The Lawyer's Guide to Writing Well

by Tom Goldstein, Jethro K. Lieberman

Overview

In this critically acclaimed book, Tom Goldstein and Jethro K. Lieberman demystify legal writing, outline the causes and consequences of poor writing, and prescribe easy-to-apply remedies to improve it. Reflecting changes in law practice over the past decade, this revised edition includes new sections around communicating digitally, getting to the point, and writing persuasively. It also provides an editing checklist, editing exercises with a suggested revision key, usage notes that address common errors, and reference works to further aid your writing. This straightforward guide is an invaluable tool for practicing lawyers and law students.


 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520288430
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	01/08/2016
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Tom Goldstein is Professor of Journalism and Director of the Media Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley.

Jethro K. Lieberman is Martin Professor of Law Emeritus at New York Law School, where he was the director of its writing program for nearly a quarter century. He is the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including The Litigious Society.

 

Table of Contents

Preface

PART I: Why Lawyers Write Poorly
1. Does Bad Writing Really Matter?
2. Don’t Make It Like It Was

PART II: The Practice Of Writing
3. Ten Steps to Writing It Down
4. Of Dawdlers and Scrawlers, Pacers and Plungers: Getting Started and Overcoming Blocks
5. The Technology of Getting It Down: From Quill Pens to Computers
6. Lawyers as Publishers: Words Are Your Product

PART III: Getting To The Point
7. Writing Persuasively for Your Audience: Tell Your Audience the Point
8. Writing the Lead

PART IV: Revising For Clarity And Luster
9. Form, Structure, and Organization
10. Wrong Words, Long Sentences, and Other Mister Meaners
11. Revising Your Prose
12. Making Your Writing Memorable

Notes
Usage Notes
An Editing Checklist
Editing Exercises
Suggested Revisions to Editing Exercises
Reference Works
Acknowledgments
About The Authors
Index

Editorial Reviews

This advice is sensible and lucidly given, and what is more, the reason for it is explained, so that even a moderately eager reader need not simply memorize but can remember the principle and apply it where needed.

Jacques Barzun

Should be in the office of every lawyer.
—New York Times Magazine

William Safire

Lawyers . . . need writers, or at least a guide like The Lawyer's Guide to Writing Well, to help them put together a sentence that the rest of the world can understand.

Washington Post Book World

This may be the most underappreciated legal-writing text in the country. This gem of a book is snappy, informative, and interlaced with some of the most memorable quotes to be found anywhere.
—The Defense

Scott P. Stolley

The book's authors provide straight-to-the-heart advice for lawyers who want to face the music and turn over a new leaf in their writing . . . . A book deemed worth having!

Harvard Law Review