Legal Writing

The Good, the Bad, and “Isn’t That Ugly?”

Posted on December 11, 2008
Some of us pay big bucks to look good. When we’re on the job, we wear suits that cost thousands of dollars; we wear watches that cost as much as brand new cars; we wear shoes that cost as much as a vacation in Hawaii for a family of four. You’d be amazed at what [...

The Stylish Pro v. The Frumpy Amateur

Posted on December 10, 2008
You care how you look in person. Don't you care how you look in print?

Today’s Quote is about How to Affect the Likelihood of Review by SCOTUS

Posted on December 10, 2008
Here it is: In a 1988 study, political science professors Greg Caldeira and Jack Wright of Ohio State University controlled for the “full array” of well-known influences on the court’s decision to hear a case ? like a split in the lower courts or the participation of the U...

Today’s Quote is about the Importance of How You Present Yourself

Posted on December 09, 2008
Here it is: . . . how you talk to your prospect, how you present yourself and how you relate to the customer are as important as the facts about your product or service.  Your potential clients are looking for an attorney they can trust — someone they feel comfortable with...

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Social Media — The Good, The Bad and . . . .

Posted on December 08, 2008
If you’re an attorney and you’re wondering what all the fuss is about Facebook and Twitter and such, and you’re wondering if you should get in on the action (or you’re worried about being left behind), read this: Social Media - The Good, The Bad and the Time-Sucking (Part II) It’s thoughtful (despite the obviously missing serial [...

Curious Quote of the Day

Posted on December 08, 2008
Here it is: Some people have assets totally in joint accounts with their children. These assets will pass outright to your children upon your death without the need for probate.

RE: Sixteen Reasons to Tweet on Twitter

Posted on December 08, 2008
In this article published by Law.com, attorney/blogger Robert Ambrogi offers 16 reasons for lawyers to Tweet on Twitter.

RE: A Chief Judge and Terrific Editor

Posted on December 08, 2008
Here’s an interesting article about Judith S. Kaye, chief judge of New York’s Court of Appeals. From the article: The chief judge said that nothing gives her more pride than the opinions she has written while on the Court of Appeals - opinions to which she worked to bring the clear and economical language of the practiced [...

RE The Spelling of 18 (in Spanish)

Posted on December 08, 2008
Here’s an interesting article about errors in “a series of pamphlets aimed at helping Spanish speakers navigate through [The Delaware Court of Chancery].” Court officials said they’ve found errors and are correcting them manually, such as writing the number “18″ over the term it originally had for “eighteen...

When it comes to blawging, anything worth doing . . . .

Posted on December 06, 2008
If you’re thinking about blawging, read the article published by Law.com titled “How to Build a Better Law Blog“ by C. C. Holland. From the article: If your blog is boring, banal or shamelessly self-promoting, it’ll do you little good and will likely die a slow death...

Attracting Clients in a Reluctant-buyer’s Market

Posted on December 06, 2008
This is about blawging; it's about attorneys trying to attract clients in a tough market that's getting tougher.

Curious Quotes of the Day — Beware of Freedom

Posted on December 04, 2008
Here’s something I found in the first graph of this blawg post: The freedom provided by a motorcycle can easily turn into grave injuries or even death. Imagine a corresponding obituary: “Tom’s death was due to an overdose of a lethal mixture of freedom and liberty...

Writing for Readers

Posted on December 04, 2008
Another post on Writing for Readers, and this one's about making it easy for readers to understand your writing.

Two Classes of Big Law Firms

Posted on December 03, 2008
3 Geeks and a Law Blog just published this list of Big Law firms that publish blogs (or have attorneys who do). It put each firm in one of two classes — Blog-Proud or Blog-Tolerant. A Big Law firm is Blog-Proud if it’s easy to find its attorneys’ blogs; else the firm is Blog-Tolerant.

Trollers and Rollers

Posted on December 03, 2008
Trollers and Rollers -- it's about showing up for an important business meeting with rollers in your hair.

A Tale of Two Complaints

Posted on December 02, 2008
Just wrote this post about pride in appearance: http://misterthorne.org/set_in_style/2008/12/02/a-tale-of-two-complaints

The March of the Big Law Blawgs

Posted on December 02, 2008
If you’re interested in big law blawgs, then you should know of this list compiled by 3 Geeks, and this list compiled by LexBlog. According to 3 Geeks, 56 of the National Law Journal 250 have blawgs. According to LexBlog, 72 of the AmLaw 200 have blogs...

Good Looks — Clothes and Shoes — Fonts and Breaks

Posted on November 28, 2008
Just wrote a post about looking good in print -- Clothes and Shoes -- Fonts and Breaks

Seminar Materials — They Can Make You Look Good, or Not

Posted on November 21, 2008
I recently attended a day-long seminar presented by a large and well-known law firm. This post is about that experience. It’s about seminars, and the materials given to those who attend them. It’s about setting those materials in style. Logistics The brochure for the seminar came to me (I received the electronic version via e-mail, and the printed [...

The Law Firm as Publisher

Posted on November 17, 2008
As I’ve said over and over — if you’re a law firm and you maintain a Web site and you publish client alerts and newsletters and such, then you’re also a publisher. Seems as if Mark Jones, Global Community Editor for Reuters, agrees...

Oh No! Too Much SEO!

Posted on November 17, 2008
I just discovered this interesting post at Law Firm Blogger. It’s about the tendency — strongly advocated by some – to write copy more for search engines than for potential clients.

Volokh on Academic Legal Writing

Posted on November 17, 2008
Let’s see — you’re a young associate at a Great Big Law Firm and have been for the past few years. You’ve been making some great money, and you’ve been working your butt off (and you’re still in so much debt). And now you’re worried about job security...

The Law Firm Client Alert — a Tale of Two Versions

Posted on November 13, 2008
Comparing the original version of a law firm client alert – one that was published by a reputable, well staffed, and well regarded law firm – to one that’s been touched by an editor yields yet another answer to our perpetual question: What Can an Editor Do for You?    original   revised The image on the left shows a portion of the original [...

What Can an Editor Do for an Attorney?

Posted on November 09, 2008
That’s our perpetual question, and here’s another version of an answer: an editor can make sure an attorney looks good in print. Consider the introduction to this client alert about the Treasury Capital Purchase Program: The Treasury Department this morning provided additional information on the implementation of the Treasury Capital Purchase Program, including an application form and [...

Get Popular Now!

Posted on November 07, 2008
Here’s a good article at law.com about how to become more popular (e.g., boost your Google rating) by knowing how to take advantage of all that LinkedIn has to offer. Hey, let’s go Twitter tonight. It’s so totally cool!

Client Alert Gets Favorable Press

Posted on November 07, 2008
Mark Sunshine, president of First Capital, has been writing about the credit crisis, and he’s written this fine review of this client alert that was written by Richard Gray, an attorney who specializes in banking transactions. The alert was published by Milbank Tweed...

Mark Herrmann — A Curmudgeon Offers His Advice

Posted on October 31, 2008
So, you’ve earned your J.D., and you’re going to be a lawyer. Good for you. Let me give you a bit of advice — before you go to work, get a copy of a small book packed full of invaluable advice: The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law...

Marketing You Law Firm

Posted on October 30, 2008
Here’s a curious site that is ?sponsored by a few lawyers that [sic] are actively involved in internet marketing and web development.? They plan to provide “articles about marketing you [sic] law firm on the web.” David Lluis  the Los Angeles attorney who operates (or doesn’t) the site claims to “have internet strategist who assist in promoting [...

On Getting Noticed — Part V

Posted on October 27, 2008
In the previous four parts to this post, we looked at various measures of the popularity of some law firm blogs. We examined their Alexa rankings, which indicate how much traffic they get. We examined their Technorati rankings, which indicate how popular they are...

Pedestrians Ran Down By hit and Run Accident

Posted on October 27, 2008
That’s the title to a recent post at the Tampa Injury Law blog.

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