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the (new) legal writer 
A collection of resources for lawyers, who write. From Raymond Ward, an appellate lawyer with Adams and Reese LLP in New Orleans.
Post Frequency: 5.3/day Last Entry: March 26, 2011 at 15:44:07 Recent Entries: 522
Go to the (new) legal writer, find other Miscellaneous blogs, or browse all law blogs.
Almost as old as I
Posted on April 21, 2009It seems that Strunk & White?s little book just turned 50. That makes it almost as old as I am. Some people love S others don?t. Me, I think the little book just needs to be placed in proper perspective....
Literary Legs
Posted on April 15, 2009There?s a new item on my legal-writing blogroll: Literary Legs, by Ben Opipari. The tagline is ?The intersection of running and writing.? What does running have to do with writing? Ben explains that ?both require the same elements: patience, good...
Effective quotations and shorter briefs
Posted on April 13, 2009The current issue of Headnotes, the Dallas Bar Association?s newsletter, has an appellate theme. If you?re an appellate lawyer, check it out. Among its articles are two good ones on legal writing. In Questions on Quotations, Justice Jim Moseley gives...
All trial judges and trial lawyers should read this article.
Posted on April 05, 2009Peter M. Tiersma has written an excellent article on the impossible things we ask jurors to do, and what trial judges and trial lawyers can do to make their job more doable. Much of the difficulty arises from jury instructions,...
Words to make you sound insecure
Posted on April 04, 2009For those who don?t believe in what I?m trying to do here, I suggest The Words You Should Know to Sound Smart. Here?s the blurb: This book is a tongue-in-cheek guide to words that any well-educated, witty person should be...
Words to make you sound insecure
Posted on April 04, 2009For those who don?t believe in what I?m trying to do here, I suggest The Words You Should Know to Sound Smart. Here?s the blurb: This book is a tongue-in-cheek guide to words that any well-educated, witty person should be...
The Killer BEs
Posted on March 25, 2009Here are three short videos of Doug Stern presenting his three killer BEs for effective writing: be thematic, be engaging, be whole-brained. The most interesting tip comes in the third video: read junk mail. (Hat tip: Set in Style.)
How the exception proves the rule
Posted on March 25, 2009What does the phrase ?the exception proves the rule? really mean? Snopes has an enlightening explanation.
How the exception proves the rule
Posted on March 25, 2009What does the phrase ?the exception proves the rule? really mean? Snopes has an enlightening explanation.
The Killer BEs
Posted on March 25, 2009Here are three short videos of Doug Stern presenting his three killer BEs for effective writing: be thematic, be engaging, be whole-brained. The most interesting tip comes in the third video: read junk mail. (Hat tip: Set in Style.)
Counting Each Shot ? seminar materials
Posted on March 20, 2009This morning I gave a one-hour presentation at a legal-writing seminar sponsored by the Louisiana State Bar Association. The presentation was based on Counting Each Shot, an article I wrote last year and posted here. I?m most grateful to seminar...
Gratuitous contract not enforceable, even when written in blood
Posted on March 11, 2009Does a gratuitous promise become legally enforceable when written in blood? No, says a California appellate court, in the latest chapter of Kim v. Son. (Hat tip: Howard Bashman.)Long-time readers of this blog may remember my July 2007 or August...
The music of language
Posted on February 24, 2009From page 65 of Roy Blount Jr.?s Alphabet Juice: In song, vowels carry the melody, the air. Consonants?separated in time to some extent by the vowels but also taking various amounts of time themselves?are the rhythm section; they provide the...
Grammar Nazis
Posted on February 22, 2009When you?re a grammar Nazi, you?d better not mix up your and you?re; otherwise something like this may happen. (Hat tip trail: GrammarBlog, via You Don?t Say.)
Owning your downloaded legal authorities
Posted on February 20, 2009A few years ago on my other blog, I advised legal researchers to own their downloaded legal authorities. For those who missed that post, here?s the skinny version.First, when you download cases from Lexis, Westlaw, Fastcase, or whatever, download in....
The lawyer?s moral obligation to write well
Posted on February 19, 2009Do lawyers have a moral obligation to write well? Jack Lee Sammons thinks so. In an essay you can download here, he explains his position. By ?writing well,? he does not mean elevating rules of usage to moral status. Rather,...
First Arrow
Posted on February 15, 2009Roy Jacobsen was kind enough to tag me with the Premio Dardo Award, which ?acknowledges the effort of a particular blogger to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values in his or her writing.? The rules require me to pass...
A word on jury instructions
Posted on February 09, 2009While researching jury instructions today, I came across this passage:The fact that the language was borrowed from the reasoning of a written opinion does not uphold the charge. Isolated from its context, or sought to be translated from mere discussion...
Put some rapping in your brief / And from the judgment get relief
Posted on January 26, 2009A pro-se litigant appealing an attorney-fee award submitted a reply brief ?utilizing rap/rhyme in the argument topics to better emphasize strong concept points.? It worked. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the appellate court reversed the attorney-fee award...
The vampires of legal writing
Posted on January 24, 2009I?ve been known to preach against over-reliance on forms, because the practice tends to perpetuate bad legal writing. The following article (PDF version here) is my latest word on the topic. The Vampires of Legal Writing 1?The world changes. We...
Satire
Posted on January 17, 2009?satire 1: a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn 2: trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly.? Merriam Webster?s Collegiate Dictionary 1035 (10th ed. 2002).?I am always excited...
For Louisiana practitioners
Posted on January 12, 2009The Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal has made a welcome change to its rules, effective January 1, 2009, to cut down the volume of paper filed with the clerk. Here are the changes: In civil appeals, a party must...
Top 30 blogs on writing
Posted on January 12, 2009Molly DiBianca has collected her list of 30 best blogs on writing. She was kind enough to include this one, for which I?m grateful. But please peruse her list and check out the other 29.
Not in your Bluebook or ALWD
Posted on January 12, 2009How do you cite restroom graffiti? Or a tattoo? Here?s how. (Hat tip: Southern Appeal.)
Word
Posted on January 11, 2009The American Dialect Society has released 2008?s Words of the Year. The overall champ is bailout, defined as ?the rescue by the government of companies on the brink of failure, including large players in the banking industry.? Finalists in various...
One more CLE opportunity
Posted on January 07, 2009In composing my last post, I neglected to mention Writing Techniques for Winning Cases, to be presented by Gary Kinder in Chicago, IL (Mar. 6), Washington, DC (Mar. 27), Los Angeles, CA (Apr. 17), and Houston, TX (June 19). I...
CLE opportunities
Posted on January 07, 2009If you?re looking for some good legal-writing CLE, then check these out: Between February 3 and April 1, Bryan Garner will hit the road with his Advanced Legal Writing & Editing seminar. Tour stops are in Detroit, MI (Feb. 3),...
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Did I harass someone?
Oh, yes. This can be taken in as so many things, especially since you had testif...
How to evict a roommate?
First, in most jurisdictions "self-help" is not a remedy available to any party ...
I have worked for this employer for only three weeks. The employer makes up his own rules as to what he chooses to report for the purpose of property taxes. He tells me to "let them come after us". He defines Entertain
He arrogantly insists, "let them come after us." Well, if you are invo...
This has happened 3 or 4 times a month now- they have turned the electric off 2 days consecutively, the water off about 9 or 10 times now, and our heat has broken 5 times (once it would not shut off, and we were forced t
i say stick with the apartment. eventually, everything possible will be replaced...
The company I worked for forced me to quit instead of dealing with someone harassing me, what can I do?
Look up CONSTRUCTIVE DISCHARGE...................this looks like what happened t...
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On 08-25 at 15:46PM
Acute perpendicular parking #NYPD #NYFD
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Parallel parking gone bad. Too much gas UES NYC
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UES NYC
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Twitter suspends journalist critical of broadcast partner's coverage on dubious grounds @guyadams #nbcfail #twitterfail
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Model example of 1st Amendment suppression by the People of New York City's Michael Bloomberg #OWS #NYPD
On 07-12 at 21:07PM
AG Holder lackadaisical on Operation in our Sites domain name seizures & RIAA lobbied free speech suppression @dajaz1
On 06-08 at 22:44PM
Why is the Catholic Church going to court over Obama contraception policy? @NewYorker commentary
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Monks sue Louisiana for right to sell caskets made from forrest destroyed by Katrina
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Are the abortion ultrasound laws headed for the Supreme Court?
On 05-15 at 21:52PM
Did I harass someone?
Oh, yes. This can be taken in as so many things, especially since you had testif...
How to evict a roommate?
First, in most jurisdictions "self-help" is not a remedy available to any party ...
I have worked for this employer for only three weeks. The employer makes up his own rules as to what he chooses to report for the purpose of property taxes. He tells me to "let them come after us". He defines Entertain
He arrogantly insists, "let them come after us." Well, if you are invo...
This has happened 3 or 4 times a month now- they have turned the electric off 2 days consecutively, the water off about 9 or 10 times now, and our heat has broken 5 times (once it would not shut off, and we were forced t
i say stick with the apartment. eventually, everything possible will be replaced...
The company I worked for forced me to quit instead of dealing with someone harassing me, what can I do?
Look up CONSTRUCTIVE DISCHARGE...................this looks like what happened t...
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