Writing to Win: The Legal Writer (Paperback)

~ (Author) "1. Remember that most writing difficulties are organizational difficulties..." (more)
Key Phrases: litigation writing, written discovery, legal prose, Supreme Court, United States, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the case of Steven D. Stark v. members of the American Bar Association, we'd all come out winners, if Stark prevailed. For 12 years Stark taught legal writing to Harvard Law School students; now, he's out to teach the rest of us. "You don't need a literary critic," says Stark, "to know how badly most lawyers write." He offers as evidence most briefs, memos, and law review articles. Using legal jargon helps lawyers confuse the court, which in some cases is the best defense they've got, and it also helps convince impressed clients that exorbitant fees are well earned.

But Stark argues that good legal writing should pass what he calls the McDonald's test. "If you were to read the document you're drafting aloud in McDonald's," Stark asks, "would people understand what you're saying?" He also insists that, like fiction writers and journalists, lawyers need to be good storytellers. "On one level," he says, "a lawsuit is simply a clash of competing stories. If you tell your story better than the lawyer for the other side ... you will have a far better chance of prevailing." Writing to Win is an excellent resource for guidance on organization and research, litigation writing, oral argument, and even writing memos and letters. Stark illustrates his lessons with examples written by lawyers--whereas most law schools rely more heavily on the writing of judges. Among his many salient points are his recommendations that you should lead with your conclusions ("legal arguments or explanations," he says, "should not be like an O. Henry short story") and that you should deal with the arguments against your case. The latter is not only best heard from you rather than from your adversary, but it "actually enhances your credibility." --Jane Steinberg

Product Description

From a master teacher, a results-oriented approach to powerful legal writing that communicates, that persuades--and that wins.

Of all the professions, the law has the most deserved reputation for opaque, jargon-clogged writing. Legal education, which focuses on judicial opinions, not instruments of persuasion, is partly to blame. Yet forceful writing is one of the most potent weapons of legal advocacy. In Writing to Win, Steve Stark, a former teacher of writing at Harvard Law, who has taught thousands of aspiring and practicing lawyers, has written the only book on the market that applies the universal principles of vigorous prose to the job of making a case--and winning it.

Writing to Win focuses on the writing of lawyers, not judges, and includes dozens of examples of effective (and ineffective) real-life writing--as well as models drawn from advertising, journalism, and fiction. It deals with the problems lawyers face in writing, from organization to strengthening and editing prose; teaches ways of improving arguments; addresses litigation and technical writing in all its forms; and covers the writing attorneys must perform in their practice, from memos and letters to briefs and contracts. Each chapter opens with a succinct set of rules for easy reference.

No other legal writing book on the market is as practical, as focused on results, as well written as Writing to Win.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Main Street Books; 1 edition (December 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385495927
• ISBN-13: 978-0385495929
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #71,442 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly funny, December 6, 2001

By	"[e-mail]" - See all my reviews

Got this book for my stepson, & got a chance to look at it when we visited him at college. As I expected, it's a good book for anyone who wants to improve their writing, whether they are interested in law or not. What I didn't expect is that it was funny. I found myself laughing, sometimes out loud, every few pages.

Highly recommended.

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite an outstanding book, July 28, 2000

By	Christian A. Fisanick (Barnesboro, PA United States) - See all my reviews

Jaded from having read almost every major treatise on legal writing written in the past twenty years, I was surprised by how much I liked Professor Stark's book. It's practical, comprehensive, (I especially liked that he even gave advice about how to write reply briefs, amicus briefs, and e-mail, subjects rarely considered elsewhere. Bravo!), bathroom-readable, and funny. (He titles a chapter "Yes, Virginia, you can even make patent applications more readable by studying board games and cookbooks,") For the price, it's an excellent value, especially when compared to Bryan A. Garner's bloated, ego-driven behemoth "The Winning Brief," which, while making good points, also includes several idiotic ones. Unlike Garner, Stark never succombs to trying to be different simply to stand out from the crowd. For that, he gets my highest praise.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening, yet funny, May 18, 2003

By	Randall Christison (San Diego) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

More than one person has referred to Stark as the David Letterman of legal writing instructors. He advances the notion, also advanced by Bryan Garner and for many years by James Raymond, of clear and (hard as it is for a lawyer to do) interesting writing. The several series of commandments at the beginning chapter beginnings enable you to keep the main ideas in your mind. The book is a good combination of instructional manual and a quick briefing paper. All lawyers should read and embrace Stark's notions. I only wish he had not emphasized winning as the goal, but I suppose that what his publisher needed to get someone to buy the book.