![]() ![]() Without finely developed style and structure skills, it’s all too easy to produce a muddled mess of disjointed thoughts and citations.”Ĭlarity requires confidence. “The truth is, when you write about the law, crisp, clear uncluttered prose doesn’t exactly come naturally. While the junior associate doing the writing “often tries to use the memo to display intelligence, exhaustiveness and creativity,” the senior partner reading it “just wants to give advice to a client.” ![]() Legal writing expert Ross Guberman (who has written some best-selling books on the subject), explains that memo-writers need to first consider their reader. He makes the case for axing “herein” and “pursuant to” and some other legalese weeds that creep into our memos. Want to know where to start? Check out this delightful blacklist by writing expert Bryan Garner. Though people think legalese is somehow more ‘precise,’ it’s almost always more ambiguous. You’ll only make them grind their teeth.Īnd that’s not just because the words are ugly. You won’t impress them with your legal formulae of heretofores and aforesaids. Re-reading from that distance, you’ll catch more mistakes and ambiguities, and wind up with a sharper final draft.ĭon’t make your colleagues hate you. Then, if it’s possible, have a night’s sleep before you come back to it. Give yourself a good chunk of work for the initial research and writing. My tip with time: schedule separate times for your drafts. You need to find and fully understand policies and case law, and then you need to say it clearly - and with good citations. ![]() But in general: good legal writing can’t be rushed. ![]() When that happens we hustle through as best we can. Of course, we’ve all had the nightmare scenario of an attorney demanding a full memo an hour from now. Every paragraph on the page represents two more that I erased. Every sentence requires a hard slog through the research. I’ve reached the point where I can push my ideas out pretty quickly.īut legal writing is a different beast. Blogs, essays, speeches, journal entries. Make sure you don’t screw it up by following these five tips on how to write a memo, and feel free to use the template provided. An internal memo is the perfect platform to display your ability (or inability) to research, reason, and communicate.įor seasoned attorneys, memos demonstrate your expertise to the young pups, and allow you to share your wisdom with your whole crew.Įither way: a lot is on the line in that one document. Follow along as we go through five tips on how to write a memo for law offices.įor new attorneys, memos are tryouts. Not for political reasons, but because we know there’s nothing better than a clear, concise, and well-researched memo. (insert joke about weapons loaded with bullet-points here). We’re told there’s a full-fledged memo war afoot in D.C. In American appellate decisions generally, Garner is at the top end of sources relied on.You can’t turn on the news this week without hearing some kind of panic over memos. This term the count is on a similar pace. It's true: last term, four of his books were cited a total of 14 times (in the somewhat fewer than 90 cases decided). The author, Bryan Garner, is now the most frequently cited author in opinions of the U.S. The two exhaustive indexes (word and subject), plus the detailed table of contents, make it easy to find authoritative guidance within seconds, whatever the question might be. The brand-new fourth edition has lots of new material, including an especially helpful new chapter on handling quotations. The book is a one-of-a-kind resource - the legal writer's equivalent of The AP Stylebook or The Chicago Manual of Style. The book isn't just one talented man's effort: Garner has two experienced coauthors plus a hands-on team of 54 editorial advisers, most of whom have long and valuable experience teaching LRW. Since first appearing in 2002, Bryan Garner's The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style has established itself as the go-to source for all questions of legal style (apart from citation form). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |