Legal Writing Skills: The Seven Deadly Sins of Legal Writing (Update)

If you're an attorney, you're a writer.

This program will impart skills to help you spot and avoid seven of the most offensive, counterproductive, and frequent faults that affect vast quantities of legal prose. Learn not only how to avoid these sinkholes but, just as importantly, how to replace them with good, clear prose that's vital and cogent. 

Legal Writing Skills: The Seven Deadly Sins of Legal Writing (Update), taught by attorney Theodore Blumberg, takes a deeper dive into issues of persuasion and comprehension in legal writing. Topics include avoiding boilerplate language when drafting legal documents in order to avoid litigation; making your documents "eye-friendly"; and overcoming the peer pressure or your own compulsion to try to "write like a lawyer."

Learning Objectives: 

1. Identify opaque boilerplate writing and eliminate it

2. Translate legalese into plain English

3. Use the "spousal test" for clarity and persuasiveness

4. Make your documents "eye-friendly" and inviting 

5. Utilize the "jury test" to find out if your document is clear and persuasive