I knew it would happen eventually, but wow, it still sucked.

Last evening, as I played the otherwise terrible day back in my mind, the review was the thing that really stuck in my craw.

Then a real friend came through for me.

And I emphasize “real.”

The JDs coming from law school do not know how to write.

🔹 Yes, law schools are too academic + unfocused on the practical skills needed.

🔹 But legal-writing professors face a mounting challenge:

The students coming out of college do not know how to write, either (at least not anywhere near as well as they used to).

(Old law-school deans apparently used say that on the first day of law school.)

Here’s what I want you to think about today instead:

⬇️

Look left; look right;
30 years from now,
1 will be your boss,

🔹 Old, obsolete way:

-Use complex words non-lawyers won’t know.
-Use no charts, timelines, or photographs.
-Add emphasis with boldface and italics.
-Write in Times New Roman font.
-Use acronyms for party names.
-Use footnotes to save space.
-Maximize use of legalese.

To me, marking edits in red ink is like using ALLCAPS in an email.

Where ALLCAPS signifies shouting, red ink signifies barking.

The result is a bloody butchering of the pages:
—> the draft looks like a crime scene,
—> the junior lawyer feels skewered.

Dear 1L,

You will do better this year if you decide how the important parts of each day go in advance.

Most 1Ls choose to play things by ear.
They let external factors dictate their days.

It starts with what time they wake up.

▪️ “I love ‘But’ at the beginning of a sentence, and I never put ‘However’ at the beginning—almost never.”

— Justice Antonin Scalia (Garner, 13 The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing (2010), at 60.)

▪️ “‘However,’ is a ‘ponderous’ way to [start a sentence].”

🔹 When you wrote in college, you got rewarded for writing MORE.

—You had to write papers LONG enough to meet a page or word MINimum.

E.g., “must be at least twenty-five pages.”

🔹 But in law school, you get rewarded for writing LESS.

Hello! I hope your summer has been going well and that you’re getting excited for law school to start.

Most people also feel some anxiety, and as orientation approaches, the fear of uncertainty can come on pretty strong.

I am going to try to alleviate some of that for you by sharing helpful info and tools you can use throughout the year.

And wish Chris Schandevel happy birthday today! To celebrate, he’s shared a fabulous gift with you:

It is 74 obest legal-writing tips:

all packed together into one Brief-Writing Ninja Legal Style Guide.

And it’s absolutely free.

1️⃣ Remember #Dear1L?

Yeah, that was the hashtag I started and grew to 2,810 followers.

—I started #DearLegalWriter, too. That one I grew to 1,722 followers.

Then LinkedIn said ❌ to hashtags.*

👉 Lesson: Be careful building on rented land.

You use the word “would” in front of several of your verbs.

E.g.,
—“Plaintiff would drive 45 minutes longer for the new role.”

—“Plaintiff would contribute $100,000 to the fund.”

In each, there’s ambiguity:

Learn these today so you don’t get points off in law school:

1️⃣

In the legal world, we spell the word “judgment” without an “e.”

—> Change your Word settings so they autocorrect “judgement” to “judgment” when you type.

Three years ago, I started a pinboard to help me stay motivated.

It hangs on the wall next to where I write.

On it, I’ve collected 10 mottos.

1: Don’t compare yourself to other people. You do YOU.
2: People think about you FAR less than you believe.

IN-HOUSE COUNSEL:

This term refers to attorneys who are employed at an entity (such as a company or organization) that is not “in the business” of providing attorney or other legal services. In-house counsel typically serve one and only one client: the same entity that employs them.