Legal Writing in Plain English, Third Edition

Legal Writing in Plain English, Third Edition
Author: Bryan A. Garner
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2023-09-06
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0226816559

The leading guide to clear writing!--StartFragment --—and clear thinking!--StartFragment --—in the legal profession for more than two decades, now newly updated. Admirably clear, concise, down-to-earth, and powerful—all too often, legal writing embodies none of these qualities. Its reputation for obscurity and needless legalese is widespread. Since 2001, Bryan A. Garner’s Legal Writing in Plain English has helped address this problem by providing lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and legal scholars with sound advice and practical tools for improving their written work. Now the leading guide to clear writing in the field, this indispensable volume encourages legal writers to challenge conventions and offers valuable insights into the writing process: how to organize ideas, create and refine prose, and improve editing skills. Accessible and witty, Legal Writing in Plain English draws on real-life writing samples that Garner has gathered through decades of teaching experience. Trenchant advice covers all types of legal materials, from analytical and persuasive writing to legal drafting, and the book’s principles are reinforced by sets of basic, intermediate, and advanced exercises in each section. For this third edition, Garner has retained the structure of the previous versions, with updates and new material throughout. There are new sections on making your writing vivid and concrete and on using graphics to enhance your argument. The coverage and examples of key topics such as achieving parallelism, avoiding legalese, writing effective openers and summaries, and weaving quotations into your text have also been expanded. And the sample legal documents and exercises have been updated, while newly added checklists provide quick summaries of each section. Altogether, this new edition will be the most useful yet for legal professionals and students seeking to improve their prose.

Legal Writing in Plain English

Legal Writing in Plain English
Author: Bryan A. Garner
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2013-08-26
Genre: Law
ISBN: 022603139X

“This easy-to-follow guide is useful both as a general course of instruction and as a targeted aid in solving particular legal writing problems.” —Harvard Law Review Clear, concise, down-to-earth, and powerful—all too often, legal writing embodies none of these qualities. Its reputation for obscurity and needless legalese is widespread. For more than twenty years, Bryan A. Garner’s Legal Writing in Plain English has helped address this problem by providing lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and legal scholars with sound advice and practical tools for improving their written work. The leading guide to clear writing in the field, this indispensable volume encourages legal writers to challenge conventions and offers valuable insights into the writing process that will appeal to other professionals: how to organize ideas, create and refine prose, and improve editing skills. Accessible and witty, Legal Writing in Plain English draws on real-life writing samples that Garner has gathered through decades of teaching. Trenchant advice covers all types of legal materials, from analytical and persuasive writing to legal drafting, and the book’s principles are reinforced by sets of basic, intermediate, and advanced exercises in each section. In this new edition, Garner preserves the successful structure of the original while adjusting the content to make it even more classroom-friendly. He includes case examples from the past decade and addresses the widespread use of legal documents in electronic formats. His book remains the standard guide for producing the jargon-free language that clients demand and courts reward. “Those who are willing to approach the book systematically and to complete the exercises will see dramatic improvements in their writing.” —Law Library Journal

Language on Trial

Language on Trial
Author: Plain English Campaign
Publisher: Robson Books Limited
Total Pages: 108
Release: 1996
Genre: Law
ISBN:

This book looks at the forces that have made traditional legal language what it is today and suggests some reasoms why the law needs plain English. It also shows why most of its peculiarities are unnecessary.

Introduction to Legal English

Introduction to Legal English
Author: Mark E. Wojcik
Publisher:
Total Pages: 460
Release: 2001
Genre: English language
ISBN:

Employing a hands-on, structured approach, the author leads the reader through carefully crafted exercises that allow readers to understand and make practical use of AngloAmerican legal terminology. The layered sequence of topics and exercises leads from the simplest use of legal terminology in conversation to mastery of advanced legal terminology and increasingly complex writing.

The Winning Brief: 100 Tips for Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Courts

The Winning Brief: 100 Tips for Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Courts
Author: Bryan A. Garner
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 534
Release: 2004-02-13
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0199826625

Good legal writing wins court cases. It its first edition, The Winning Brief proved that the key to writing well is understanding the judicial readership. Now, in a revised and updated version of this modern classic, Bryan A. Garner explains the art of effective writing in 100 concise, practical, and easy-to-use sections. Covering everything from the rules for planning and organizing a brief to openers that can capture a judge's attention from the first few words, these tips add up to the most compelling, orderly, and visually appealing brief that an advocate can present. In Garner's view, good writing is good thinking put to paper. "Never write a sentence that you couldn't easily speak," he warns-and demonstrates how to do just that. Beginning each tip with a set of quotable quotes from experts, he then gives masterly advice on building sound paragraphs, drafting crisp sentences, choosing the best words ("Strike pursuant to from your vocabulary."), quoting authority, citing sources, and designing a document that looks as impressive as it reads. Throughout, he shows how to edit for maximal impact, using vivid before-and-after examples that apply the basics of rhetoric to persuasive writing. Filled with examples of good and bad writing from actual briefs filed in courts of all types, The Winning Brief also covers the new appellate rules for preparing federal briefs. Constantly collecting material from his seminars and polling judges for their preferences, the second edition delivers the same solid guidelines with even more supporting evidence. Including for the first time sections on the ever-changing rules of acceptable legal writing, Garner's new edition keeps even the most seasoned lawyers on their toes and writing briefs that win cases. An invaluable resource for attorneys, law clerks, judges, paralegals, law students and their teachers, The Winning Brief has the qualities that make all of Garner's books so popular: authority, accessibility, and page after page of techniques that work. If you're writing to win a case, this book shouldn't merely be on your shelf--it should be open on your desk.

Writing to Win

Writing to Win
Author: Steven D. Stark
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2012-04-24
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0307888746

From a master teacher and writer, a fully revised and updated edition of the results-oriented approach to legal writing that is clear, that persuades—and that WINS. More than almost any profession, the law has a deserved reputation for opaque, jargon-clogged writing. Yet forceful writing is one of the most potent weapons of legal advocacy. In this new edition of Writing to Win, Steven D. Stark, a former lecturer on law at Harvard Law School, who has inspired thousands of aspiring and practicing lawyers, applies the universal principles of powerful, vigorous prose to the job of making a legal case—and winning it. Writing to Win focuses on the writing of lawyers, not judges, and includes dozens of examples of effective (and ineffective) real-life legal writing—as well as compelling models drawn from advertising, journalism, and fiction. It deals with the challenges lawyers face in writing, from organization to strengthening and editing prose; offers incisive ways of improving arguments; addresses litigation and technical writing in all its forms; and covers the writing attorneys must perform in their daily practice, from email memos to briefs and contracts. Each chapter opens with a succinct set of rules for easy reference. With new sections on client communication and drafting affidavits, as well as updated material throughout, Writing to Win is the most practical and efficacious legal-writing manual available.

Legal Writing Style

Legal Writing Style
Author: Henry Weihofen
Publisher: West Academic Publishing
Total Pages: 348
Release: 1980
Genre: Law
ISBN:

Topics in this law school text include a section on writing law school and bar examinations, amplified material on sentence structure and organization, and drafting principles. The book is equally suited for use in courses that concentrate on brief-writing, emphasize formal legal documents, or concentrate on the writing of memoranda or papers similar to law review comments. Also includes chapters on forcefulness, arranging words for emphasis, Opinions, and The Jurisdictional statement.

Garner on Language and Writing

Garner on Language and Writing
Author: Bryan A. Garner
Publisher: American Bar Association
Total Pages: 884
Release: 2009
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9781604424454

Since the 1987 appearance of A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage, Bryan A. Garner has proved to be a versatile and prolific writer on legal-linguistic subjects. This collection of his essays shows both profound scholarship and sharp wit. The essays cover subjects as wide-ranging as learning to write, style, persuasion, contractual and legislative drafting, grammar, lexicography, writing in law school, writing in law practice, judicial writing, and all the literature relating to these diverse subjects.

The Elements of Legal Style

The Elements of Legal Style
Author: Bryan A. Garner
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2002
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780195141627

Focusing on the argumentative, narrative, and descriptive style found in legal briefs and judicial opinions, this text should be a thought provoking examination of effective argumentation in law.

The Lawyer's Guide to Writing Well

The Lawyer's Guide to Writing Well
Author: Tom Goldstein
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2016-01-08
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0520288432

This best-selling book outlines the causes and consequences of bad legal writing and prescribes straightforward, easy-to-apply remedies that will make your writing readable. Usage notes address lawyers' most common errors, and editing exercises allow readers to test their skills, making this an invaluable tool for practicing lawyers as well as a sensible grounding for law students. New sections in this edition: - Getting to the point - Communicating digitally - Writing persuasively - Twenty-five common mistakes"--Provided by publisher.