A Short Guide To Writing About Law

Writing about law -- Reading cases -- Anatomy of legal scholarship -- Legal research for nonlawyers -- Writing effective paragraphs -- Using sources -- Peer workshops and revision -- Sharing your research.

In the third in a series of practice guides by experienced litigator Janet Kole, Covering topics that A Brief Guide to Brief Writing covers topics such as ethical principles, lower court/appellate court distinctions, and JDAs. The author's honest and direct guidelines will help shape the brief writing of both veteran and new attorneys.

This eminently practical volume demystifies legal writing, outlines the causes and consequences of bad writing, and prescribes straightforward, easy-to-apply remedies that will make your writing readable. Complete with usage notes that address lawyers' most common errors, this well-organized book is both an invaluable tool for practicing lawyers and a sensible grounding for law students. This much-revised second edition contains a set of editing exercises (and a suggested revision key with explanations) to test your skill. This book is a definitive guide to becoming a better writer—and a better lawyer.

It matters how you write. Lean, clear, crisp prose is no luxury for practitioners who face crowded court calendars, staggering mounds of paper, and overly long affidavits, memoranda, and briefs. Disorganized documents full of "legalese" burden courts and shortchange clients. This concise, lively, and eminently practical volume demystifies legal writing, outlines the causes and consequences of bad writing, and prescribes straightforward, easy-to-apply remedies that will make your writing readable. Everything that most lawyers will need to improve their writing quickly and markedly is here. Authoritative and unique among legal writing guides, the book draws on a nationwide survey conducted by the authors. In their responses, 300 lawyers, judges, professors, writing instructors, and legal journalists from all over the country provided insights into lawyers' writing habits. Throughout The Lawyer's Guide, authors Goldstein and Lieberman illustrate their points with instructive examples taken from these lawyers' daily practices. Complete with a glossary that addresses lawyers' most common errors, this easy-to-use book is an invaluable tool for practicing lawyers and a sensible grounding for law students. It is a definitive guide to becoming a better writer--and a better lawyer.

This concise paperback focuses on the nuances of legal writing style and provides novice legal writers with the skills they need to polish their writing. Guide to Legal Writing Style, Fourth Edition, intended as an ancillary to any basic legal writing text, expands what students learn in their first-year courses by providing additional techniques and style tips that will help make their writing more precise, readable and elegant. This highly regarded paperback, specifically directed at legal writers, offers crisp, pointed advice written in a personal and humorous style lucid organization that helps students find the information they need most, including practice with basic skills and helpful advice on organization, sentence structure, word choice, punctuation, and formatting an emphasis on legal ethics throughout, with most of the examples and exercises focusing on ethical issues a chapter on organization that compares and contrasts undergraduate terms and goals with those expected by a legal audience a guide that helps students guard against plagiarism short, end-of-chapter exercises, with the answers at the back of the book, that strengthen skills and provide opportunities for self-testing Special features in the Fourth Edition include: an updated interactive CD-ROM with multiple exercises to reinforce the materials in the book, which includes updated and expanded tests of basic skills and click-on answers and explanations a new chapter testing common errors in professional writing, with explanations as well as succinct answers new checklists that reinforce essential advice of each chapter