“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.

🔸 My first was 1996 (NY). Debilitating back spasms made it too painful for me to sit for the in‑person bar-prep courses (which were the only game in town then).

So I studied alone at my parents’ house.

Even my firm mattress felt too mushy, so I studied, ate, and slept on a comforter on the floor.

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

👉 This is a fantastic article
(and a quick read)—-it will help you!!

Note the emphasis on LISTENING during the oral argument.

For those with my “Dear 1L” book, don’t forget to review “Interlude No. 6” at p. 259 for my oral-argument advice.

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.

A still-dark scene on my window bay.
Forever it took for the sun to rise,
And away it will go, long before 5.

So while, on grades, you’ve a one-track eye,
Please do this ONE thing for me today,
and here is the why:

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

She only received two, according to reports, and they came as a shock:

a B in Crim;
a B- in Torts.

True, Justice Kagan was at Harvard Law School—where simply passing might be cause to celebrate—but her story should inspire you wherever you attend.

“Find” and “hold” mean very different things.

▪️ “Find” refers to determining facts—what actually happened. This is the job of a fact-finder (a jury, or sometimes a judge in a bench trial or preliminary hearing).

▪️ “Hold” refers to a legal conclusion—a court’s determination of what the law means or what the law requires, given the facts.

‍ ‍

Well, here’s why we use it and how you can do so effectively in your spring brief:

🔷 “To be sure” signals, “I will now acknowledge the point that most hurts me, in hopes of defusing it on my own terms.”

— “The date was amazing for Brad and myself.”
— “Sarah and myself have a real connection.”
— “This journey has really helped myself grow.”

❌ NO! NO! NO!
(Somewhere, a grammar teacher is sobbing into a rose.)

Please, if you didn’t get what you’d hoped for, please know there’s nothing wrong with you, and you are not some sort of screwup.

—> What happened is you got screwed by a brutal curve.