Effective Legal Writing: Drafting for a Global Audience

Michael Bogomolny, a certified court interpreter, is from Russia but has spent time living in Israel. Mr. Bogomolny enrolled in the legal writing course to develop his writing skills and to learn how to write more persuasively and concisely. Mr. Bogomolny is passionate about the law because it involves so much more than statutes and regulations. He enjoys argument, persuasion, and the legal language.

Please share your stories. Why is good legal writing important?

It is never too late to learn how to write well.

"Perhaps the most important skill you will learn and develop throughout your career is the ability to write effectively. In the “real world,” writing matters because, whether it is a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, a motion for summary judgment, a trial or appellate brief, or an arbitration statement, writing is an important vehicle by which you advocate for your client." Megan E. Boyd & Adam Lamparello, Legal Writing for the Real World: A Practical Guide to Success, 46 J. Marshall L. Rev. 487, 487 (2013).

From Joe Moran’s new book, First You Write a Sentence: The Elements of Reading, Writing … and Life.

"A sentence is much more than its literal meaning. It is a living line of words where logic and lyric meet – a piece of both sense and sound, albeit the sound is only heard in the reader’s head. Rookie sentence-writers are often too busy worrying about the something they are trying to say and don’t worry enough about how that something looks and sounds. They look straight past the words into the meaning that they have strong-armed into them. They fasten on content and forget about form – forgetting that content and form are the same thing, that what a sentence says is the same as how it says it.

If a writer’s sentences have enough life and interest in them – with “every step an arrival”, as Rainer Maria Rilke put it – they will hold the reader and move the writing along. The writing finds a hidden unity that has no need of the mucilage of linking phrases. Each sentence is like a tidal island that looks cut off until, at low tide, a causeway to the mainland appears. A good lesson for any writer: make each sentence worth reading, and something in it will lead the reader into the next one. Good writers write not just in sentences but with sentences. Get them right and everything else solves itself or ceases to matter."

Happy National Punctuation Day! What is your favorite mark of punctuation? Mine is the colon.
As it turns out, the United States Secretary of State also
cares about punctuation.

Pompeo cracks down, on improper use, of commas at State Department Iran, North Korea, Syria and ... commas. While Mike Pompeo is focused on a number of key geopolitical concerns, an email obtained by CNN suggests that the secretary of state also appears to have had it, up to, here, with, the rampant, improper use of commas by State Department staff.

Where do the people who take this course live?
United States
Canada
Mexico
South Africa
Uganda
China
Cambodia
Japan
Viet Nam
South Korea
Iran
Saudi Arabia
France
Spain

Would you like to improve your ability to write clearly, concisely, correctly, and persuasively? This self-paced course helps law students, paralegals, attorneys, and judges improve their legal writing.

The 20 modules cover topics including writing effective sentences and paragraphs, grammar and punctuation, writing clearly and concisely, and writing persuasively.

In addition to completing computer-graded exercises, Professor Laurel Currie Oates will provide participants with written feedback on five pieces of their own writing.

For more information, see

Online Legal Writing Learn from the best legal writing professors in the United States without traveling away from home.

"In today’s world, attorneys need to be good writers. They need to be able to communicate effectively with their clients, with opposing parties, and with the courts, and they need to be able to draft documents that eliminate misunderstandings and most litigation."

Laurel Oates teaching a writing course for government attorneys in Liberia, May 2016.

Seattle University's online legal writing course

http://law.seattleu.edu/certificate

Online Legal Writing Certificate Learn from the best legal writing professors in the United States without traveling away from home.

If you would like more information about Seattle University's online legal writing course go to http://law.seattleu.edu/certificate
or email Professor Laurel Currie Oates at [email protected].

Seattle University's Legal Writing program has, once again, been ranked at the top Legal Writing program in the United States by U.S. New and World Report!

Seattle University Legal Writing Students