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Plain English for Lawyers: 'Exactly What You Are Supposed to Do'

By Bruce Carton

A flurry of posts in the blogosphere last week provided a great reminder for young lawyers about legal writing: Just say it. In Plain English. The recent posts on this subject were sparked by author and innovator Seth Godin, who wrote here that "the problem with just about every lame speech, every overlooked memo, every worthless bit of boilerplate foisted on the world" is that people love to write, talk and bullet without really saying anything. Take the following example, he says: The firm will remain competitive in the constantly changing market for defense legal services by creating and implementing innovative and effective methods of providing cost-effective, quality representation and services for our clients Work harder to think of something important to say, Godin argues. Otherwise, he says, it is better to "write nothing" at all. Following up on this, Peter Friedman, associate professor of legal analysis and writing at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, writes on the Geniocity blog about one of the first briefs he ever wrote as a young associate, and the partner's response to him. The partner asked Friedman to put the brief aside and tell the partner in plain English why their client...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on June 14, 2010 (boomark / email).