Persuasive Writing for Lawyers

As I wrote in a post last week, Mentor CLE offers free online video CLE courses on a number of topics, some tailored specifically to Illinois lawyers, some not. One of these free online video presentations is "Persuasive Writing for Lawyers" by Helen W. Gunnarsson.

Gunnarsson is an Illinois lawyer who frequently writes for the Illinois Bar Journal. Her lecture on legal writing lasts about an hour and covers the following topics, among others:

• The importance of telling a story;
• In aspiring towards brevity, how to tell what to leave out;
• The problem with making personal attacks;
• How to start a brief;
• Developing a personal writing style;
• Appropriate sentence length;
• Becoming a confident writer.
  

Gunnarsson's presentation is recommended for any lawyer who wants to get -- for free -- some good legal-writing tips. Illinois lawyers can also obtain CLE credit by paying a modest fee.