Comments on: Lawyers as Writers http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2007/01/31/lawyers-as-writers/ Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:58:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: AdamsDrafting » Blog Archive » Am I Simply Expressing My “Personal Opinions”? http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2007/01/31/lawyers-as-writers/comment-page-1/#comment-22770 AdamsDrafting » Blog Archive » Am I Simply Expressing My “Personal Opinions”? Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:54:47 +0000 http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2007/01/31/lawyers-as-writers/#comment-22770 [...] and given how widespread and tenacious is the delusion that one writes well (for more on that, see this blog post), I expect that I’ll be a lone voice for a while yet. But it’s more fun to be in the vanguard [...] [...] and given how widespread and tenacious is the delusion that one writes well (for more on that, see this blog post), I expect that I’ll be a lone voice for a while yet. But it’s more fun to be in the vanguard [...]

]]> By: Otto Stockmeyer http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2007/01/31/lawyers-as-writers/comment-page-1/#comment-2461 Otto Stockmeyer Sat, 10 Feb 2007 20:49:14 +0000 http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2007/01/31/lawyers-as-writers/#comment-2461 "If you were to do a survey...." Bryan Garner has surveyed lawyers attending his CLE seminars. They say that 95% of lawyers claim to produce high-quality drafting, but only 5% of the legal drafting they see is genuinely of high quality. Source: Bryan A. Garner, President's Letter, The Scrivener (newsletter of Scribes - the American Society of Legal Writers) 1,3 (Winter 1998), quoted in Joseph Kimble, Lifting the Fog of Legalese 46 (2006). “If you were to do a survey….” Bryan Garner has surveyed lawyers attending his CLE seminars. They say that 95% of lawyers claim to produce high-quality drafting, but only 5% of the legal drafting they see is genuinely of high quality. Source: Bryan A. Garner, President’s Letter, The Scrivener (newsletter of Scribes – the American Society of Legal Writers) 1,3 (Winter 1998), quoted in Joseph Kimble, Lifting the Fog of Legalese 46 (2006).

]]> By: Carolyn Elefant http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2007/01/31/lawyers-as-writers/comment-page-1/#comment-2351 Carolyn Elefant Mon, 05 Feb 2007 20:35:40 +0000 http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2007/01/31/lawyers-as-writers/#comment-2351 I think lawyers believe that their writing is good because generally, legal writing is quite mediocre. So much of what is written is heavy and dull; it pounds home points and pummels the other side rather than making robust affirmative arguments that really sing. I've been told that my legal writing is pretty good. But more accurately, I'd describe my writing (and that of most lawyers) as "serviceable," it rarely transcends to sublime or superior. And that's what most legal writing is - serviceable or workmanlike. I think lawyers believe that their writing is good because generally, legal writing is quite mediocre. So much of what is written is heavy and dull; it pounds home points and pummels the other side rather than making robust affirmative arguments that really sing. I’ve been told that my legal writing is pretty good. But more accurately, I’d describe my writing (and that of most lawyers) as “serviceable,” it rarely transcends to sublime or superior. And that’s what most legal writing is – serviceable or workmanlike.

]]> By: Cheryl Stephens http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2007/01/31/lawyers-as-writers/comment-page-1/#comment-2214 Cheryl Stephens Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:08:57 +0000 http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2007/01/31/lawyers-as-writers/#comment-2214 I suspect that you have never watched American Idol, where many people display delusions that withstand professional critique. My own experience is that the worst writers will assert that their writing is good. Perhaps it is just bravado covering insecurity. In focus-group testing fifteen years ago, our CLE found that some lawyers would hesitate to attend a writing workshop. To be seen there would suggest to observers that the legal writer was admitting to a deficiency--a verbotten concept. I suspect that you have never watched American Idol, where many people display delusions that withstand professional critique.

My own experience is that the worst writers will assert that their writing is good. Perhaps it is just bravado covering insecurity.

In focus-group testing fifteen years ago, our CLE found that some lawyers would hesitate to attend a writing workshop. To be seen there would suggest to observers that the legal writer was admitting to a deficiency–a verbotten concept.

]]>