Dear 1L: In your Reader’s Shoes

Dear 1L,

When self-editing, put yourself in your Reader’s shoes. 

Your Reader may be your professor, boss, partner, law clerk, or judge. But all share common characteristics:

🔹 They are susceptible to boredom and distraction (like us all). 

🔹 They are busy. 

🔹 They have a lot to read. 

Collectively, these characteristics tell us a lot about what we need to do as Writers. 

Here are a few.

✏️ BE CONCISE. 

I doubt any Reader has ever finished reading a legal brief and thought, “I am disappointed. I wish it had stretched on for a few more pages.”

📍 Cut any facts that neither advance your story nor matter to your argument or theme. 

📍 Also cut unnecessary words. I’ve posted before with several examples.

I love the word “prolixity.” I first learned it from Justice Scalia, in an interview he gave to Bryan Garner:

Q:     “What are the main shortcomings of the briefs that you typically say?”  

A:     “Prolixity, probably.”

—Justice Antonin Scalia, as quoted in Bryan A. Garner, 13 The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing 53 (2010).

Do use the word “prolixity.” 📍 Don’t let it be said of your writing.

✏️ BE CLEAR. 

If our writing is hard to follow, it will not inform our Reader, much less persuade our Reader of anything (except perhaps that our points are UNpersuasive).

📍 Avoid ambiguous words and clauses—the ones that could mean more than one thing. 

📍 Don’t leave the Reader guessing about the identity of your verb subjects. 🤔 Prefer an active voice.

📍 Sentences, too, should be shorter than we think. ✂️

✏️ BE CAPTIVATING (or at least engaging). 

The point is:  don’t bore your Reader. 😴

Our Reader needs an interesting narrative and a smooth recitation of legal points. 

Use pinpoint subheadings as signposts. Without these, your Reader may get lost. 🤷‍♂️ A lost Reader is not following you and is unlikely to agree with your arguments. 

Make your brief a pleasure for your Reader. 🥰

Legal writing can be boring. Don’t let your brief be so.

Effective writing wil chauffeur your Reader through the legal concepts in your case. Make your Reader’s journey bump-free.

“You want to take the judge by the hand and lead them along.” But if the judge is “slogging through each sentence…reading becomes a real chore, as opposed to a pleasure.” 

— Justice John G. Roberts, Garner, supra, at 11.

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Next time you edit, try on your Reader’s shoes. It will give you a fresh perspective and help your writing resonate.

Fondly,

Amanda

P.S. Follow —> #Dear1L (885 followers) to receive future letters.

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