Your book is ridiculously good. I got up through page xiv and 5 and then died. I had to stop reading and pen this note.

No. 1️⃣: Your book is exceptionally written. Let me say that again. Your book is exceptionally written.

That is the highest possible praise I, Amanda Dealy Haverstick, could possibly say to an author.

A woman sees it & checks 9 of 10.

“I’m not qualified. I’ll never get it,” she tells herself.

—She slinks away and doesn’t apply.

A man comes across the same job listing.

He reads the 10 qualifications & checks off 3.

Perhaps you prefer the hand-written letter by snail mail.

We sure don’t get them often enough these days.

A good one can really make your day.

The email newsletter?

We get too many of them these days.

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:

You’re making 3 big mistakes.

Here’s why, how you can fix them, and
some cool follow suggestions:

1️⃣ MISTAKE No. 1: You post with a FIREWALL.

You post an article you’ve written.
We can’t read it.

The last thing you want to do is confuse a witness, fact, or document from one case with that of another.

So you really need a good organization system.

👉 Enter the 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝘁 & 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻

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.

-You feel like you have to be perfect.
-You get scared to let your guard down.
-You strive not to let them see the tears, the struggle, the sweat.

That makes for a stressful existence, and it can really take a toll.

Over time, I developed a practice of keeping 3 folders in my office that really helped me feel less daunted and more in control.

♥️ 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.

If you did not get the grades you’d hoped for, there is nothing wrong with you, and you are not some sort of screw up.

—> What happened is you got screwed by the curve.

I do not fully understand why law schools grade this way, or why the curve at one law school can be so dramatically different from that at another.

“What on earth is that?” you ask.

Well, I’m going to tell you!

👉 The rule’s inspired by a famous court scene in the 1992 film, “A Few Good Men.”

Tom Cruise plays a young Navy lawyer and sits first chair at a trial, while Demi Moore plays his lieutenant commander in second chair.

So here goes. ⤵️

I’m fifty-five, female, and married to Matt for twenty-six years (he’s a lawyer, too). We live in a suburb of Philadelphia and have three daughters in their 20s, including one who is a 3L now.

I grew up in a suburb of NYC. My father was a lawyer and my mother, an English teacher. (Yes, I know; go figure.)