Elegant Legal Writing

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In case you missed it (Part 2)

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In case you missed it (Part 2)

Here are the topics this newsletter has covered in its first two months.

Apr 29, 2021
Share this post

In case you missed it (Part 2)

www.elegantlegalwriting.com

If you would like to receive new Elegant Legal Writing posts in your inbox, please subscribe:

The Elegant Legal Writing newsletter is now almost two months old. I am committed to building an audience for the newsletter and for the book I am writing, and I appreciate any help you can provide in that respect. If you think the tips I am sharing are useful, please share the newsletter with your networks:

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In case you’ve missed any posts so far, here is a menu of what I’ve covered:

Introduction and motivation

  • Elegant Legal Writing — introductory post

  • Why Should Lawyers Invest in their Writing Skills?

Productive Writing and Editing

  • Write “Shitty First Drafts”

  • Edit in Stages

  • Read Your Drafts Aloud

  • Advanced Microsoft Word for Lawyers

  • Use Readable Fonts

  • Use the Pomodoro Technique to Work in Small Bursts

  • Give your Body Something to Do While You Write

Mechanics and Style

  • Convey Your Ideas Straightforwardly

  • Avoid “And/Or”

  • Avoid Overspecification and Synonym Strings

  • Delete Unnecessary Modifiers, Especially Intensifiers

  • How (and Why) to Use Em-Dashes

  • Prefer Active Voice

  • Simplify or Omit Dates and Locations

  • Four Types of Coherence

  • Move Quickly to the Heart of a Sentence

  • Number Your Headings Correctly

  • Use Informative, Full-Sentence Point Headings

  • Use Ordinary Capitalization

  • Find Creative Ways to Manage the Reader’s Workload

  • Give Your Prose a Sense of Forward Movement

  • Navigating Language and Gender

  • Make Every Sentence Compact and Powerful

  • Pay Attention to Rhythm When You Write

  • Avoid Jargon and Legalese

  • Master the Five Types of Transitions

  • Write about Characters Performing Actions

Thank you for reading and sharing.


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Ryan McCarl teaches Advanced Legal Writing and researches artificial intelligence law and policy at the UCLA School of Law. He is also a partner at the law firm Rushing McCarl. You can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter as well as his personal blog.

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In case you missed it (Part 2)

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