How to write briefs that judges want to read
How can attorneys earn judges’ attention and motivate them to read briefs? Understanding the principles of readability can help.
I recently gave a talk called “Elegant Legal Writing: How to Write Briefs Judges Want to Read” as the keynote presentation for Minnesota CLE’s 2025 Appellate Practice Institute. I share a video of the talk along with its slides below.
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How can attorneys earn judges’ attention and motivate them to read legal briefs? Understanding the principles of readability can help. My talk included new material expanding on concepts discussed in Elegant Legal Writing. One idea I presented is that of the “readability triangle,” a diagram showing the mutually reinforcing and symbiotic nature of attention, motivation, and cognitive ease.
Here’s a video of the talk:
And here are its slides and an associated handout, either of which may be downloaded and distributed in their current protected-PDF format:
Ryan McCarl is a partner of the business litigation firm Rushing McCarl LLP and author of Elegant Legal Writing (Univ. Cal. Press 2024). For more tips about legal writing and argumentation, subscribe to the Elegant Legal Writing blog and follow Ryan on LinkedIn. McCarl’s book is available on Amazon and Audible.
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