seven ways to improve your legal writing skills

8/9/2019 Seven Ways to Improve Your Legal Writing Skills

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Seven Ways To Improve

Your Legal Writing Skills


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Every word you write should be tailored tothe needs of the reader. Documents thatembody the same research and messagemay vary greatly in content and tone basedon the documents intended audience. Forexample, a brief submitted to the courtmust advocate and persuade. A

memorandum to a client must analyze theissues, report the state of the law andrecommend an appropriate course of action.Always eep your audience in mind when

crafting any piece of writing.

1 . Remember Your Audience


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)egalese * specialized legal phrases and $argon *can mae your writing abstract, stilted andarchaic. Examples of legaleseinclude words suchas aforementioned, herewith, heretofore and

wherein. Ditch unnecessary legalese and other$argon in favor of the clear and simple. +o avoidlegalese and promote clarity, try reading yoursentence to a colleague or substituting abstract

words with simple, concrete terms. For example,instead of am in receipt of yourcorrespondence,' received your letter' isclearer and more succinct.

" . #itc$ T$e Legalese
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Every word you write should contribute to yourmessage. !mit extraneous words, shortencomplex sentences, eliminate redundancies andeep it simple.

"onsider the following sentence &Due to the fact that the defendant has not attempted to pay

bac the money owed to our client in the amount of -,/// ithas become absolutely essential that we tae appropriatelegal action in order to obtain payment of the aforesaid

amount.' A more concise version reads &0ince the defendant has not

paid the -,/// owed our client, we will 1le a lawsuit seeingreimbursement.' +he latter sentence conveys the sameinformation in 23 words versus 44. !mitting unnecessarywords helps clarify the meaning of the sentence and adds

impact.

% . &e 'oncise
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Action words mae your legal prose more powerful,dynamic and vivid. Add punch to your writing withverbs that bring your prose to life. 5ere are a fewexamples

Weak(+he defendant was not truthful. &etter(+hedefendant lied.

Weak(+he witness 6uicly came into thecourtroom. &etter(+he witness bolted into thecourtroom.

Weak(+he $udge was very angry. &etter(+he$udge was enraged.

) . *se Action Words


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7assive voice disguises responsibility foran act by eliminating the sub$ect of theverb. Active voice, on the other hand, tells

the reader who is doing the acting andclari1es your message. For example,instead of &the 1ling deadline wasmissed,' say &plainti8s counsel missed

the 1ling deadline.' #nstead of &a crimewas committed,' say &the defendantcommitted the crime.

+ . Avoid ,assive -oice


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Edit your writing ruthlessly, omittingunnecessary words and rewriting forclarity. "areful proofreading is particularly

important in legal writing. 0pelling,punctuation or grammatical errors in adocument submitted to the court,opposing counsel or a client can

undermine your credibility as a legalprofessional.

. /dit Rut$lessly
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