Preface

Introduction

Part One: Principles for All Legal Writing
1. Framing Your Thoughts
§ 1. Have something to say, and think it through. Approach your task with a fervent desire to get your message across.
§ 2. Carry out your writing projects in four steps: think and research; plan and organize; write; revise.
§ 3. Order your material in a logical sequence. Present facts chronologically. For other material, make the order (a) deductive, (b) comparative, or (c) spatial. Keep related material together.
§ 4. Use informative headings to mark sections and, if helpful, subsections.
2. Phrasing Your Sentences
§ 5. Exclude unnecessary words.
§ 6. Keep your average sentence length to about 20 words.
§ 7. Keep the subject, the verb, and the object together--toward the beginning of the sentence.
§ 8. Use parallel phrasing for parallel ideas: don't pair unlike grammatical forms.
§ 9. Use strong, precise verbs. Minimize is, are, was, and were--especially when they are part of a passive-voice construction.
§ 10. Avoid multiple negatives.
§ 11. End sentences emphatically.
3. Choosing Your Words
§ 12. Use plain English, not legalese.
§ 13. Be wary of pretension, officialese, and stiff formulas.
§ 14. Simplify wordy phrases--especially those containing of.
§ 15. Avoid zombie nouns--especially -ion words that you can turn into verbs.
§ 16. Avoid doublets and triplets.
§ 17. Refer to people and companies by name. Never use corresponding terms ending in -or and -ee.
§ 18. Use shorthand names only when you must. Shun unfamiliar acronyms.
§ 19. Make it snappy, vivid, and interesting.
§ 20. Be a companionable voice of reason. Make everything you write speakable.

Part Two: Principles Mainly for Analytical and Persuasive Writing
§ 21. Plan all three parts: the beginning, the middle, and the end.
§ 22. For the all-important opener, use the deep issue to state the problem clearly.
§ 23. Summarize concretely and effectively. But don't overparticularize with dates and similar unimportant details.
§ 24. Make your paragraphs cohesive. Introduce each one with a topic sentence.
§ 25. Link your paragraphs explicitly.
§ 26. Vary the length of your paragraphs, but keep them generally short.
§ 27. Provide textual signposts along the way.
§ 28. Unclutter the text by footnoting citations. Keep the footnotes free of sentences.
§ 29. Weave quotations deftly into your prose. "Quotation sandwiches" are hard to skip.
§ 30. Be forthright in dealing with counterarguments.

Part Three: Principles Mainly for Legal Drafting
§ 31. Draft for an ordinary reader, not for a mythical judge who might someday review the document.
§ 32. Organize provisions in descending order of importance. Use a good numbering system and abundant headings to make things easy to find.
§ 33. Minimize definitions and cross-references. If you have more than a few definitions, put them in a schedule at the end, not at the beginning.
§ 34. Break down enumerations into parallel provisions. Put every list of subparts at the end of the sentence--never at the beginning or in the middle.
§ 35. Replace every shall.
§ 36. Don't use provisos.
§ 37. Replace and/or wherever it appears.
§ 38. Prefer the singular over the plural.
§ 39. Use numerals, not words, to denote amounts. Avoid word-numeral doublets.
§ 40. If you don't understand a form provision--or why it should be included in your document--try diligently to gain that understanding. If you still can't understand it, cut it.

Part Four: Principles for Document Design
§ 41. Make sensible choices about typography: use a readable font and type size, don't underline, minimize all-caps and initial caps, and put one space between sentences.
§ 42. Create ample white space--and use it meaningfully.
§ 43. Highlight ideas with attention-getters such as bullets.
§ 44. Use graphics whenever they can enhance your message.
§ 45. For a long document, make a table of contents.

Part Five: Methods for Continued Improvement
§ 46. Embrace constructive criticism.
§ 47. Edit your work rigorously and systematically.
§ 48. Seek out reliable answers to questions of grammar and usage.
§ 49. Habitually gauge your own readerly likes and dislikes, as well as those of other readers.
§ 50. Remember that good writing makes the reader's job easy; bad writing makes it hard.

Appendix A: A Restatement of Punctuation
Appendix B: Four Model Documents
1. Research Memos
2. Motions
3. Appellate Briefs
4. Contracts
Key to Basic Exercises
Bibliography
Index