Amanda’s Archive
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Amanda’s Archive
Dear 1L: on “However, …”
Dear 1L: On Starting a Sentence with “However,”
Dear 1L: MSJ Primer
Dear 1L, Most of you are writing summary judgment briefs this spring. You approach…
Dear 1L: IRAC Outline – Standing
Dear 1L, Here is the start of an outline template for an IRAC exam…
Dear 1L: Interview Tips
Dear 1L, I have been conducting mock Zoom interviews of law students during the…
Recent Posts
Dear Legal Writer: “Since” is a bad word in legal writing. Don’t use it to mean “because.”
Dear Legal Writer: “Since” is a bad word in legal writing. Don’t use it…
Do You “Affect” or “Effect” Something?
For most of my life, I avoided “affect” as a verb. I would use…
Dear Legal Writer: When Discussing Cases, Always Specify Procedural Posture& Outcome
Dear Legal Writer: Every year in BigLaw (except perhaps 2009), there was a fresh…
10 Ways to Slay Your Oral Argument
Dear 1L, It’s normal to be nervous for your first oral argument. It’s a…
Dear 1L: The 2L Summer Job Search Starts Soon!
Dear 1L, The 2L summer job search is right around the corner, and is…
Dear Legal Writer: Make Your Table of Contents a Priority
Dear Legal Writer: It’s a mistake to short shrift your Table of Contents (TOC)….
PERSONAL
For 20 years in BigLaw, I worked on every vacation I ever took. During…
Dear Legal Writer: Here’s a comma guide for clear, correct prose.
Dear Legal Writer, Follow this comma guide to help you write clear, correct prose:…
Dear Legal Writer: Please stop referring to the “company” as “they”
Please stop referring to the “company” as “they.” The “company” is an “it,” not…
Personal Branding
By the time I graduated law school, I had had enough of men. I…
Avoid Expletives in Legal Writing
Dear Legal Writer: If I told you to minimize “expletives” in your legal writing…
Dear Legal Writer: Punctuation with Quotations
Dear Legal Writer: Put a period or comma INSIDE the ending quotation marks, regardless…
Dear 1L: Learn When to Capitalize “Court”
Dear 1L, Too many of you are capitalizing the word “court” when you shouldn’t,…
Dear Legal Writer: Be careful of the word “find” in legal writing
Dear Legal Writer: Be careful with the word “find.” In fact, if you’re writing…
For February Bar Exam Takers
This post is for those taking the February bar exam.I had to take 3…
Dear 1L: This is My “Office”
These days, it’s easy to get blue. Another winter Sunday,In the library, you will…
Dear 1L,
Who are you when you leave BigLaw AND stop the active practice of law?…
Dear 1L: Advice on Job Interview Questions to Ask in Interviews for Your 1L
Summer Internship
Dear 1L, The best interview advice I ever received was to ask the type…