The legal world takes excellent writers and makes them judges, thereby condemning them to read a lot of bad writing. But it doesn’t have to be that way. By following three simple tips—plan more, write less and edit more—lawyers can perform a valuable public service by drafting briefs and motions that judges actually may enjoy reading.
Tip No. 1: Plan more. Judges, law clerks and staff attorneys spend countless hours flipping back and forth in parties’ briefs trying to separate the wheat of a coherent argument from the chaff of bad writing. Too often, writers take a shotgun approach that is more stream of consciousness than streamlined. Many times, the problem is just a lack of planning before drafting.
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