Law School Advice Part IV: Read and Write

Part I, Part II, and Part III.

Here's a little non-secret: lawyers are professional writers.  No other skill is as important.  After three years, just about anyone can figure out the law on nearly any subject (though it may take a while), but none of that does any good if you can't effectively communicate that information to anyone.   Without writing skills, your mind will be like a steel trap, but in a bad way: nothing can get out.

Unfortunately, legal writing programs are largely inadequate.  I don't mean that they are poor, they just aren't enough.  They have a lot to overcome when students first come to law school, and chances are the first-year courses will be all that is required in any school.  I can virtually guarantee you that if you do just the minimum required, you will not have enough training.

So you must take the initiative if you want to be successful.  The first step is to seek opportunities in school to write.  This could mean trying to write for law review (in my school, anyone could write on, but that's not true everywhere).  You also could try to take classes with written components.  This is especially helpful if the professor gives productive feedback, not just on the substance of your work, but on the writing.  Ask other students.  Also, feel free to ask for more detailed feedback from the professor.

(As an aside, all this requires putting your ego away and seeking out ways you screwed up.  This isn't always easy to do, especially for a bunch of people who have constantly been identified as good at what they do--see Part I.  Still, it's necessary to get that feedback as often as possible to improve.  Judges don't give feedback on briefs submitted to a court, so now is your chance.)

There are also informal opportunities to write.  These don't have the benefits of constant review or of strict standards, but the sheer frequency means there's still a benefit.  This—or any—blog is a good example.  I really think that writing on a regular basis, though not as often as I'd like, has had a significant impact on my writing.  Plus it's an easy archive.  I can look back on my past entries, particularly in my first year, and wince.  Aside from substantive problems, my writing just wasn't as sharp as it is now—and I still have a lot of improving to do.

Aside from writing, it is important to read, too.  I don't mean that you have to dissect the Great Gatsby to learn all the techniques, but by reading a lot of different pieces of writing, you can get more exposure to how people put sentences together, shape a narrative, and a lot more.  Gradually, through exposure (though you can dissect the Great Gatsby if you want, but who has time?), you'll learn what the authors do that you like.

Finally, you should educate yourself.  This means knowing the rules of construction, and that requires books about writing.  The old standby is Strunk and White's venerable The Elements of Style.  It is short, but fairly comprehensive, and addresses just about everything needed to become a decent writer.  I do, though, find that for legal writing it can be a bit underpowered.  In that case, you could go for one of Bryan Garner's excellent books, The Elements of Legal Style, or The Redbook: A Manual of Legal Style.  You may also have a required style guide for your workplace (like the GPO, for example, which publishes its own style manual).

I also recommend a couple dictionaries.  Aside from the general all-purpose ones, everyone should have a usage dictionary or two.  They cover not just what words mean, but their proper use, and often construction.  Once you've had one a while, you'll wonder how you managed without it.  For example, you can be one of the few people who use the word "comprise" correctly.  The classic is Fowler's A Dictionary of Modern English Usage.  I've seen some criticism of the latest edition, though I don't know enough to know whether they are really credible.  I'm partial to Garner's Modern American Usage.  The entries are well-written and useful.  I also have Garner's A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage.  It's particularly useful for lawyers.

Of course, there are many other books about writing, and everyone has their favorites.  Feel free to ask around and borrow those that others recommend.  If you like them and think they are useful, you can get your own copy (but I would suggest at least taking a look if you can—writing books are very personal).  I have various books on brief writing, writing for legal academia, and general legal writing, for example, and I'd like to get more.

Have fun sharpening your legal writing skill—I promise it will be time well spent, even if it is a never-ending, lifelong task.