Archive - Elegant Legal Writing

Slides from last week's CLE to the Texas Office of the Attorney General

Apr 30

Ryan McCarl discusses legal writing on the California Appellate Law Podcast.

Feb 19

Lawyers shouldn't start new writing projects with a blank page.

Feb 4

How lawyers can use Microsoft Word to mark citations and create a Table of Authorities in briefs and motions.

Jan 30

Writing comes easiest when you are fully absorbed in the work.

Nov 22, 2021

A central goal of this newsletter is to help you diagnose problems with turgid writing. You should develop a checklist of common problems to watch for…

Nov 10, 2021

Lawyers should write with their audience in mind.

Nov 8, 2021

Legal stylists disagree on how often lawyers should use footnotes and what they should use them for.

Jul 28, 2021

When citing precedents, you often need to provide some factual context to assure the reader that they apply.

Jul 26, 2021

Referring to judges correctly and deferentially is a nonnegotiable requirement of strong legal writing.

Jul 20, 2021

Your prose should be understated and focused on effective persuasion.

Jul 19, 2021

Think twice the next time you consider writing that something is "crystal clear."

Jul 13, 2021

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