Dear Legal Writer, Any halfway serious litigator knows that legal writing isn’t a flex; it’s how you do the job.

And in a Labor & Employment practice (L&E), that’s even more true.

Everyone says “L&E is a writers’ practice,” and in my 20 years of practicing it, I can assure you that’s true.

When you are explaining the law to HR one day and persuading a judge tomorrow about such fact-rich and nuanced matters, “I’m just not a writing person” is not a viable career strategy.

That’s why I’m so excited about the talk I’m giving tomorrow for 36 summer associates at Ogletree Deakins

(Thank you so much to Elissa Meyer and Abbey Dzwierzynski for arranging!)

The talk is called “Write Before Summer,” and I’m teaching the tips that will give folks the biggest bang for the buck. Here’s what I plan to cover

(and you’ll note it’s all in THREEs):

🔹 Three mistakes new associates make on page 1 that kill their credibility.

🔹 Three rules for describing cases in a way that’s helpful for your reader.

🔹 Three ways to use “however” correctly (and why one way is best).

🔹 Three dangerous words in Labor & Employment (L&E) matters.

I’m also preparing a handout with several tools:
1: A chart showing when to capitalize “court.”

2: An explanation of when to capitalize the words “plaintiff” and “defendant.”

3: A list of the 6 most important questions to ask before every legal-writing project, especially when you work in a big, busy law firm.

4. An excerpt from ch 1.3 of my book, “Dear 1L: Notes to Nurture a New Legal Writer,” entitled, “Ten ways to become a better legal writer.”

I’m getting really excited for this!

Because L&E was my practice area for 20 years, I was able to create a lot of highly specific illustrations that I know will be directly relatable to what they’re working on.

WISH ME LUCK?

🍀🍀

(And do let me know if I might come speak with your team on legal writing. 😉)

💌 Amanda

P.S. I will be sharing the details of the above lessons with the 1200+ subscribers to my legal-writing newsletter over the next few weeks. Please make sure you are signed up to receive it!!

#DearLegalWriter