💫 Dear 1L - Spotlight

Today I introduce Michael Aronson, a 2L who started as a small-town, ice-hockey goalie with big-time plans: He’d someday become the star starting goalie for the Florida Panthers.

During long training hours with the team’s goalie coach, Michael ultimately seized a spot on a Junior-level team and was one big step closer to realizing his hockey-star dream.

✏️ Dear 1L Writer,

We need to have a little chat about “which” and “that.”

You are all using “which” WAY too much.

In today’s holiday (sort of) spirit and for Halloween, I dispense with formal grammar terms and all of the examples you can easily find online.

Dear 1L Writer,

When you write your very first legal memo, please don’t get discouraged by how long it takes you. There is nothing “wrong” with you. Legal writing just takes a very long time.

Everyone is in the same boat, too. It’s not just you.

Dear 1L Writer,

I’m seeing students use “proscribe” and “prescribe” interchangeably. Wanted to make sure you were clear that the words are near opposites.

🔷 To “prescribe” means to direct or instruct a rule (or course of conduct) to be followed (e.g., a doctor prescribing medicine or exercise). But “prescribe” comes up in law, too.

Dear Legal Writer,

When you write a legal research memo or brief, you spend a lot of time writing about how your case compares to other cases. A dilemma you face is how to refer to your case.

You have many options, including:

➖ In this case

If you write “Thus,” “Therefore,” or similar words to start a sentence, elevate your style by moving such words to the middle of the sentence.

Here’s an example of each:

1️⃣

▪️ ORIGINAL: “Thus, we decided to delay the deposition.”

Dear 1L Writer,

I’m not sure why this trips up new law students, but in US English, put the period or comma INSIDE ending quotation marks, regardless of whether the period or comma appeared in the original, quoted material.

Here are two examples.

✏️ Dear 1L Writer,

If you write “the fact that,” please stop.  Why?

It’s a clunky clause that says nothing.

It’s even worse when coupled with “despite,” as in “despite the fact that.”

Here are some better options.

💌 Dear 1L Writer,

This quick guide will help you write more clearly.

🟢 A, B, and C = ✔️ best practice

🔴 A, B and C = ✖️ not best practice

RULE:  DO use a comma before “and” in a list of 3 or more. 

💌 Dear 1L,

If you want to succeed in legal writing, you’ll need to shift your mindset. Here’s what I mean.

In college:

Your papers and essays had to be long enough to meet a minimum page or word length (e.g. “must be at least 20 pages”).

💌 Dear 1L,

OCI writing samples: 3 steps to increase the odds yours is well-received by law firms.

1️⃣ CRAFT A COVER MEMO.

Include a short, concise cover memo to introduce your OCI writing sample. 

💌 Dear 1L,

I’ve recently been making my way through a big stack of your legal writing samples for OCI.

A lot of you are using 7-9 page excerpts from longer briefs you wrote in your spring-semester, legal-writing class.  

Dear 1L,

You are misusing the words “comprise” and “compose.”

I concede: I, too, didn’t know the words well during law school.

The “comprise-compose” conundrum comes often in legal writing.

The difference between the two words is not intuitive, 

Dear 1L,

I’m keeping a list of recurring mistakes in law-student writing samples.

This one is easy: make sure you know when to capitalize “court.”

*    *    *

🔷 CAPITALIZE SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States)

Dear 1L,

If you’re someone who routinely writes the phrase “in order to,” I suggest you reconsider.

Almost always, a simple “to” will do.

Try it when you edit your writing this summer.  Run a search for the phrase “in order to.”  Substitute the simple “to.”