Fixing Legal Writing Problems Can Be Easier (and Quicker) Than You Think

Abstract

[Excerpt] “You have a memorandum due on a preliminary injunction in two days. You are busy juggling numerous other matters. You decide to dictate the memo on your way home from work, a thirty-minute commute. That should give you enough time. The next day you have a little time for research, to edit what you have done, check the cites, and you are done. A typical legal document is born. Most likely it is wordy and hard to follow. The legal analysis is superficial and not very persuasive.

“In October of last year, we surveyed New Hampshire lawyers on the state of writing in New Hampshire. The results showed that legal writing is verbose and disorganized. Survey takers also found that lawyers do not always apply the law effectively. Anecdotally, we heard that the above scenario is frequently how lawyers get their legal writing done. Time is always an issue for lawyers, and writing well seems to get short shrift.”

Publication Date

9-9-2005

Journal Title

New Hampshire Bar News

Publisher

NH Bar Association

Document Type

Article

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