Last month I reported on a study of federal judges’ use of literary references in judicial opinions. This month I report on my own survey of lawyers’ use of literary references in appellate briefs—with a focus on briefs filed in
Literary References: Use by Judges
This post reports on research into the use of literary references and allusions by judges in judicial opinions. The research was done by Professor Kristin B. Gerdy Kyle and reported in her article, Big Brother, Othello, and Dogs that Don’t
Using Intensifiers: Is It “Literally” a Crime?
Creating Shorthand References (hereinafter “CSR”)
Advice for creating shorthand references
My books: Legal Writing Nerd and Plain Legal Writing
In legal documents, we sometimes need to create shorthand references for recurring names. For example, its not unusual for a legal document to begin like this:
Clearly, you should really avoid adverbs
Sentence length
Managing averages and maximums
My books: Legal Writing Nerd and Plain Legal Writing
Legal writing has a bad reputation for long sentences. Why?
Maybe reading cases in law school starts us off poorly. After all, the cases in casebooks weren’t
Research on Persuasive Legal Writing
Three recent projects
My books: Legal Writing Nerd and Plain Legal Writing
When I first learned about persuasive legal writing, the advice was simple: avoid lying, follow the rules, reduce errors. Today, we have science, and many authors are publishing
Emphasis at the End
Using placement and subordination to create emphasis.
My books: Legal Writing Nerd and Plain Legal Writing
A criminal trial has ended and you’re at the penalty phase. If you’re Terry Chima’s defense lawyer, which would you rather hear the judge
To Serif or Not to Serif
A Flowing Statement of Facts
Using topic sentences and headings
My books: Legal Writing Nerd and Plain Legal Writing
Many lawyers write memos, trial and appellate briefs, or briefs in administrative matters, and those documents contain a section called the Statement of Facts. Naturally, a