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

Legal writing is an art and a craft, and this course, inspired by insights from acclaimed legal scholars and led by Theodore Blumberg, aims to fine-tune the writing skills of attorneys, judges, paralegals, and other legal professionals. Through an exploration of the seven primary pitfalls-ranging from passivity to redundancy in legal writing, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how to craft precise, compelling, and reader-friendly legal documents.

Learning Objectives:

1. Differentiate between passive and active constructions and understand when it's strategic to use the former
2. Replace vague and abstract terms with specific, concrete language, ensuring clarity and directness in communication
3. Identify and limit the use of unnecessary adverbs, focusing on those that add meaningful context or soften emotion
4. Recognize and remove repetitive phrases or ideas to enhance the precision and clarity of writing
5. Leverage titles and subheadings effectively to give readers a clear roadmap of the document's content