First, read this short story by David Foster Wallace. It won’t take you longer than 15 minutes. It’s that short. I challenge you to read this and not get completely absorbed.
Then read more below about the “fictional dream” and how to create superb legal writing by making the dream come alive in three steps: (1) Learn to recognize the fictional dream; (2) eliminate distractions; and (3) use telling details.
Ultimately, the fictional dream is the most important part of legal writing because it means persuading your reader to agree with you, rather than with opposing counsel.
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As a law clerk I read dozens of motions, briefs, and legal memoranda on a daily basis and constantly see the same errors. I don’t mean errors in reasoning or using passive voice. I’m talking about things that lawyers do regularly which make their writing less persuasive, and thus less effective. Marie Buckley tackled some of these same issues in her great guide to legal writing. But are you making these same mistakes?
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As writers themselves, Lawyerist’s contributors have a lot of thoughts about writing—legal and otherwise. Maybe one day we’ll polish it all up into a book, but for now, you can check out all our posts about legal writing and writing in general in the archives.
Here are some highlights to get you started:
Divorce is the topic in Lorrie Moore’s short story “Paper Losses,” and in this story the protagonist, Kit (“Katherine” in the petition) struggles with the fact that her husband has, figuratively, turned into a space alien.
In this story, you get Kit’s perspective—including her take on the words “irretrievably broken.” She asks herself, “What second-rate poet had gotten hold of the divorce laws?”
Here’s how not to be a second-rate poet when you write.
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Lawyers are egregious when it comes to mixing up which and that—probably because the former sounds more lawyer-y. But most could use a good refresher on whether and if, too. And nor and farther v. further and … well, just read this. (Hat tip to Lifehacker.)
We’ve examined the five essential steps to achieving flow; we’ve put those five steps into action; now, in Part 3 on flow and the art of lawyering, we’ll conclude with the one thing that ties everything else together.
It’s what will keep you going when you hit inevitable obstacles.
It’s something—a mindset, really—that will insulate you from so-called “failure” for the rest of your days.
It is that there is no such thing as failure.
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by Guest on January 31, 2012
Guest post by Danielle Rodabaugh.
Being well-informed of your profession and wanting to share that knowledge with others is admirable. However, with the virtually limitless amount of information available online today, you can’t expect significant feedback just because you published any old law article on your blog or website. Whether you’re trying to build a strong readership for your blog or attract potential clients with a company website, you need to turn boring law topics into engaging, relevant reads.
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Buying a font may be better left to professionals. That’s because font licenses are a minefield, and buying a font is a bit like buying a DIY computer thirty years ago.
I’m a huge fan of Matthew Butterick’s Typography for Lawyers, which has helped me make big improvements to my personal and professional documents and websites. Butterick also has me convinced I ought to be using better fonts than those that came with my copy of Microsoft Word. But whenever I’ve tried, I wind up deciding that Georgia is good enough.
That’s because fonts, as it turns out, are a great example of how to take something simple and straightforward and make it a royal pain to buy and use.
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Strong legal writing is possibly the best trait you can bring to any job. Whether you do transactional work or you’re in court every day, you still need to write. It is a skill that eludes many. Strong writing can win cases and move mountains. But like an expert orator or skilled artist, lawyers must practice and refine their craft. A new book, The Lawyer’s Essential Guide to Writing, by Marie Buckley, offers many helpful tools and techniques for improving your legal writing. But is it worth the price tag?
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