Here’s how I got a handle on things + chose which cases to use in my memos and briefs as a lawyer.

I hope it will help you come up with a system that works best for you!

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🔹 I gathered my cases and divided them into 2 piles.

Do you question what I say?

Here’s a primer plus a question for my friends across the pond:

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In the U.S., and in U.S. legal English:

📍 In light of the fact that
📍 Due to the fact that
📍 As a result of
📍 For the reason that
📍 On account of the fact that
📍 On the grounds that

All these ways take a roundabout route to get to your point.

Alas, but you do.

Here’s what I mean:

🔹 Definition:

An “expletive” doesn’t just need to be a profane or obscene term.

It’s easy to make it. I did.

It was fatal.

Here’s what happened and 3 lessons learned.

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Scope: U.S. Legal Writing*

Here are two examples.

1️⃣ NO COMMA IN ORIGINAL

Original:  “The complaint lacked sufficient facts to survive summary dismissal, but we grant plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint.”

But it does.

And I’m not just talking about Bluebook cites. I’m talking about your prose.

Here’s the deal: Lawyers need to use 2 commas when other writers don’t.

Just learn them now: the Oxford Comma & the TICTAC Comma.

1️⃣ Fully justify your body text.

—That will cut lines b/c full justification fits more letters per line than left justification.

2️⃣ Working from the bottom up, systematically attack each paragraph with only a few words in its final line of text.

Here’s the built-a-business side of the story.

1️⃣

In 2016, I got laid off from a BigLaw firm. I can’t lie: that stung.

In the intervening years, I “tried on” many roles. None quite fit.

But be careful after a negative verb: “because” causes ambiguity.

Here are some examples:

1️⃣ She was not promoted because she is female.

—Was she promoted? That isn’t clear.

Dear Legal Writer, Next time you’re trying to cut words or add some punch, try this:

Replace “is not required to” with “need not.”

For example:

❌ Instead of: “The defendant is not required to disprove the plaintiff’s claims.”

Dear 1L,

If you want to succeed in legal writing this year, you’ll need to forget what you’ve learned about how to organize a body paragraph.

For high-school and college writing, you likely did something like:

But it’s no picnic for legal reading, either.

So strip some weight from everyone’s load. Try these 6 sentence shorteners:

🥵 TOO HEAVY 🥵 --> 🎈LIGHT 🎈

1: Despite the fact that —> Even though

2: In order to —> To

It’s official trademark status for Dear 1L!

I don’t quite know yet where I’m taking any of this, but it makes me feel proud to be building something that’s helping so many people.

Your support has meant the world to me. Thank you. Writing to you has brought me great joy.

I received a comment on my recent “5 Hacks” post from someone I don’t know. She seemed quite exasperated by it all:

“Writing great fiction is the antithesis of documenting complex transactions. . . . How can I restore the creative skill I possessed prior to becoming a legal writer?”