Customer Reviews

The Winning Brief: 100 Tips for Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Court

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My practice focuses on law-and-motion and appellate law. Well-written and persuasive briefs are my bread and butter. Garner's book helps me butter the bread. I have several of Bryan Garner's books (The Elements of Legal Style; A Dictionary for Modern Legal Usage; his two editions of Black's), but this is the one that has had the biggest influence on my brief writing. I received it at one of his brief-writing seminars. Since I attended the seminar and read the book, the quality of my briefs has increased exponentially. Garner guides the brief writer from the initial planning stages, through framing the issues (invaluable!), editing, punctuation, word choice, tips for impact (don't start a sentence with "however"; use "but," "although", or insert the "however" after the subject), and even technical tips about formatting (e.g. using bulleted lists.) I recommend it wholeheartedly.

One misses the point of Mr. Garner's book if they think this is another treatise on brief writing. Mr. Garner's approach, though commonsensical, is sorely needed in the legal world. So many briefs are too long, too boring, and too obtuse to be of any use. Granted one need not follow all of Mr. Garner's tips, such as footnotes, but if you follow most of them, you will end up with a brief that is not a chore to read, succinctly informs the judge of the issue and why she should rule in your favor. This book is definitely for people who think they already know how to write a brief, and who don't need any book to help them do so (and who also most likely churn out boring, difficult to read briefs). There is a world of difference between a typical brief and the type that Mr. Garner envisions. By the way, anyone who has not taken Mr. Garner's course should. He is one of the best public speakers and teachers you will ever encounter.

Bryan A. Garner, editor-in-chief for the latest edition of Black's Law Dictionary, is one of America's foremost proponents of the "plain English" movement in the law. In The Winning Brief, Mr. Garner distills the principles found in his seminars and his other books (such as The Elements of Legal Style) and channels them toward one goal: helping the reader write better legal briefs.

The Winning Brief presents its advice in the form of 100 tips, each followed by quotations, commentary, and examples. The tips follow the chronological order of a writing project, from initial brainstorming to proofreading. The tips are listed inside the front and rear covers for quick reference.

Mr. Garner's advice has contributed directly to my practice. I have applied his advice in writing four summary judgment motions; two were granted, while the other two led to favorable settlements for my clients.

The reader is sure to find at least one or two tips that can be applied immediately to a current writing project. Not only that, but Mr. Garner's advice can be applied to other non-fiction writing projects. In sum, I heartily recommend this book to all attorneys who hope to be more persuasive in their writing.

This volume is by far the best work available on legal writing. Most of Prof. Garner's advice applies not merely to briefs but to memos, letters, and other persuasive or analytical forms. His chapters take you through every step of writing, from the earliest, painful efforts to collect your thoughts, through outlining, issue-framing, structuring an argument, and finally the specifics of sentence structure, word choice, and punctuation. Unlike many writing manuals, this book places emphasis where it is really needed: not on mechanics, but on the large structural tasks that can make or break a project. While some of Prof. Garner's formatting suggestions may not be acceptable in many jurisdictions, his more general advice -- the real reason for buying this book -- will be helpful everywhere.

Garner's book is helpful because:
1) It is written in an easy to understand accessible way.
2) It segregates and categorizes what he characterizes as tips. That allows the reader to weigh and evaluate the merit of Garner's judgment on a tip individually. It also allows the reader to conceptually focus on a narrow writing issue.
3) The advantage of each "tip" is supported by a brief observation or argument.
4) Garner uses examples to support the validity of his arguments in favour of a tip, often with before and after pieces of writing.
5) Because of the organization into 100 tips, the book also can be a helpful reference.

While the advice to avoid clutter, in words, ideas, and layout sounds commonsensical, applying that advice is not always so obvious. I think Garner does a terrific job.

Even though, in an effort to avoid clutter, I have been using many of these "tips", I had not engaged in the kind of analysis that Garner has. Even it you already observe these tips, there is some comfort in having validation--that you are on the right track.

An earlier reviewer refers favourably to Judge Aldisert's book from NITA about appeal briefs in the course of reviewing Garner's book. I am reading that book now. I do not think Judge Aldisert's book is a superior alternative to Garner's book. I think the books are complementary. Justice Aldisert's book has a number of points that are specific to certain areas of American appellate practice. Garner's book is more about getting your ideas across well through writing, and has a strong emphasis on some important components in putting sentences and paragraphs together, grammatical, structural, choice of vocabulary.

Overall, Garner's book is a tremendous resource. Lucky lawyers reading it; lucky judges when they get the benefit of better written briefs because of Garner's book.

I'm a former paralegal currently in law school, and one of the more difficult things about dealing with the law is making your writing sparkle... in the most succinct way possible. This book can help. With countless examples and snippets of wisdom culled from top legal minds, Bryan Garner has put together a fantastic resource. He takes the reader through the entire process of writing to the court, from brainstorming to the million (or 100, at least) ways to polish a document.

This isn't a book that rehashes writing tips you'll find in more general guides--it is specifically geared toward the delicate craft of legal writing. Admittedly, this is a somewhat pricey tome, but it's worth every penny.

Bryan Garner's book on brief-writing is the finest of its kind. I have asked all of the junior litigation associates in my office to purchase "The Winning Brief" and to adopt the principles and techniques Mr. Garner outlines so effectively. Mr. Garner's book should be required reading for every law student (and practicing litigator) in the country.

This was one of the best books on legal writing I've read. Excellent. I wish I could afford a copy for myself! (I was lucky to find it at the library.)

Yes, there are a lot of good things collected here in Bryan A. Garner's big book o' brief writing tips. I do, however, have a couple of serious reservations about this book. Some of the advice given here, in Garner's efforts to be "hip," "contemporary" and "cutting edge," is simply ridiculous and so out-of-touch with modern appellate practice that it must be taken for hogwash. I know that if I followed Tip 21 and put all my citations in footnotes, I would not only get laughed at, but also chastized, by every appellate court in my jurisdiction. (Oh, my judges would just kill to see my briefs littered with 20 footnotes per page!) Also, while I respect an author's confidence in his subject matter, Garner is so enamored with himself and his "accomplishments" that you wonder if the work isn't just one big advertizing brochure shilling his company's legal writing seminars. ("My brilliant colleague at LawProse... ."; "I got a huge verdict..." ad nauseum. And by the way, the "stunningly good" brief writer, the late Thomas Gibbs Gee, did not invent Tip 72, the "deflating opener." I had been using this technique for years before Gee left the bench. )

That said, it all boils down to this: Beginning brief writers should buy the book but have an experienced colleague help them separate Garner's good points from his bone-headed ones. Experienced brief writers probably won't need much of Garner's advice, but they should buy the book anyway for a chuckle or two. Overall, Judge Ruggero Aldisert's NITA book, "Winning on Appeal," is my pick for best brief writing book.