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Legal Writing Quotes

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Legal Writing Quotes

“If my opinion runs more than twenty pages,” she said, “I am disturbed that I couldn’t do it shorter.” The mantra in her chambers is “Get it right and keep it tight.” She disdains legal Latin, and demands extra clarity in an opinion’s opening lines, which she hopes the public will understand. “If you can say it in plain English, you should,” RBG says. Going through “innumerable drafts,” the goal is to write an opinion where no sentence should need to be read twice. “I think that law should be a literary profession,” RBG says, “and the best legal practitioners regard law as an art as well as a craft.”

Legalese Ruth Bader Ginsberg Legal Writing

Book:Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Source: Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“I apologize for the length of this letter. If I had had more time, it would have been shorter.”

Author:Mark Twain

“Something had to be done fast. A letter: that was the answer. As many lawyers do when nursing a grievance, Nusbaum knew it was important to get their anger down into writing. As Cohen and the investment bankers shouted and cursed around him, he began dictating”

Book:Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

Source: Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

“Word choice does matter when you convey your message to a particular reader. The average reader will most likely read your written text if it is clear, meaningful and establishes a purpose.”

Memoir Writing Novel Writing Legal Writing Policy Brief

Author:Saaif Alam