“As” has as many meanings as cats have lives: 

NINE to be exact:

9️⃣ to the same degree or amount

              (“it was as hot as the sun”)

8️⃣ for instance

            (“such as”)

Read it out loud.

Not to yourself.
Not in your mind.
I mean out loud—
loud and with conviction.

Here’s what I predict:

It could list:
—the firm’s style preferences,
—each partners’ pet peeves, and
—common mistakes to search for and avoid.

That would require associates to self-edit and polish BEFORE they hand in a draft. 

Here’s a full how-to:

🔷 WHAT is it?

An em-dash—which looks like these here—is a punctuation mark that shows a break in a sentence.

New lawyers “don’t know how to write.”

▪️ The law firms blame the law schools.

▪️ The law schools blame the colleges.

Instead, should it say, “legal-writing coach”?

Hmmm. Let’s look at the 3 rules on “phrasal adjectives”:

1️⃣

DO HYPHENATE

Others say, “Aim for about 14 words per sentence.”

Others say, “Aim for an average of 20 words.”

And still others propose, “Aim 26 words or less.”

🔹 Tips for the Brief

Often I would understand an analysis in my head, but I couldn’t get it down into words on the page. The tips I share in the video helped me, and I thought they might help you, too.

That’s the name of a new newsletter you should check out.

It is monthly (to start), and it will (big surprise) contain 3 bullets.

▪️ 1 tip for legal writers,
▪️ 1 tip for law-student writers,
▪️ 1 tip for LinkedIn writers.

A: Transition from your legal rule/explanation section to your discussion of court decisions:

-Under these legal standards,
-Applying these rules,
-When considering these factors,

Dear Legal Writer, I was reviewing a few 1L fall memos this week, and I came across a problem that I also see regularly in litigators’ briefs:

▪️ The response to ABC Corp.'s ("ABC") motion is due on __.

I’ve been scared to talk about my book on LinkedIn:

—What if it isn’t good?
—What if it isn’t successful?
—What if it is really nothing at all?

I’ve always been a downplayer.

—I don’t like to create expectations.

I used to dread it. I used to play out conversations in my mind over and over again. I’d try
—to script my message with just the right words
—to encourage + inspire without putting down,
—to get my explanations clear so they’d learn.

When you find a case with facts and issues similar to those in your spring LRW assignment:

Pull the underlying briefs from the real-life lawyers from the cases.

These lawyers were discussing the EXACT SAME issues you have to write about in your brief.

Today’s message is inspired by a (Nick Bullard) post from last week and a new book called Elegant Legal Writing out tomorrow by (Ryan McCarl).

Nick’s post said: “Friends don’t let friends use TNR in legal briefs.”