Improving your legal writing
British lawyers and law students seem to struggle to write with confidence and fluency even though it’s a crucial aspect of their work. Here are a few ways to improve your skills.
It’s early morning. I sit down at my imposing mahogany desk, don my reading glasses and prepare to cast my eyes over another essay from another law student. I do so with slight reluctance as I have seen the same errors so often that I wonder if the task is too Sisyphean and that perhaps I should be doing something else with my precious time.
Lawyers need to be competent at a great many things: meeting clients, talking in court and schmoozing new clients among other things. Unfortunately, writing barely gets a mention despite it being just as crucial.
Whether it’s drafting a witness statement, writing an email or composing a letter, lawyers need to get their writing game on point.
Universities (at least in the UK) do not usually cover legal writing. There is no British Bryan Garner publishing books on the style of affidavits. It’s a shame as if you are keen to do it, you can improve your writing skills quickly and be ahead of the majority of lawyers. Let’s see some ways to do this.