Strong writing skills within the legal profession are essential, after all, we aren’t continuously standing in front of judge and jury pleading our case, as they like to portray on TV shows.
Lawyers are always reading and writing, so we should constantly be on the lookout for ways to improve our talents, and become better writers.
The following tips have been tried and tested as effective methods for improving your legal writing:
1. Write Modestly
No one like a show off, least of all when it is unnecessary. Legal issues are often complicated enough without writing in a convoluted way in a bid to impress listeners, or readers.
Instead, lawyers should focus on improving their writing by following three basic steps:
a. focus on readability
b. remove the ‘legalese’
c. write in a concise manner
It is reported that 15% of the population of the UK are ‘functionally literate’, meaning they have literacy levels of an 11 year old. While the average reading age of the UK is 9 years, with The Guardian applying a reading age of 14, and The Sun a reading age of 8.
These statistics highlight the need for lawyers to curtail their ‘lawyerly’ speak, instead choosing short sentence structures, everyday terms, and bullet points when necessary.
2. Summarise Conclusions in Advance
Lawyers can develop their legal writing by loading their conclusions at the start of their dossier.
In general, whether you are writing a letter, a brief, or drafting a motion, there are three things you’ll need to consider; the question, the answer, and the reasoning behind the answer. These are the conclusions that you should summarise at the start of your documents.
Writing for readers demands that you give as much of this information up front as possible – you’re not writing a murder-mystery, don’t squirrel away secrets until the very end of the tale, as most readers will have become bored, lost focus, and you’ll lose their attention. Optimise your persuasiveness by letting them know at the start what point you are making, and why.
Try writing as if you were talking to friends, or family, keep the wording simple for a lay person, and intermingle facts with information that helps to explain the issues.
3. Organise Writing on the Page
Lawyers receive almost twenty years of education before they finish law school, and in that time they are trained to organise their thoughts, put them in writing, and be methodical in this process.
However, for readers it is generally easier to read when writing has been divided up into manageable chunks with headers, white spaces, subheadings, and margins.
Lawyers should try to organise their writing so that it is laid out for a reader, with visual clues to aid reading. Short sentence structures, limited paragraph lengths, topic headings, and so on, will offer the reader a visual guide to your work, making for easier reading, and comprehension.
4. Practice Your Art & Read Exceptional Writing
This may sound obvious, but the best way to improve your writing is to practice regularly, and read writers that you admire, and who are renowned for their skill.
If there are lawyers you particularly value for their legal writing skills, read their work, and try to emulate their style, and mechanics of writing. The more frequently you read them, the more your work will tend to imitate theirs.
Research cases in which lawyers have won landmark decisions to see how they organised their case, presented their writings, and supported their findings. High Court cases are also beneficial as you can assess how judges came to their decisions.
When trying to improve your writing skills in general read quality publications such as, The Telegraph, and the Financial Times, or invest in a book based on writing techniques like Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’ or ‘On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction’ by William Zinsser.
5. Identify with your Audience
To communicate effectively, either in writing, or when reading a speech you have written, such as opening statements, or giving a presentation to a client, you should always try to connect, and identify with your audience.
Writing well can be a learned skill however, the ability to truly connect with your audience so that they are interested, and attentive, is achieved through establishing trust, and understanding. You must learn to place yourself within the shoes of your audience – feel what they feel, experience what they experience, and think what they must be thinking.
In this way you can adapt your writing (for reading, or speaking) to your audience’s needs, and emotions. Try to maintain eye contact, enjoy your speech, and keep it simple.
6. Editing
Thorough editing of your writing is vital if you wish to improve it. No one is capable of creating a masterpiece with their first effort, but good writers will return to their work time and again in order to ensure it is right.
Misspellings, grammar, punctuation, rhythm, and so on, all need to be refined in the editing process.
Read your work aloud to yourself, recording it if possible, and then play it back and see where you falter, what sections need re-writing for ease of speech, and remove any parts that don’t seem appropriate.
Use software programs that can correct spelling and grammar mistakes, such as, Grammarly, Microsoft Word, or Slick Write when necessary.
7. Understand your Client’s Needs
Throughout your legal career the majority of your writing will likely be on behalf of clients, so it is vital that you understand their requirements completely.
Listening to your client, taking comprehensive notes, asking questions, and completing thorough research will ensure you are aware of their needs.
Client satisfaction is at the heart of legal practice, so ensure your client can also understand you. Don’t write using lengthy legal terminology, or use Latinate descriptions of legal terms to impress your clients, as there is more chance of alienating them instead.
Writing well takes effort. You must be organised in your work, ensure it is decipherable and concise, comprehensible for your audience, and error free.
The assumption that great writers are born, not made, is far from the truth. Great musicians, sportsmen, chefs, or craftsmen all practice their technique in a bid to perfect their art. They work hard at improving their performance, day in and day out, until it is right – then they practice some more.
