What’s that you say? “I would never use expletives in legal writing.”

Yeah, I hear that. But you do.

Here’s what I mean:

🔹 Definition:

Truth is: I’ve been scared to write about it before.

And please don’t say, “ just follow the easy ‘he/him’ rule.”
I know that “easy rule.”
The topic is more nuanced.

So here I go.

By the time you’re a mid-level associate, you’ve put in some tough time—

You’ve endured the early years of 0% control over your schedule.

—You’ve canceled social plans;
—you’ve sacrificed umpteen weekends; and

Judges hate surprises.

Like “surprise facts.”

Those are ones you didn’t describe neutrally in your Facts section.

Yet increasingly, I’m seeing briefwriters get sloppy.

Here are the rules, and I’ve also attached a chart you can save, print, and pin on your wall.*

RULES:

In addition to capitalizing the word “court” whenever you write out its full, formal name (obviously), only 3 other situations require or permit you to capitalize that word:

▪️ What’s better in legal writing? “prior to” or “before”?

▪️ Should you add extra spaces below the first line of a post?
 
▪️ What should you do if your case has multiple corporate entities?

Last week I sent answers to these 3 questions to 𝟭,𝟬𝟳𝟵 people.

“The same” wreaks havoc.

To illustrate:

🔹 "She delivered the goods to the warehouse and then sold the same."

—Does "same" refer to the goods or the warehouse?

🔹 “The contract has a 30-day notice rule. Failure to comply with same will result in penalties."

I thought I’d pass it along.
It is good advice!

➡️ Because when you start to think about your reader as you’re writing, something really cool happens:

You realize it’s not just you sitting there alone,
banging at that keyboard.

So please listen closely.

—> Most people think that “as such” means something like “therefore,” or “accordingly,” and they use it as a catch-all to stand for what they said in the preceding sentence.

For instance, many writers would use “As such” in sentence pairs like these:

Do you question what I say?

Let’s do a little play—

1/ Recall the concept, “collective noun.”

A “company” is one.

Others are are:

I’m working on slides for my prelaw writing course, and I learned 2 new terms:

“purple prose” & “minimalist writing”

The photo is my sketch of the SWITCH from 🟣 purple to 🟡 yellow.

Students must make this switch when going from college to law school.

All I’d hear back from the partner was a “Thx.”

And today, the associates who come to me for legal writing support feel at their wits end.

So here’s my premise:

⬇️

Legal writing causes depression.

The word “since” is a bad synonym for “because.”

 True, “since”
—is a full syllable shorter;
—is two fewer letters.

It also can sound better than “because.”

But still.

but I can barely make 50K a year.

So is there cause for celebration?

As a solopreneur, I don’t know.

It is so hard, and it feels like a constant climb.

Some days you are on a really high high.
You think you are living the dream.

♥️ Put your 1st draft in a letter to a loved one.

▪️ Billionaire investor Warren Buffett authors a report to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway every year. His annual letter has become a highly anticipated event in the investment world that’s been widely celebrated for its wisdom, clarity, and insight.