In-House Counsel

Eight blogs on how lawyers can write more clearly

By Rees Morrison

In-house counsel should strive to be competent drafters, at the worst, and skilled prose stylists at the best (See my post of May 13, 2007: writing instructors; Sept. 21, 2005: writing coaches; May 19, 2006: comparative styles of firm lawyers and law department lawyers; Feb. 8, 2006: maximum of two drafts; June 12, 2005: ?a good lawyer sounds and writes like a lawyer?; and March 26, 2008: you are what you write). Molly Dibianca, a lawyers in Delaware, posted her ?30 of the Best Writing Blogs.? I shrank them to the eight that are legal oriented and kept her descriptions.

Adams Drafting, by Ken Adams, concentrates exclusively on contract drafting and writing issues facing transactional lawyers.

Disputed Issues, by Stephen R. Diamond, J.D., Ph.D., tackles common missteps in legal writing, as well as the reasons why lawyers write so badly.

Fairyland Castle is a new blog written by recent law-school graduate, Martin Magnusson, who provides commentary--not instruction--on legal writing.

Legal Writing Prof Blog offers resources and news updates by legal-writing academics.

Legalwriting.net , by Wayne Scheiss, who also maintains an excellent website.

Party of the First Part, by Adam Freedman, is devoted to eradicating the world of the pompous and verbose writing style commonly referred to as "Legalese."

Set In Style, by Mister Thorne, the "Legal Wordsmith." One of my favorite writing blogs, this site is directed to the legal profession but is beneficial for anyone whose writing is intended to serve as marketing material.

The (New) Legal Writer, by Ray Ward, an appellate lawyer practicing in Louisiana, is very popular with those in the know around the blogosphere.

Full post as published by Law Department Management on February 05, 2009 (boomark / email).