© 1997-2012 by Jurisdictionary ® ...
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Case-Winning Paperwork Part Two ...
( From official "How to Win in Court" Course )Click or Call 866-LAW-EASY Toll Free!
What is the goal of legal writing?
I urge you to think about this question ... really, really hard and long!
What is your goal?
Impress the judge?
Confuse the opponent?
Or, win the case?
Everything we do in life has in one sense or another a particular goal. Some things we do are automatic, like breathing, yet there is always a goal. In business, the goal is to provide a benefit to others that they will want to pay for. In sports, the goal is to perform to the highest of our athletic ability. In law, the goal is to achieve certain well defined benchmarks!
Here is where most lawyers and nearly all pro se people miss the boat ... they get sidetracked!
Every word, spoken in the courtroom or written on paper filed with the clerk and served on the other side, must aim toward a specific goal.
Any words not aimed at the goal must go!
Since 1997, when I started Jurisdictionary, I've received hundreds of documents to review. In all but a few I could strike out 90% of the words to improve the
- punch,
- power, and
- persuasive effect!
Most of what I've seen from pro se people (and quite
a bit from the dozens of lawyers I had to deal with since 1986 when I
first started off as a licensed attorney) read more like a writer trying
to tell a long-winded story.
Legal writing is NOT "story-telling"!
I rebuilt a few car engines in my youth. I removed bolts and
nuts and gaskets and pins. I placed all these parts on a sheet of
cardboard on garage floor. Everything was arranged neatly and in order. When the time came to put the engine back together, each part had its place, and that's where I put each part ... in its place!
A place for every part. Every part in its place.
I didn't add any parts. I didn't leave any parts out. I wanted the engine to run properly when re-assembled!
That's good legal writing, too!
Every word has a purpose.
Any word that can do nothing substantial to achieve the goal (which is winning, by the way) must go.
Years before law school, I worked as a newspaper reporter. The city editor was kind to me personally but ruthless with my writing. I learned from him. To this day I apply what he taught. "Say what needs saying and stop!"
What's true for good newspaper writing is doubly true for legal writing.Say what needs saying and stop!
There is no room for embellishment or poetic verse in legal documents. There's no room to impress judges with florid style or complex vocabulary. Stick to the point.
A sharp wit and controlled sense of humor has its place in legal writing, however. Write as if the judge were human, and make the judge laugh (if laughter will bring you closer to your goal).
Use italics. Occasionally boldface here and there (do not over-use). Occasionally call attention to an idea with exclamation marks!
But, keep it simple!
Aim every word at your goal.
Focus your sentences.
Write like you were "speaking" to an 8th grader.
You don't need a "novelist's eye" or a "bartender's ear", like Jimmy Buffett. You aren't telling a story or writing a song!
You're assembling the parts of a powerful engine.
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© 1997-2012 by Jurisdictionary ® ...
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