I got straight A’s.
I followed all the rules.
And I never got into any trouble.

“The last of the sweet and innocent,”
the high-school yearbook dubbed me.

That was in 7th grade, but by 9th, my goody two shoes fell out of vogue.

My best friends started resenting me.

It’s potentially THE No. 1 most important part of a brief.

Here’s why:

1: It’s the first thing a court sees.

(—First impressions can be everything.)

2: It’s the first thing a court sees.

“But Amanda,” you say, “many lawyers—even judges—use ‘find’ generically all the time to describe the actions courts take.”

 —I know. You are right about that. But that does not make using “find” right.

🔹 An appellate court doesn’t “find” anything. It renders conclusions of law, not fact.

They save space AND make your writing flow better.

🐣 “it is anticipated that” —> “it is expected that”

🐣 “did not provide any” —> “provided no”

🐣 “pursuant to” —> “under”

***
So what’s in your basket for today?

See if you can spot the best choice:

🔺 As
🔺 For
🔺 Since
✅ Because
▪️ Based on
🔻 As a result of
🔻 For the reason that
🔻 On the grounds that
🔻 In light of the fact that
🔻 On account of the fact that

Greta.

23.

Just released her first single on Spotify.

“Baby Fat”

I have chills.

I’ve listened to 1,000 times on repeat,

Here’s the 3-2-1 on how to use “however” to show contrast:
—3 grammatically correct ways
—2 ways folks mess things up
—1 superior way for legal writing

🔷 Three correct ways to Use “however” to show contrast—

1: You may start a sentence with “however” followed by a comma.

I’ve spent the last five years entrenched in this subject, and I’m convinced our current system is not working.

I’d start with law schools, but I have ideas for law firms, too.

For law schools:

🔹 Align writing with doctrine. Legal writing should reinforce doctrinal learning, not compete with it.

Never use “which.”

That’s Chief Justice Roberts’s fix.

He hates the word “which.”

He’ll strike it out of your draft.(1)

I will, too.

Here’s why:

So far, they've all called about their sons.

They’re starting law school in the fall.

And they’re “really smart.”

But they “can’t write.”

“It’s their schools’ fault.
They didn’t train him well.”

They feel it when:

🔻 your prose plods,
🔻 every sentence marches at the same tempo,
🔻 every paragraph lands with the same dull thud.

It systematically roots out the 6 worst sins in legal writing:

-Passives
-Expletives
-Nominalizations
-Complexities
-Intensifiers
-Legalese

1️⃣ PASSIVES (search for “by”)

Remember the court scene in “A Few Good Men”?

Tom Cruise says, “I object,” and the court overrules.

But Demi Moore isn’t satisfied. She just has to get up and say: “I strenuously object.”

My heart races.
My stomach sinks.
My breath hastens, and SNAP:

I suddenly become drenched, head to toe.

My genes are 99% Irish, too.

So a surge of adrenaline makes the the blood pump up into my face and turn me into the most conspicuously nervous-looking red tomato 🍅.

Yet I see people use it regularly.

I now want you to put it in the trash. 🗑️

Instead, try “Even though.”

It is shorter and so much smoother.

Examples—