Trial Magazine

Journalism demands the kind of writing style that grabs and holds readers’ attention. When I transitioned from journalism into law, I was struck by how applicable newswriting is to legal writing. The tips below—drawn from journalism mantras—will help shape your legal writing into succinct and compelling advocacy that demands your readers’ full attention, conveys arguments with clarity, and removes obstacles we throw into readers’ paths.

Don’t bury the lede. The most important piece of information in a news story is called the lede—and putting it anywhere other than at the very beginning is called “burying the lede.” Starting with the lede is how you pull your reader into caring about what you have to say. Legal writing’s formulaic style lends itself to burying the lede deep below antiquated language and customary phrasing. You may be stuck with local conventions (in Virginia, it’s “COMES NOW the Plaintiff . . .”), but as soon as you can, place a section heading and ensure the first thing your reader sees is the framing you have chosen.

Be brief. No one wants to read an article that goes on and on. The same is true for legal writing. Get to the point. Be selective in choosing which arguments to address. Focus on your strong points—a judge is unlikely to award extra credit for what my editor facetiously called “comprehensiveness.” Just because a counterargument can be made doesn’t mean it should. For example, a page spent debunking opposing counsel’s weak argument may only serve to dignify it. Plus, the longer the brief, the easier it is for the reader to lose track of your argument. This can happen when you, the writer, have lost focus.

Train your inner alarm bell to ring when typing the word “again.” (“Again, this argument fails because . . . of reasons I explained two pages ago.”) “Again” is your sign that you are repeating yourself. “Again” means that you either didn’t say it well enough the first time (in which case, rewrite the preceding section) or that your preceding point serves you in a different way (in which case, your point deserves unique and powerful phrasing). Which is it? Be merciless in making this determination.

Make readers want to read your writing. News readers will not read an article or click on a link unless they want to read what the author has to say. In legal writing, this means:

Tell a story—about people. You would not be arguing your esoteric legal point if it did not affect humans in a real way. Tell that story. If readers can’t glean a human element from it, you will lose their interest—and much of your persuasive ability.

Write to an eighth-grade reading level. Do you need all that legalese? Is there ever a reason to use the word “heretofore”? These words are obstacles in the readers’ path. Replace legalese with simple words. Less energy spent puzzling out your meaning means more energy available for absorbing it.

Submit clean copy. Typos kill credibility. A typo-ridden brief tempts readers to dismiss your argument. Turn to an unrelated task before your final proofread. That way, you can return to your writing with fresh eyes. When we’re too close to our own writing, our brains automatically supply what we meant to say and do not notice errors.

Make your writing visually interesting. Break up your writing with headings so readers can keep track of where you’re taking them next. Make careful use of italics and bold font for emphasis. Short quotations help break up the monotony and keep the focus on the people at stake.

Establish your reputation as a trustworthy source. In today’s world, readers are ready to pounce on news writers for perceived bias. A capable reporter should craft stories fairly, choose quotes responsibly, and shun political or social advocacy.

In the legal world, readers expect us to advocate. But how we advocate matters. Just as in journalism, we must establish our reputation as a trustworthy source. Be sure to acknowledge and frame bad facts or controlling authority. If readers sense you are portraying the whole story, they are far more likely to trust you—and adopt your interpretation.

Don’t spin legal holdings excessively. In a dispute with little controlling authority, I felt tempted to claim that a circuit court had decided an issue my way. While that was indeed the holding, the court actually approved a consent order of agreed-upon compromises. The credibility I would lose once this citation was fact-checked made me change my mind. Build and zealously guard your reputation for trustworthiness.

Persuasive writing can be compared to a river. You want to sweep readers toward your conclusion. Avoid throwing boulders in their path. Don’t force readers to contend with typos, legalese, excessive length, or the suspicion that you are pulling one over on them. Embracing journalism lessons in legal writing will keep your current moving. Readers will thank you—and more importantly, they will be more likely to embrace your point of view, which is the entire point of legal advocacy.

Christina R. Dimeo is an attorney at MichieHamlett in Charlottesville, Va., and can be reached at cdimeo@michiehamlett.com.