Inspiration for this article struck during a routine virtual hearing. As I was jotting notes on my legal pad, I glanced up and observed the judge’s eyes rapidly scanning from left to right, as my adversary made his argument. Counsel was rattling off the names of filings, dates and cases with limited relevance to the underlying issue—an open-book exam approach that has spawned from the presence of the computer screen while arguing from the home-office desk chair. Ostensibly, the judge was scouring the parties’ motions for the answer to the all-important question (or a form of it): what is the issue, and how do these lawyers contend I resolve it? I thought to myself, maybe a key to effective advocacy in this “new normal” is not so new at all: clear and cogent legal writing.

As Florida courts continue to embrace virtual hearings, it is imperative that lawyers—and especially litigators­—rethink advocacy in this new arena. Lawyers are confronting a variety of new skills to maximize the persuasion of the oral and visual components of their cases, including sifting through exhibits via screen share and, of course, muting. This technological adaptation is obligatory for practitioners who have had the ease and familiarity that accompanies years of experience in the courtroom abruptly stripped away due to a pandemic-induced shift to remote hearings. But because the majority of the focus has been on the virtual (and visual) aspect of court hearings, this article addresses another way to gain the competitive edge—revisiting the fundamentals on effective legal writing.

Using Compelling Prose to Guide and Persuade the Judge