Associate's Mind

  Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, famed British Prime Minister during World War II, was not only a noted statesman, but also a gifted student of oration and history. Churchill wrote numerous pieces on history, the English language, and how to develop the skills necessary to develop a mastery of rhetoric. So gifted was Churchill that he [...]

In probably the most significant case thus far this century, “Obamacare” goes before SCOTUS in the form of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida. Oral arguments are set to begin soon, but what about the briefs? Solicitor General Don Verrilli recently told a group of lawyers that his opponent, Paul Clement, had written a “phenomenal [...]

While researching something completely unrelated, I came upon a brief article by Justice Maria Rivera (First District Court of Appeal, Div. 4, CA) regarding writing briefs for appeals entitled: The Ten Commandments of Brief Writing. Before delving into the “Ten Commandments”, Justice Rivera leads off with the following quote from Mortimer Levitan from the article, [...]

  “Inside baseball” refers to using jargon, specialized knowledge, acronyms, first names instead of full names, or other such things when speaking and writing. Using shorthand of this sort is simply more efficient when among friends, colleagues, or other “insiders.” But there’s a larger reason for inside references: They subtly increase the bond between the [...]

  A reader recently asked: You mentioned in your review of Point Made that there are a number of legal writing blogs you follow: what legal writing blogs do you follow? I thought I’d put it up for everyone to see. Note, I follow a number of writing blogs that are about writing well generally, [...]

  Scott Greenfield has a post today entitled Eyeballs Without Purpose. An excerpt: I had a nice chat the other day with a young lawyer who has a very popular legal website. His site is a business, intended for profit and designed to maximize the number of eyeballs its draws. He was disgusted, well, concerned [...]

The Honorable Randy Wilson, a District Judge out of Texas recently had an article in the Advocate juxtaposing two Motions to Compel. The Bad: In this motion, the movant gives a background of the dispute and then lists the specific Document categories sought. There are a total of 24 document requests at issue. The movant dutifully lists [...]

The Legal writing Prof Blog has mention of a short article in The Missouri Bar’s newsletter, Precedent, on persuasive writing for generalist judges. Judges in general jurisdiction courts also may not initially be as familiar as counsel with the substantive law that will decide the case. As American law has grown increasingly intricate and diverse in recent decades, more and more lawyers [...]

In the last post I noted that lawyers should avoid hyperbole at all costs. But what happens when opposing counsel resorts to hyperbole and bombastic prose in their brief? Be temperate. Do not lash out at opposing counsel in your own brief. Do not waste words pointing out opposing counsel’s flair for the dramatic or [...]

There is nothing worse than reading a brief that is filled to the brim with over-the-top exposition and exploitive narrative detail. It does not bolster your argument – it dampens your argument. By forcing a reader to navigate sentimental adjectives and impassioned turns of phrase, you are removing the focus of the brief from your [...]