The Grammar and Writing Handbook shows you precisely which rules need to be followed, how to choose the correct words, and the most effective way to structure every sentence to help you compose more persuasive, stronger material that's flawlessly written. The book includes a brief history of the English language, as well as comprehensive information on every thing from singular vs. plural, to composing a legal memorandum.

Offers a succinct and practical guide to effective legal writing and to precise legal reading, drawing on both the expertise of professional grammarians and the analytical skills of judges in interpreting legal writing in the courts. Meehan, Deakin University; Tulloch, Flinders University.

Just Writing: Grammar, Punctuation, and Style for the Legal Writer, Sixth Edition

“This easy-to-follow guide is useful both as a general course of instruction and as a targeted aid in solving particular legal writing problems.” —Harvard Law Review Clear, concise, down-to-earth, and powerful—all too often, legal writing embodies none of these qualities. Its reputation for obscurity and needless legalese is widespread. For more than twenty years, Bryan A. Garner’s Legal Writing in Plain English has helped address this problem by providing lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and legal scholars with sound advice and practical tools for improving their written work. The leading guide to clear writing in the field, this indispensable volume encourages legal writers to challenge conventions and offers valuable insights into the writing process that will appeal to other professionals: how to organize ideas, create and refine prose, and improve editing skills. Accessible and witty, Legal Writing in Plain English draws on real-life writing samples that Garner has gathered through decades of teaching. Trenchant advice covers all types of legal materials, from analytical and persuasive writing to legal drafting, and the book’s principles are reinforced by sets of basic, intermediate, and advanced exercises in each section. In this new edition, Garner preserves the successful structure of the original while adjusting the content to make it even more classroom-friendly. He includes case examples from the past decade and addresses the widespread use of legal documents in electronic formats. His book remains the standard guide for producing the jargon-free language that clients demand and courts reward. “Those who are willing to approach the book systematically and to complete the exercises will see dramatic improvements in their writing.” —Law Library Journal

In Point Made, Ross Guberman uses the work of great advocates as the basis of a valuable, step-by-step brief-writing and motion-writing strategy for practitioners. The author takes an empirical approach, drawing heavily on the writings of the nation's 50 most influential lawyers.

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.