Customer Reviews

Thinking Like A Writer: A Lawyer's Guide To Effective Writing And Editing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book gives great advice on how to make your legal writing more effective. The key point to understand with legal writing is that it's supposed to be a tool to help the reader either make a decision or understand the effects of certain actions. The reader is supposed to get smarter after every sentence and by the end of it he knows what he's supposed to do or what is going to happen. This book does a great job of teaching you how to write so that this happens for the reader.

A lot of times when us lawyers write we have all this information in our heads from all this research, so we do this information dump onto the page because we are exhausted or plain sick of it and want to get it over with. There are two problems with this. Many lawyers don't organize the information and/or they leave out information. This makes reading opinions and arguments confusing and frustrating for the reader which is the complete opposite of what legal writing is supposed to be about. This book shows you what to do so that this doesn't happen.

I like it because every piece of advice is principled. Actually, most of it is stuff you feel like you should already know, but somehow it didn't cross your mind. That's why I loved it. I wasn't afraid to put the advice into action because it all made sense to me. All in all, a great book. Surprised it doesn't have more reviews from law students.

CON: The examples/before and afters are WAY TOO LONG. I did't even read most of them because I don't care to read a 15 page opinion and then read a better version of it.

My Professor, who is an attorney, at my college recommended this book. It is a very good book. Can refer back to it constantly. Couldn't live without the book concerning legal writing.

I have long been a fan of
the authors. This edition
is expanded from the original.
It's no 'quick fix'
but if you apply their principles,
the effectiveness and impact of your legal/professional writing will vastly improve

Best book ever written on legal writing.

Armstong and Terrell's lawyer's guide to effective writing and edting is simply the best book ever written on legal writing. I would advise lawyers, judges, and paralegals to buy it, read it, and use it.