Don’t disparage opponents in your litigation filings.
Litigation should focus on the parties and their claims, not the attorneys and their personalities.
Refrain from personal attacks against the opposing party or counsel. Such attacks have no persuasive value and may even elicit sympathy for the opponent. When possible, avoid mentioning opposing counsel entirely and simply discuss the law and facts.
Consider this poor example from a brief:
Indeed, Plaintiff’s modus operandi in this case has been to engage in rhetoric that is nothing more than a consistent effort to bully and intimidate the defense through never-ending, frivolous threats of sanctions.
Because of the procedural defects and substantive misrepresentations in this motion, Defendants can only conclude that Plaintiff, as is his course of practice, brings this motion in bad faith for the purpose of causing the parties, and this Court, to waste its resources and efforts defending against yet another senseless motion.
Such diatribes aren’t just unprofessional; they are also unpersuasive. Removing them helps ensure that every sentence in your legal brief aims to inform or persuade the judge (your target reader).
Legal briefs aren’t the place to vent or argue about trivialities. Whenever you’re tempted to respond in kind to an opposing attorney’s personal barbs, remember that litigation is about the parties and their claims, not the attorneys and their egos.
For advice on more productive ways to advance your client’s arguments and rebut those of an opponent, see my book Elegant Legal Writing and my recent post on how to write great reply briefs.
Ryan McCarl is a founding partner of Rushing McCarl LLP and author of Elegant Legal Writing (U. Cal. Press 2024). For more writing tips, subscribe to the Elegant Legal Writing newsletter and follow Ryan on LinkedIn. McCarl’s book is now available on Amazon.
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