While other manuals cover citation conventions, The Lawyer's Editing Manual covers all the rest that the legal writer -- and the editor -- ought to know: conventions that underlie effective formal prose, including grammar and punctuation, the effective use of quotations, and usage and style. "Rules" -- meaning conventions most universally accepted -- are stated, but so are their exceptions and, when possible, the logic for each. The legal writer's ability to communicate to the reader directly and clearly is guided not just by "correct" prose, but by stylistic conventions that further its effectiveness. The Lawyer's Editing Manual thus includes advice on unambiguous word choice and modifier placement, conciseness, sentence and paragraph structure, and effective transitions. The manual ends with conventions inspired less by consensus than by the reader's reliance on consistency, such as whether and what to capitalize or how to treat abbreviations, symbols, and lists. For these, it matters less what the writer or editor chooses to do than that the choice be consistently applied: such details should never distract from the sense of what is being written. In short, The Lawyer's Editing Manual will help legal writers craft or edit clear, concise, connected prose. It is an invaluable tool to ensure that the writer's message reaches the reader's understanding enhanced, not impeded, by the form of its communication.

The focus of this manual is not what provisions to include in a given contract, but instead how to express those provisions in prose that is free ofthe problems that often afflict contracts.

This public domain book is an open and compatible implementation of the Uniform System of Citation.

All lawyers write, and the documents they write must be clear, technically perfect, and effective. This concise manual guides lawyers, law students, and paralegals through all phases of the writing process, from preparing to write to polishing a finished draft. Written in accessible, easy-to-understand language, it offers practical suggestions on outlining and establishing deadlines as well as comprehensive, jargon-free advice on grammar, punctuation, usage, document formatting, editing and proofreading. The manual is written by an experienced teacher and practitioner and is intended as a reference for lawyers at all levels of experience who know what they want to write but who might have forgotten the details of the more mechanical aspects of writing. Uncluttered by lengthy examples or exercises, this short reference work provides brief illustrations to clarify the text and focuses on helping writers produce legal documents of all types that are easily read, technically accurate, and effective.

This book provides a comprehensive guide to the essential rules of legal writing. Unlike most style or grammar guides, it focuses on the special needs of legal writers, answering a wide spectrum of questions about grammar and style -- both rules and exceptions. It also gives detailed, authoritative advice on punctuation, capitalization, spelling, footnotes, and citations, with illustrations in legal context. Designed for law students, law professors, practicing lawyers, and judges, the work emphasizes the ways in which legal writing differs from other styles of technical writing. Its how-to sections deal with editing and proofreading, numbers and symbols, and overall document design. Features: * Cautions on use of 500 stuffy phrases and needless legalisms, along with their everyday English translations * Details rules for 800 words with required prepositions in certain contexts * Explains the correct usage of more than 1,000 words that are often troublesome to legal writers * Gives tips on preparing briefs and other court documents, opinion letters and demand letters, research memos, and contracts * Provides model documents of all types of legal documents and pleadings Reviews 200 terms of art that take on new meanings in legal contexts

Clarity and precision in legal writing are essential skills in the practice and study of law. This book offers a straightforward, practical guide to effective legal style from a world-leading expert. The book is thoughtfully structured to explain the elements of good legal writing and its most effective use. It catalogues all aspects of legal style, topic by topic, phrase by phrase, usage by usage. It scrutinises them all, suggesting improvements. Its 'dictionary' arrangement makes it easy to navigate. Topics range as widely as ambiguity, definitions, provisos, recitals, simplified outlines, terms of art, tone, and the various principles of legal interpretation. Words and phrases deal with legal expressions that non-lawyers find opaque and obscure. The purpose is to show that you can usually substitute a plain-English equivalent. Usage entries include matters such as abbreviations, acronyms, active and passive voice, brackets, bullet points, citation methods, cross-referencing, deeds, fonts, document design, footnotes, gender-neutral language, numbering systems, plain language, punctuation, the use of Latin, structures for legal advices and documents, and techniques for editing and proofreading. With an emphasis on technical effectiveness and understanding, the book is required reading for all those engaged in the practice and study of law.