LawProse Lessons

The Oxford English Dictionary defines Law French (also written law-French) as “the corrupt variety of Norman French used in English lawbooks.” Rather more expansively, the newly issued 12th edition of Black’s Law Dictionary (2024) defines it as “the corrupted form of the Norman French language that arose in England after William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066 and that was used for …

LawProse Lesson #436: What is Law French? Read More »

Generally regarded as the greatest lawyer in ancient Rome, Cicero insisted that “success in persuasion” depends on three things: (1) conciliating the audience, (2) proving what we maintain to be true, and (3) producing in the audience’s minds whatever feeling our cause may require. In short, the audience must be conciliated, informed, and moved. “Lawyers,” …

LawProse Lesson #435: Cicero on Successful Persuasion Read More »

The top of the Democratic ticket—having candidates with sibilants at the ends of their names—is causing some predictable confusion. But behind the scenes, it’s highlighting an editorial anomaly in the AP Stylebook (followed by many newspapers), which specifies these results: 

There are many ways to write. Of course. The humorist James Thurber (1894–1961) often did it at parties while pretending to listen to somebody who was talking to him. He admitted this in one of our favorite collections: Conversations with James Thurber (Thomas Fensch ed., 1989). He also did it when retyping drafts, which allowed him to …

LawProse Lesson 433: James Thurber’s retyping of drafts Read More »

A historic concurrence was recently handed down in the Eleventh Circuit, by Judge Kevin Newsom. We predict that it will go down in history as the first significant use of AI in judicial decision-making, even if almost all of it occurs in dictum. Especially if you’re skeptical, please read on.   Judge Newsom broke with …

LawProse Lesson 432: Judge Kevin Newsom’s Arresting Candor in a Momentous Opinion Read More »

Do you remember those awful, enormous tailfins sported by American cars in the 1950s? They had no practical function. They didn’t make the cars drive better; there was nothing aerodynamic about them. They had nothing to do with transportation. Their sole purpose was to get attention. In writing circles, it’s often said that you should …

LawProse Lesson #431: Avoiding tailfin leads Read More »

What’s the difference between paraphrasing and summarizing? To paraphrase is to recast a passage mostly in your own words; to summarize is to capture the essence of a message almost entirely in your own words, and in a much shorter statement. A paraphrase is about the same length as the original, perhaps a little shorter; a summary is significantly …

LawProse Lesson #430: Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing vs. Quoting Obscurities Read More »

You occasionally hear someone say that none requires a singular verb: None is there, never None are there. Is that right? Unequivocally no. For more than 1,200 years, English speakers and writers have said none are—especially in sentences like None of them are, where the subject is None (not them). In fact, None of them are is more than twice as common in modern print as None …

LawProse Lesson 429: Is “none are” acceptable? Read More »

You face several challenges as a writer, some of which you might not even be fully conscious of. But the big ones are obvious: “I don’t have the time!” The reality is that you must have the time. You must make the time. Lawyers must write more efficiently today than ever before. The good news is that you …

LawProse Lesson #428: Your biggest writing challenges (no time, constant interruptions, writer’s block, expected negative reactions) Read More »

 For purposes of this lesson, the term professional football player (hyphenated when functioning as a phrasal adjective) means “lexicographer.” In law, the “professional-football-player rule” is the principle that a drafter may explicitly define terms in ways that are peculiar to the legal instrument in which they appear. The rule is especially common in the field of patents, …

LawProse Lesson 427: The Professional-Football-Player Rule Read More »

 Given that the law is a profession whose sole tool is language, it’s hardly surprising that the legal profession—especially those at the top of it—are fixated on it. The most penetrating scholarly commentators discuss legal language astutely. The same is true of judges. If you examine U.S. Supreme Court opinions, you’ll find close examination of grammar and …

LawProse Lesson 426: The Supreme Court on Grammar and Meaning Read More »

Ernest Hemingway was speaking a truth about all professional writers when he said, “You can write anytime people will leave you alone and not interrupt you.” That assumes you have something to declare. But the upshot is that in Hemingway’s view, it’s amateurish to wait on “inspiration.” These days, you must have the discipline not …

LawProse Lesson #425: Please do not disturb Read More »

Clarity entails several cardinal virtues, including unity of purpose, sensible division, logical arrangement of material, and the consistent illustration of generalities with specific examples. Here we’ll focus on the first of these: unity. The neglect of it—commonly seen in the introduction of irrelevant facts—is a prime source of obscurity. No formula will enable you to …

LawProse Lesson #424: A Cardinal Virtue of Clear Exposition Read More »

Writing can never be anything other than a lonely business. In the initial shaping of what you write, you’re going solo. If that’s true, then of what help can outside influences be? How can instruction help? Three main answers. First, the problems common to all writers are predictable. It’s not as if every writer’s struggles …

LawProse Lesson #423: Writing is a lonely endeavor Read More »

A threefold answer:

One sign that a language is alive is that it evolves. Latin, a dead language, stopped changing the moment people stopped using it in everyday life. But thriving languages change constantly, though slowly. Chaucer noticed this truth as far back as 1385: Ye knowe ek that in forme of speche is chaungeWithinne a thousand yer, …

LawProse Lesson 421: Language constantly changes Read More »

It’s a truism that a clear writing style comes from a clear mind. The necessary corollary is that unclarity proceeds from a hazy mind, which will inevitably produce an unintelligible jumble. But this isn’t a prescription for good writing. You can’t just say, “Think more clearly!” and be done with it. No. People need exercises …

LawProse Lesson #420: Clarity of style from clarity of mind Read More »

What does The New Kid on the Block or any other poetry book by Jack Prelutsky have to do with lawyers’ writing? (If you don’t know his books, they’re perfect for reading aloud to kids.) In some ways, a great deal. A few years ago, Prelutsky was asked what he does when his writing isn’t going well. …

LawProse Lesson #419: Jack Prelutsky on writing well Read More »

The best writing instruction is holistic and broad, not just covering dozens of nitpicky grammatical points. Instead, it deals with the essence of inventing arguments. Effective teaching deals with creativity that enhances your mental capacities: recognizing similarities and differences, knowing the significance of factual changes, being able to shift levels of thought, and understanding differing …

LawProse Lesson #418: A Holistic Approach to Writing Read More »

Can you recommend a good book on writing? We’re often asked this broadly phrased question. But because “writing” is such a broad subject, what one person needs isn’t the same as what someone else would find most helpful. If the question relates to grammar and usage—the thousand nitty-gritty issues of English wording—it’s hard to beat Garner’s Modern …

LawProse Lesson #417: A good book on writing Read More »