Legal Writing: Three Tips from Three Sources

Today's post contains three quick tips for legal writers. By following the links, you'll also find lots of additional advice:

• When addressing a court, don't adopt the technical business jargon of the parties without explaining it. (Tip from an opinion by Judge Richard Posner, as detailed in a post at the Pennsylvania Litigation Blog)
• Don't commit the double-identification sin ("the sin"), in which a writer inserts a parenthetical clarifying that which does not need to be clarified ("the unnecessary clarification") (Tip from "Writing the Persuasive Brief," by Judge William Eich in the Wisconsin Lawyer)
• Don't commit the used-car-salesman error, in which you try too hard to sell your position to a court. (Tip from "Persuasive Strategies for Appellate Brief-Writing," from Barger on Legal Writing).

Thanks to Celia C. Elwell, a paralegal in Oklahoma City, for these links. For much more on legal writing (one of my favorite topics), see the legal writing category on this weblog.