Set in Style

You’re a lawyer and you want to write about the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Act”) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), so you define some abbreviations up front. That way, when you write, “The SEC is investigating so-and-so for some violation of the Act,” people know exactly what you mean (without doing more reading than necessary).

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So says Brian J. Paul (an appellate attorney with Ice Miller) in his article “Toward a More Impure Wrting Style: The Opinions of Judge Posner and Chief Judge Easterbrook and What the Bar Can Learn from Them.”

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The Law Blog gives kudos to Bryan Gates, an attorney whose six-word memoir says just this:

Angry guy gets law license, sues.

Click HERE for details as well as responses (and the opportunity to contribute) to this:

Law Blog Contest of the Day: Any readers out there care to summarize their legal careers, their law school experience or anything else in six words?

A bit over a year ago, I was reviewing this piece about diversity at Wilson Sonsini’s Web site. What struck me was the reference to women “who belong to a racial, ethnic, or gender minority group.”

I wondered: “What is a gender minority group and who are women who belong to such groups? Hermaphrodites? Androgynes? Genderqueers?”

I couldn’t be sure (either what they were or why Wilson Sonsini was putting the spotlight on them), so I asked some of the good people at the firm, and guess what? Not one of them could (or would) say.

Well, by golly! I think I’ve figured it out. They’re fuzzy women, like Page Maillard.

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OK. Where did I get that picture of Ms. Maillard? I got it from this newsletter published by the firm. Take a look at it. It’s chock full of pictures of fuzzy women.

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Honestly, I don’t know what a gender minority group is or why Wilson Sonsini is so interested in their members or so reluctant to say who or what they are.

But I know this: 1) whoever produced that newsletter did a lousy job (and probably doesn’t know the difference between GIF and TIFF), and 2) the firm doesn’t seem to care (else it would hire someone who understands print production and cares about quality).

According to Candace Cook — a student at the New England School of Law, strong writing skills can open doors. She tells this story at her blog:

In addition to these classes [Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property and Legal Research & Writing], I’ve started interviewing for summer internships. I had a couple of interviews, so we’ll see how they go. However, one of the interviews was actually for a project that began immediately. It was for a sole practitioner who was working on a copyright case and needed some research. I applied because I like copyrights and he contacted me. He said he had changed his mind about bringing in 1Ls, but he really liked my writing sample, so maybe we could work out something. I met with him, and he decided that he would accommodate my schedule.

I’m reading this speech (delivered at the Legal Writing Institute conference in Seattle) written by George Gopen (Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University Law School) when I run across this:

“Writing is thinking; thinking is writing. If you can get better at one, you can get better at the other. In order to get better at one, you must get better at the other. And it doesn’t matter with which you begin.”

Interesting, methinks. But do I agree?

My first impression is positive, because the first line is catchy, and the next three lines are encouraging. The whole graph is set in style, and I like that.

But do I agree?

It turns out I don’t. Or maybe I do, but I find exceptions:

I’m in the grocery store, and I’m short on funds. So I compare the price of this can to the price of that can to figure which can to buy. I’m thinking, but I’m nowhere near writing.

I’m staring out a window wondering how I’m going to explain Long Polynomial Division to a class of first-year students. It occurs to me that I could compare division of Arabic numerals to division of Roman numerals to explain both the concept and the procedure. Once again, I’m thinking, but I’m not writing.

I’m headed towards a meeting with an attorney, or the marketing director of a law firm, and I’m polishing my presentation. I’m figure the order of things, and their relative importance. I’m thinking, but I’m not writing.

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