Ax these terms from your legal writing

William Cullen Bryant, editor of the New York Evening Post from 1829 until 1878, created an “Index Expurgatorius” for his newspaper. Certain words simply weren’t allowed in its pages. Likewise, James Gordon Bennett Jr., owner of the New York Herald from 1867 to 1918, had his “Don’t List.” For example,…

Apr 1, 2014 8:30 AM CDT

2 books to commemorate 800 years of the Magna Carta

The legal legacy of the Magna Carta is the subject of two books being produced to help mark the 800th anniversary of the charter’s signing. Both books are expected to be published in time for the 2014 ABA Annual Meeting in Boston, where the association will officially launch its Magna…

Apr 1, 2014 6:00 AM CDT

Silver Gavel finalists named; ABA award honors media and arts that foster legal understanding

This year’s finalists for the ABA Silver Gavel Awards include SCOTUSblog, several books about constitutional law, and a novel about a once-high powered defense lawyer who is approaching rock bottom. The awards recognize outstanding work in media and the arts that fosters the public’s understanding of law and the legal…

Mar 14, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Weighing the arguments for and against obfuscation in court

There’s an old legal saw to the effect that if you have a good case, you should clarify things for the judge; if you have a bad case, the best you can hope to do is confuse the judge. Let’s think about what this means. Speaking in 1923 at the…

Mar 1, 2014 9:39 AM CST

Textual citations make legal writing onerous, for lawyers and nonlawyers alike

Legal writing is notoriously dull, slow, cumbersome, obtuse, roundabout and pedantic. There are many reasons: (1) unnecessary jargon, (2) overreliance on abstract nouns, (3) overlong sentences, (4) overlong paragraphs, and (5) the failure to differentiate between useful and useless details. The overuse of passive voice goes without saying. Small wonder…

Feb 1, 2014 9:00 AM CST

4 vignettes lead to a single moral about writing better briefs

No. 1: In the mid-1980s, I was working on a brief with the legendary Dallas appellate lawyer Marvin S. Sloman. We had just acquired new “laserjet” printers that gave us the ability to use several fonts other than Courier, a font that mimicked the look of Royal and Underwood type-writers…

Jan 1, 2014 9:20 AM CST

What were the best legal novels of 2013? (podcast)

Dec 19, 2013 6:45 PM CST

‘Link rot’ is degrading legal research and case cites

The World Wide Web may seem like a limitless superhighway. But it is filled with dead ends: hyperlinks that point to webpages that have become permanently unavailable. It’s a phenomenon known as “link rot.” While landing on a broken link can be frustrating, a growing body of research has identified…

Dec 1, 2013 9:40 AM CST

David Foster Wallace’s advice on arguing persuasively

David Foster Wallace, born in 1962, was one of the most respected writers of his generation. His novel Infinite Jest was considered by many one of the great English language novels of the late 20th century. In addition to his novels and short stories, Wallace wrote penetrating essays about a…

Dec 1, 2013 9:20 AM CST

10 trials that changed the world

At their best, trials provide insight into the human condition while they illuminate principles of the law. And sometimes they even change the course of history.

Is it any wonder that, at least in the public’s mind, trial lawyers are the superstars of the legal profession?

Nov 1, 2013 2:51 PM CDT

Letters: The World of Words

THE WORLD OF WORDS Regarding Bryan Garner’s “It Really Does Pay,” September: If I had many hours to spend learning new words, I would choose to learn them in a foreign language instead. Time spent learning even trivial words in a foreign language can expand the worldwide audience of people…

Nov 1, 2013 9:10 AM CDT

An interview with the lawyer who discovered Clarence Darrow’s letters

Clarence Darrow is the most famous lawyer in American history. There are many biographies and studies of him and his famous cases. But until now, his letters had not been published. In the Clutches of the Law: Clarence Darrow’s Letters was recently released by the University of California Press. Randall…

Nov 1, 2013 7:20 AM CDT

Key battles of WWII were fought in courtrooms and legislatures, shows new ABA book

A new book published by the ABA offers nearly 600 pages of proof that the wheels of the law don’t stop turning during the trauma of war. If anything, the book produced by ABA Publishing—World War II Law and Lawyers: Issues, Cases and Characters—provides evidence that modern war is a…

Nov 1, 2013 6:10 AM CDT

500 law profs urge ABA legal ed council to keep faculty tenure as an accreditation requirement

The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar hasn’t received much in the way of a response to its latest proposed changes in the law school accreditation standards. Only one person showed up to speak at a pair of hearings on the proposed changes in three chapters…

Oct 22, 2013 6:41 PM CDT

Once the ‘meanest lawyer in Houston,’ author shares story of love for his murdered brother (podcast)

David Berg was an ambitious young lawyer in Houston in 1968 when his older brother, Alan, disappeared. Alan, who had followed their father into the carpet business, had been killed by a hit man over a business dispute. His body wasn't discovered for another six months. The trial of Charles Harrelson (notorious killer-for-hire and father to actor Woody Harrelson) which followed–and the subsequent acquittal–was so painful for Berg that he barely spoke of his brother's death for another 40 years.

Oct 22, 2013 1:29 PM CDT