So far, they've all called about their sons.

They’re starting law school in the fall.

And they’re “really smart.”

But they “can’t write.”

“It’s their schools’ fault.
They didn’t train him well.”

They feel it when:

🔻 your prose plods,
🔻 every sentence marches at the same tempo,
🔻 every paragraph lands with the same dull thud.

It systematically roots out the 6 worst sins in legal writing:

-Passives
-Expletives
-Nominalizations
-Complexities
-Intensifiers
-Legalese

1️⃣ PASSIVES (search for “by”)

Remember the court scene in “A Few Good Men”?

Tom Cruise says, “I object,” and the court overrules.

But Demi Moore isn’t satisfied. She just has to get up and say: “I strenuously object.”

My heart races.
My stomach sinks.
My breath hastens, and SNAP:

I suddenly become drenched, head to toe.

My genes are 99% Irish, too.

So a surge of adrenaline makes the the blood pump up into my face and turn me into the most conspicuously nervous-looking red tomato 🍅.

Yet I see people use it regularly.

I now want you to put it in the trash. 🗑️

Instead, try “Even though.”

It is shorter and so much smoother.

Examples—

 —Chris Schandevel

(describing a brief in which “MOO” was used to define an agreement (“Memorandum of ?”))

Dear Legal Writer:

📌 CUT “the weird acronyms and initialisms.” (Make sure to read the comments below the post, too!)

That is both good and bad.

Good is that:
—No one criticizes me.
—No one dictates my schedule.
—No one tells me what work to do.

Bad is that:
—I criticize myself more than any boss would.
—I do better when I have a schedule.
—What work should I do???

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

But “evergreen” writing means writing that surpasses its immediate purpose and audience, keeping its usefulness over time.

Lesson for you in your law-firm interviews: Beware of the associate lunch.

Growing up, I had learned to downplay my accomplishments.
To be humble.
To be liked.

The lesson was “taught” to me the hard way
— by those kids in the “cool” cliques.

Here are 5 key shifts to make:

1️⃣ I am writing to impress —> I am writing to communicate

2️⃣ I need to be trained —> I will train myself

3️⃣ I aim to write acceptably —> I aim to write exceptionally

Subject + Verb

🔹 1: Identify the subject in your sentence.

The SUBJECT tells who or what the sentence is about (e.g., “The boy” in “The boy kicked the ball.”).

🔹 2: Now, find your verb.

I am thinking of hosting a small “legal writing lab” in February.

The idea is to get 4-6 lawyers together once a week.

—I will teach content from my new legal writing course.

the hyphen (-),
the en-dash (–),
the em-dash (—), (that’s 3!)

Check out below, and an expert you’ll be:

🔺 HYPHEN (-)

We’ll start with the hyphen,
and you can call it a “dash.”
It links multi‑word adjectives,
as in this little miss-match:

And while you’re at it, cut “regard” from your vocabulary altogether:

👎 “Regarding”
👎👎 “In regard to”
👎👎👎 “As regards”

All of these sound like nails on a chalkboard in legal writing.
They bloat your sentences and make them sound clunky and awkward