2008
Here is an excellent essay by Linda Morkan on confronting bad facts: No Room for Elephants. Linda compares bad facts or adverse law to ?the gray elephant in the corner buffing her nails,? which the lawyer pretends not to notice....

Issue statements in the real world

Posted on November 28, 2008
How do practicing lawyers write issue statements in appellate briefs? Professor Judith Fischer set out to answer that question by analyzing samples of 50 sets of briefs from each of six states. The results are in her new article, Got...

Miscellaneous links

Posted on November 27, 2008
Stop Sounding Like a Lawyer, in which Jim McElhaney offers lawyers tips to avoid their unnatural inclination to speak in legalese, and to instead tell a story in plain English. (Hat tip to Legal Writing Prof Blog.) The New Cicero,...

Rap duel translated into legal language

Posted on November 25, 2008
Courtesy of Feddie, here is a rap duel translated into Legal English.

CLE opportunities

Posted on November 19, 2008
If you?re a procrastinator still in need of some 2008 CLE hours, then consider signing up for Persuasive Legal Writing, a two-hour webcast seminar scheduled for December 10, 2008 from noon to 2 p.m. EST. The speaker is Prof. Timothy...

How to draft a judgment

Posted on November 13, 2008
In Louisiana, the winner at a hearing or trial usually gets to draft the judgment. But most lawyers have little to no training in that task. Filling that void is Gail Stephenson?s new article in the Louisiana Bar Journal, Drafting...

Eight tricks you can do with Word

Posted on November 10, 2008
PC Magazine carries this article, Eight Handy Tools in Microsoft Word You Probably Don?t Know About. If you find just one you can actually use, the article will be worth you while.

The purpose of legal writing

Posted on November 09, 2008
Visit Law is Cool to see Calvin explain to Hobbes the purpose of legal writing.

Why Johnny can?t write

Posted on November 02, 2008
Many have opined that the writing skills of law-school graduates are deteriorating. Why is that? Here are three theoretical answers: No one learns how to do old-school legal research anymore?the kind of research that begins in treatises, legal encyclopedias, and...

Quotation of the day

Posted on November 01, 2008
Spotted on Mark Terry?s blog, This Writing Life:A burro is an ass. A burrow is a hole in the ground. As a journalist you are expected to know the difference.? United Press International Stylebook, cited by Bill Walsh in The...

For ?Bridging the Gap? participants

Posted on October 21, 2008
This afternoon, I gave a one-hour presentation on Louisiana appellate practice at the Louisiana State Bar Association?s ?Bridging the Gap? seminar for newly sworn-in lawyers. For them and other interested persons, here are some things from that presentation, plus a...

Use plain English, appear smarter (and more persuasive)

Posted on October 20, 2008
I just finished reading Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive (hat tip to the [non]billable hour). One of the 50 ways confirms something Bryan Garner says in The Winning Brief (p. 177, 2d ed.): people who use plain...

The Chief channels Mickey Spillane

Posted on October 16, 2008
Pennsylvania v. Dunlap. The Supremes deny cert. The Chief dissents:North Philly, May 4, 2001. Officer Sean Devlin, Narcotics Strike Force, was working the morning shift. Undercover surveillance. The neighborhood? Tough as a three-dollar steak. Devlin knew...

A checklist for drafting good contracts

Posted on October 11, 2008
If your work involves drafting contracts, then you should read A Checklist for Drafting Good Contracts, by M.H. Sam Jacobson. Why a checklist? Jacobson explains:For all drafters, a checklist can ensure that the contract will contain the necessary substantive provisions...

Sex language

Posted on October 07, 2008
Patricia O?Conner has written an interesting post on the Grammarphobia Blog debunking myths about the history of English words used to refer to the sexes. For instance: The use of masculine pronouns (he, him, his) to refer to both sexes...

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