Lawyering in English

08/05/2014

When dealing with native English speaking clients it is not always less than perfect English skills that lead to miscommunication, but cultural differences. For instance, when giving criticism or expressing dislike saxons tend to speak around the subject, meaning they prefer indirectness. It is a very perplexing behavior for non-native speakers. And the British, more than Americans, have a natural talent for this sort of indirectness. Read this article from the Harvard Business Review for some insight on how to understand your Saxon client´s or colleague´s discontent. http://goo.gl/b1VTNz

Different cultures qualify feedback differently.

05/05/2014

It´s time for some self-reflection. Do you sound like an irritatingly self-important lawyer when you write? If so, it isn´t likely to help win the esteem of judges and peers. Here is an enlightening article from the April ABA Journal by legal writing superstar, Brian Garner, that gives a list of words that lawyers should stop using. I confess to relying on a few of these all too common legalisms. http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/ax_these_terms_from_your_legal_writing/

William Cullen Bryant, editor of the New York Evening Post from 1829 until 1878, created an "Index Expurgatorius" for his newspaper. Certain words simply weren't allowed in its pages.

20/02/2014

Remember the contrast principle when making short compelling sentences. Regardless of how brief, persuasive writing tells a story. Whether it is the elevator pitch or our opener, we follow some narrative structure and utilize certain tricks to make a compelling argument. In this article from the Harvard Business Review, we focus on strategy statements and the contrast principle. Although reserved to business practice, this is a fantastic lesson for lawyers on clarity in persuasive writing and the art of making short compelling statements.
http://goo.gl/MtCXQu

A long, often vague document won't do you any favors.

14/01/2014

The key to all professional success on earth! Simple, consider what the other person needs to hear. It takes little skill to talk about how great we are, but takes at least a sliver of talent to devise a brilliant solution to accommodate a client. Pitching your services? Asking the Boss for something? Writing an article? A letter? An Email? Easier said than done! Thankfully, Mark Hermann, at Above the Law, offers this diamond advice on how to structure your thinking to serve your audience instead of serving yourself. http://goo.gl/nJI7f2

What should partners at law firms say when they're pitching business at beauty contests? Thoughts from in-house columnist Mark Herrmann.

23/12/2013

Just say it simply. Managers often use business jargon to sound smarter or authoritative, but jargon does not make our language clearer or easier to understand. In fact, it is often used incorrectly. When we speak we should use plain English and reduce the possibility of costly miscommunication. A recent study by Financial Times Publishing of nearly 1,000 executives in the UK found that the overwhelming majority were “quite unable” to adequately explain the jargon they use in daily business practice. goo.gl/gWrqrg

Less than 10 per cent of senior managers understand the business terms they use everyday

13/12/2013

A quote from one of the most respected writers of the late 20th century, David Foster Wallace: "[When writing for a professional audience we] associate complexity with intelligence. And therefore [we] get brainwashed into making [our] stuff more complicated than it needs to be. [Unfortunately,] where membership is partly based on intelligence, proficiency and being able to speak the language of the discipline, writing becomes as much or more about presenting one’s own qualifications for inclusion in the group than transmission of meaning." Read the entire interview at http://goo.gl/e452YD .

David Foster Wallace, born in 1962, was one of the most respected writers of his generation. His novel Infinite Jest was considered by many one of the great English language novels of the late 20th century. In addition to his novels and short stories, Wallace wrote penetrating essays about a wide va...

05/12/2013

Take a tip from a Federal Judge on shortening URLs in professional writing. Chief Judge Kozinski of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals uses a URL shortening service to reduce exhaustive and burdensome URLs (website links) in his legal opinions. This is a good idea for all kinds of writing and is already in regular use for legal briefs. Google offers their URL shortening service at goo.gl.

http://www.volokh.com/2013/12/02/url-shortening-legal-briefs-now-legal-opinions/

Most readers will be familiar with URL shortening services — redirection services that give users a short web address that points to a longer one. I’ve come across URL shortening in legal briefs more and more, and I have used such links in briefs myself. The shortening avoids an unsightly excessivel...

20/11/2013

One thing that separates Common Law from Civil Law systems is that in Common Law we create law through prose. We write persuasively. It is often the most talented writer who wins for their client, or succeeds as a Judge in creating good law. Consider this article about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan´s easy, conversational style that she uses to write her Opinions. She makes effective law through skillful writing. The take away for Spanish lawyers is to remember that when dealing with Americans, a good defined style is imperative to demonstrate competence.
http://lnkd.in/dk2W5pE

In her first two terms, Justice Elena Kagan has honed a "remarkably conversational tone," according to a law professor who conducted an analysis of the justice's writing style.

18/11/2013

A lesson in brevity from Abraham Lincoln. It is interesting to think that the same efforts we make today to write simple and direct English were embraced by such a great orator of the 19th century, especially at a time when the preferred oratory style was verbose and bombastic. Here is a post by the Poynter Institute about one the shortest and most famous of American speeches ever written: the Gettysburg Address. http://lnkd.in/dFkxjgp And for those interested, here is a link to Lincoln´s actual speech: http://lnkd.in/dmbMkPu

Create. Inform. Engage. | Journalism training, media news & how to's

14/11/2013

To write direct and simple statements requires confidence. Often young lawyers trivialize their writing by using verbs in their noun form, called nominalizations or hidden verbs. A legal writing instructor at the University of Texas posted this brief discussion about fear as a cause of nominalization in legal writing. The clear lesson here for Spanish lawyers who write in English is to convey confidence by using simple and strong verbs and avoid nominalizations. This can present a challenge as nominalizations are commonly used in professional Spanish.
http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/wschiess/legalwriting/2008/05/fear-as-factor-in-nominalizations.html

12/11/2013

What a surprise that so many American lawyers are incapable of grasping the semantic subtleties of the word shall. In fact the word shall is litigated more than any other word in English. Shall is often misused as "no person shall....", which although its appears restrictive, is permissive, the equivalent of may. Bryan Garner, a legal writing demigod, recommends using must, may, is, will and entitled to, in place of shall and eliminate the potential for litigation over this word altogether. http://lnkd.in/d_-t5ZE

In March 1968 I was a fourth-grader at Rex Reeves Elementary School in Canyon, Texas, a small college town in the Panhandle. My teacher, the beloved Mrs. Pearcy, had a not-beloved student teacher, Mrs. Phillips, who was seeking her teacher certification. Mrs. Phillips, I realized early on, was not p...

08/11/2013

A quickie in American legal culture... Check out this "cheat sheet" for the U.S. Supreme Court 2013-2014 term. A visual and anecdotal summary of the current U.S. Supreme Court docket. Good for a laugh or your next cocktail party chit-chat with an American lawyer. http://lnkd.in/dmkDAwa

A visual look at the major cases on the Supreme Court's docket for the current Term.