I moved cities, bought my own apartment in NYC, and set out to do life as a “career woman.”

(That was what we called women who didn’t marry and just had careers back in 1996.)

Today, you might say I was in full-on, Miley Cyrus, I-can-buy-myself-flowers mode.

“Evergreen” is a term you might recognize from the plant world—it refers to trees that remain green through winter.

But in writing, it means something more: a piece that surpasses its immediate purpose and audience, keeping its usefulness over time.

here’s a radical idea—for law students, but all legal peeps might care—
⬇️

start following Jillian Richardson 👋and Nick Power

 try it for kicks

because i predict your time on linkedin will get more fun fast

I.e. and e.g. are everywhere in legal writing, and too many people mix them up.

In fact, it’s one of the top 5 mistakes Grammar Girl (Mignon Fogarty) says she sees when editing technical documents. (GrammarGirl .com).

You should just learn them now so you don’t have to look them up or guess every time.

Stop switching back and forth indiscriminately.

Choosing between the two words comes up a lot when you need to describe the other side’s argument before explaining why it is wrong. You’ll then want to refer back to that argument without having to repeat the full description again.

Should you refer to it as “this” argument or “that” argument?

It’s unnecessary and considered redundant.

❌ The teacher said hi to only one boy, (whose name was Charlie).

❌ The judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff, (who had a strong case).

So what about after the ending parentheses? Well, that depends on whether the sentence otherwise calls for one, and it’s often within your discretion.

Here’s two examples showing why:

 ❌ “While the stove is off, the toaster works.”

What does the writer mean, A or B?

A: “Although (=whereas) the stove is off, the toaster works.”
 
B: “When (=only when) the stove is off, the toaster works.”

“They don’t teach students the practical skills to be a ‘real’ lawyer.”

Well, that is true in part, but I’ve got a different take when it comes to one skill:

That skill is legal analysis.

Here, it’s the law schools getting it right, and, too often, the “real” lawyers getting it wrong.

Do not use it to describe a court’s holdings in your brief this spring. “Find” and “hold” mean very different things.

“But Amanda,” you say, “many lawyers—even judges—use ‘find’ generically all the time to describe the actions courts take.”

 —I know. You are right about that. But that does not make using “find” right.

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.