Legal Writing
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Blogging, English Grammar and Usage
Above the Law Spelling Bee
Take the Above the Law Spelling Bee. You can spell better than Elie, but can you spell better than Google? -
Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Litigators, Partner Issues
Inside Straight: The Literary Genre Of 'Big Firm Mediocre'
What are the hallmarks of the "big firm mediocre" writing style? In-house columnist Mark Herrmann identifies them. - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Advice for the Lawlame, Small Law Firms
The Practice: Why Would Anyone Hire You?
If you want people to hire you, you're going to have to give them a pretty good reason why. Here's some advice from Brian Tannebaum on how to do just that.
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Immigration, Labor / Employment, Magic Circle, Non-Sequiturs, Pepper Hamilton, Privacy, White-Collar Crime
Non-Sequiturs: 02.21.13
* A study finds that over 93 percent of attorneys, judges, and legal writing professors think the writing they’re reading is bad. One could argue this is evidence of a crisis in writing skills. Or one could argue that lawyers are a**holes who think every voice other than their own is wrong. It’s a 50/50 […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Federal Judges, Federalist Society, Law Schools, Videos
Messing With Chief Judge Kozinski
Chief Judge Kozinski identifies his favorite opinion, explains why he reads Playboy, offers tips for getting ahead in the legal profession, and warns you not to bring mom to your oral argument. -
Benchslaps, English Grammar and Usage, Federal Judges, Practice Pointers
Benchslap of the Day: A Public Shaming Is Great Motivation to Brush Up Your Legal Writing
Here's how one federal judge decided to deal with a lawyer who was a little too verbose in his pleadings... -
Blogging, Books, In-House Counsel, Media and Journalism
Inside Straight: Writing For The Trash Or Writing To Be Read
Are you writing to have written, or writing to be read? In-house columnist Mark Herrmann explains the difference. -
Books, State Judges
A Fun Little Footnote
Don't skip over the footnotes. That's where all the fun is! - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
Associate Advice, Career Center, Career Files
From the Career Files: Writing for Partners
Learn more about how associates can write for partners with the help of the ATL Career Center. -
Antonin Scalia, Books, Elizabeth Wurtzel, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Weirdness
Quote of the Day: What Do Liz Wurtzel and Justice Scalia Share in Common?
If you think that the liberal writer and the conservative justice have nothing in common, think again.... -
Adam Liptak, Antonin Scalia, Books, Constitutional Law, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Tony Mauro
Justice Scalia and Bryan Garner on the Interpretation of Legal Texts
Justice Scalia and legal writing guru Bryan Garner have written a new book. What's it all about? -
D.C. Circuit, Federal Judges, Laurence Silberman, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: WTF? Please STFU or GTFO
A D.C. Circuit judge asks litigants to kindly quit it with all the acronyms. -
Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Media and Journalism, Partner Issues
Inside Straight: The Ten Rules For Writing Articles To Generate Business
What are the ten rules for writing an article that will generate legal business for the author?
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Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use.
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get…
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms.
Sponsored
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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so…
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Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm.
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9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Benchslaps, Blind Item, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Federal Judges, Law Reviews, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: In Defense of Dissentals
What does Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit think of dissents from the denial of rehearing en banc (aka dissentals)? -
Biglaw, In-House Counsel
Inside Straight: When You Do Not Ask For A Better Draft
What should you do when someone - a junior colleague, a law firm you work with - turns in a draft document of poor quality? -
Law Reviews, Law Schools, Legal Research
Law Student Revolts Against Law Review's Bluebook Exam
Is it any wonder that a student from a law school in Virginia is raging against the law review's upcoming Bluebook exam? Several law students have written to us about this student's "guerilla campaign" against the school's annual exercise in "academic hazing," and they have even provided us with copies of this kid's manifesto. Who is this revolutionary, and why does he think the school's Bluebook exam needs to go? -
Federal Judges, Frank Easterbrook, In-House Counsel, Litigators
Inside Straight: Institutionalizing Mediocrity
Here’s my thesis: We create rules to hedge against ineptitude, and we thus institutionalize mediocrity. Here are the examples. First, someone — the Administrative Office of the Courts? God? — creates rules to hedge against incomprehensible judicial opinions, and we thus discourage judges from writing exceptional opinions. When new federal appellate judges attend what is […] -
English Grammar and Usage, Religion
Grammer Pole of the Weak: What Caused Your Claim, God or Nature?
Welcome to the latest edition of Above the Law’s Grammer Pole of the Weak, a column where we turn questions of legal writing and English grammar and usage over to our readers for discussion and debate. Last week, we discovered that roughly six percent of our readers use — and will continue using — the […] -
Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Partner Issues, Practice Pointers
Inside Straight: The Mutual Menace Of One Bad Partner
Suppose your firm has one incompetent partner, and our joint has the misfortune to be working with that person. This guy consistently misses important issues. He sends us briefs that read (as did one draft I recently received): “In response to ALR’s motion to dismiss the OC, [plaintiff] added an allegation in the FAC that […] -
English Grammar and Usage, Reader Polls
Grammer Pole of the Weak: That's Irregardless...
Welcome to the latest edition of Above the Law’s Grammer Pole of the Weak, a column where we turn questions of legal writing and English grammar and usage over to our readers for discussion and debate. This week, we turn to a question of grammar. Have you been using the word "irregardless" instead of "regardless"?