Within the legal profession, there is an enormous and ever-growing demand for skillful writing. Good money is to be made by anyone who can deliver. But the writing must conform to certain requirements, which are obvious and reasonable when you know them. Yet they tend to escape the notice of the average legal writer.
Some say that teaching someone to write well is impossible—that writing is an inborn gift that cannot be taught. We at LawProse retort that you might as well say that anyone who teaches music or painting or golf is a fraud. After all, successful practitioners in every field owe their fame and achievements to years of careful teaching and guidance.
Within so many lawyers, good ground is lying fallow. Unsuspected talent remains undeveloped. Yet if cultivated, it would yield an exceedingly profitable harvest.
In his teaching, Professor Bryan A. Garner targets two groups: (1) those who have talent for writing but don’t know it, and (2) those who know they have talent but have become so discouraged that they underestimate their own worth. Almost all law graduates could write well if they really applied themselves. But it requires some training beyond whatever schooling they’ve already received.
Through his own writing, Professor Garner has become the most frequently cited writer in American judicial opinions. But his knack isn’t just for writing. It’s equally for teaching. Let him guide you, and your career trajectory will surely chart a steeper upward climb.