Kids create video, write law journal article about Texas Supreme Court

Two siblings whose mother is an appellate lawyer decided to make a video in which they interviewed Texas Supreme Court justices about their daily lives, their work and how they reach decisions in the cases that come before them.

Sep 5, 2024 2:17 PM CDT

Ketanji Brown Jackson gives readers a tour of her meteoric rise

Although it offers a wealth of biographical detail, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s new memoir, Lovely One, showcases little of the feistiness that marks Jackson’s judicial pronouncements.

Sep 4, 2024 10:55 AM CDT

How to integrate marketing insights into legal writing

Assuming that you share your legal knowledge and experience without oversimplification, advice from marketing experts can be worthwhile and immensely useful. Here are a few ways to embrace marketing advice without leaving your legal training behind.

Sep 3, 2024 1:10 PM CDT

Legal thriller author David Ellis’ day job? Appellate court justice

Justice David W. Ellis has served on the Illinois Appellate Court for the 1st District for nearly 10 years. But readers may know him better as author David Ellis, bestselling writer of more than a dozen legal thrillers.

Aug 29, 2024 8:41 AM CDT

‘Magic spell hypothesis’ may explain legalese, researchers say

Researchers studying the origins of legalese say lawmakers and lawyers may write laws and legal documents in a convoluted manner to confer a “ritualistic, spell-like element” signaling authority.

Aug 20, 2024 3:12 PM CDT

Lawyers as Explainers: Remember, you are writing for intelligent people

As professional workers with words, lawyers above all must be good explainers. The basic approach of expert explainers is to say what would need to be said clearly, simply and pleasantly to a small mixed audience of intelligent people. You think all this is obvious? It’s not. The qualities we’re discussing here aren’t commonplace. They’re rare.

Aug 1, 2024 1:40 AM CDT

Chicago lawyer writes about being GOAT at New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest

Jul 25, 2024 12:19 PM CDT

Supreme Court justices are writing more concurrent opinions to accompany rulings

Some legal observers believe, only partly in jest, that the court is slowly inching back to its seriatim days. The justices seem to be writing a lot of concurrences.

Jul 25, 2024 11:04 AM CDT

‘Shaping the Bar’ author says bar exam protects legal profession, not public

Lawyer and author discusses with the ABA Journal’s Julianne Hill how the bar’s history of creating a method to test minimum competency is outdated and discriminatory.

Jul 24, 2024 8:48 AM CDT

A Law Clerk’s Transition: From umpire’s apprentice to fighter in the ring

As law clerks, we learn to write with a dispassionate tone and an air of neutrality. We write to explain. As lawyers, the same rules apply, but the goal changes: We write to persuade.

Jul 17, 2024 12:00 PM CDT

After lawyers exceed status-letter limit by ‘whopping’ 70 pages, judge sees echoes of fictional Jarndyce case

The handiwork of lawyers who crafted a joint 73-page monthly status letter won’t appear on the federal docket after a magistrate judge noted last week that it was a “whopping” 70 pages over the limit.

Jul 11, 2024 10:36 AM CDT

Writing novels helps this employment lawyer avoid burnout

Brooke Tabshouri was a few years into her legal career when she experienced what she describes as “bad burnout.” She learned through therapy and mindfulness classes that she needed to do something creative when she wasn’t being a lawyer or caring for her two children.

Jul 9, 2024 9:42 AM CDT

Want to understand the logic behind a Supreme Court opinion? Focus on footnotes, says professor

Numerous books have been written about the U.S. Supreme Court, including some by justices and former justices themselves. But a new book by Peter Charles Hoffer, a distinguished research professor at the University of Georgia, looks at historic rulings through a different lens in The Supreme Court Footnote: A Surprising History.

Jun 18, 2024 8:59 AM CDT

Retired D.C. Circuit judge talks about his memoir on navigating a legal career through blindness

Judge David Tatel retired late last year after nearly 30 years on the federal appeals court. In all that time, he never saw a single piece of paper nor an attorney arguing before him. Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice shares his journey.

Jun 11, 2024 8:35 AM CDT

7th Circuit has no patience for Bernhard Modern—a typeface, not a person

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago is no fan of Bernhard Modern, a typeface used by a Chicago lawyer to the dismay of an appellate panel.

Jun 5, 2024 3:48 PM CDT