The Lyrical Lawyer
Today’s issue of the Cincinnati Enquirer has this story about some of the citations Judge Mark Painter — a proponent of Plain English and author of The Legal Writer: 40 Rules for the Art of Legal Writing — has used in his opinions, and why.
From the article:
“My passion is improving legal writing,” Painter said. “Too often, judges and lawyers just write for each other. They use so much legalese, you get to the end and you don’t know what happened.”
“Every case involves people, lay people,” Painter said. “I think they should be able to understand what’s happening to them.”
Most lawyers would do well to read Judge Painter’s book and give serious thought to his advice.
