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Tom Goldstein and Jethro K. Lieberman
The Lawyer's Guide to Writing Well
Second Edition
$21.95, £12.95 paperback
978-0-520-23473-4
Available Now
287 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 1 line figure
January 2003, Available worldwide
Categories: Language & Linguistics; Writing; Law; Literary Studies
January 2003, Available worldwide
Categories: Language & Linguistics; Writing; Law; Literary Studies
Downloadable eBook version available:
Adobe eReader at Amazon.com, $12.95
Adobe eReader at Amazon.com, $12.95
"Provides useful guidelines to law students and lawyers who want to master their craft."—Menachem Z. Rosensaft, New York Law Journal
"This may be the most underappreciated legal-writing text in the country. This gem of a book is snappy, informative, and interlaced with some of the most memorable quotes to be found anywhere."—Scott P. Stolley, The Defense
"The book's authors provide straight-to-the-heart advice for lawyers who want to face the music and turn over a new leaf in their writingÉ. A book deemed worth having!"—Harvard Law Review
"Should be in the office of every lawyer."—William Safire, New York Times Magazine
"LawyersÉneed writers, or at least a guide like The Lawyer's Guide to Writing Well, to help them put together a sentence that the rest of the world can understand."—Washington Post Book World
"This may be the most underappreciated legal-writing text in the country. This gem of a book is snappy, informative, and interlaced with some of the most memorable quotes to be found anywhere."—Scott P. Stolley, The Defense
"The book's authors provide straight-to-the-heart advice for lawyers who want to face the music and turn over a new leaf in their writingÉ. A book deemed worth having!"—Harvard Law Review
"Should be in the office of every lawyer."—William Safire, New York Times Magazine
"LawyersÉneed writers, or at least a guide like The Lawyer's Guide to Writing Well, to help them put together a sentence that the rest of the world can understand."—Washington Post Book World
"This advice is sensible and lucidly given, and what is more, the reason for it is explained, so that even a moderately eager reader need not simply memorize but can remember the principle and apply it where needed."—Jacques Barzun, author of From Dawn to Decadence
This eminently practical volume demystifies legal writing, outlines the causes and consequences of bad writing, and prescribes straightforward, easy-to-apply remedies that will make your writing readable. Complete with usage notes that address lawyers' most common errors, this well-organized book is both an invaluable tool for practicing lawyers and a sensible grounding for law students. This much-revised second edition contains a set of editing exercises (and a suggested revision key with explanations) to test your skill. This book is a definitive guide to becoming a better writer—and a better lawyer.
Preface
Part I. Why Lawyers Write Poorly
1. Does Bad Writing Really Matter?
2. Don't Make It Like It Was
Part 2. The Process of Writing
3. Ten Steps to Writing
4. Of Dawdlers and Scrawlers, Pacers, and Plungers: Getting Started and Overcoming Blocks
5. The Mechanics of Getting It Down: From Quill Pens to Computers
6. Lessons from a Writing Audit
7. Lawyers as Publishers: Words Are Their Product
Part 3. Managing Your Prose
8. Writing the Lead
9. Form, Structure, and Organization
10. Wrong Words, Long Sentences, and Other Mister Meaners
11. Revising Your Prose
12. Making Your Writing Memorable
Notes
Usage Notes
An Editing Checklist
Editing Exercises
Suggested Revisions to Editing Exercises
Reference Works
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Index
Part I. Why Lawyers Write Poorly
1. Does Bad Writing Really Matter?
2. Don't Make It Like It Was
Part 2. The Process of Writing
3. Ten Steps to Writing
4. Of Dawdlers and Scrawlers, Pacers, and Plungers: Getting Started and Overcoming Blocks
5. The Mechanics of Getting It Down: From Quill Pens to Computers
6. Lessons from a Writing Audit
7. Lawyers as Publishers: Words Are Their Product
Part 3. Managing Your Prose
8. Writing the Lead
9. Form, Structure, and Organization
10. Wrong Words, Long Sentences, and Other Mister Meaners
11. Revising Your Prose
12. Making Your Writing Memorable
Notes
Usage Notes
An Editing Checklist
Editing Exercises
Suggested Revisions to Editing Exercises
Reference Works
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Index