Tag: Legal writing

There is perhaps no course in law school that is more important than Legal Writing. The reason is that legal writing is the central medium with which a lawyer communicates his or her work. The most brilliant legal mind will have a difficult time in the legal profession, if their writing skills are not on par with their ability to effectively read, research, analyze, and reason about the law and the facts of the case.

Effectively communicating one’s work is key at every stage of a lawyer’s career. As a student-at-law, it will be a daily task to report to a supervising lawyer on the research conducted that day, or to prepare the first draft of a Small Claims Court claim, or to present a summary of a file, or to write a blog for the firm’s website about a recent case. The successful performance of all of these tasks will depend on the legal writing skills of the student. If you can effectively communicate in written form, your reader will fully comprehend your analysis without having to retrace all of the steps you needed to take to get to your conclusion. You will save your supervisor time and effort, and you will establish yourself as a professional who is ready to excel as a lawyer.

At a later stage of the career, it will often be the client or the court composing the audience of the lawyer’s writing. The reports to clients, the drafts of contracts, and the pleadings submitted to court are a lawyer’s portfolio. To a large degree, they form the basis on which the lawyer’s ability will be assessed and judged. A lawyer’s reputation stands and falls to quite an extent with what they produce in writing. A pleading that wins over the court or a report to a client that presents the solution to their problem clearly and succeeds in guiding their action is the goal every lawyer works toward.

How can it be done?

The most important maxim for legal writing is this: begin with your main point. Legal writing is not about building suspense. Usually, someone comes to a lawyer for an answer, and they would like it straight away. They do not care to puzzle out the answer from a disorganized pile of information. Be clear, comprehensive, and concise in offering complete and correct information. Leave out irrelevant remarks that merely divert the focus of what is important. Keep your audience in mind when determining how much detail is required to make yourself understood. It can be helpful to remind yourself that you are attempting to advise, or persuade, as the case may be, and not to write a work of literature or poetry.

Secondly, take the time to edit what you have written, ideally more than once. Every mistake in spelling or grammar will make your reader stumble for a moment, pause, and perhaps reread the sentence. Such an interruption takes away the focus from the argument you were trying to make and it will inevitably leave the impression of a lack of care and, if repeated too often, of competence as well.

If flawless grammar and spelling are not what law school teachers commonly praise your work for, there is still hope. In the 21^st century, the technology exists to mitigate such deficiencies. Much of such software is free and user-friendly. Nevertheless, it may be good advice to attempt becoming comfortable with the vocabulary, style, structure, and tone of voice lawyers use daily. The obvious way to hone this skill is to read court decisions, legal journals, and other relevant and quality materials.

Of course, polished legal writing skills do not come overnight. Seize every opportunity to practice. If you get the opportunity to work under the supervision of an experienced lawyer and draft legal documents for him or her, make sure to read the final, edited product, so you can see what changes were necessary and what you can improve. If you are still in law school, do take a course on legal writing. It will without a doubt have a notable effect on your performance in every other class and on your proficiency as a legal practitioner.

“This article is intended to inform. Its content does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon by readers as such. If you require legal assistance, please see a lawyer. Each case is unique and a lawyer with good training and sound judgment can provide you with advice tailored to your specific situation and needs.”