Does bad writing really matter?

The consequences of poor legal writing are simple to state but difficult to prove:

• It wastes the valuable time of judges, clients, and other lawyers, who must constantly re-read documents to figure out what is meant.
• It costs law firms a lot of money; they must absorb the time of senior lawyers who are forced to rewrite the work of junior ones.
• It costs society; we all pay for the lost time and the extra work.
• It loses cases. Briefs and memoranda and letters that do not adequately convey a writer’s point give adversaries who are better writers the opportunity to portray their own positions more persuasively and sympathetically.
• It can lead to disrespect for or indifference to law The public can’t understand what lawyers are saying because the law itself is almost always obscure, and the lawyers’ attempts to explain it are rarely clearer.
• It erodes self-respect. Hurried, careless writing weakens the imagination, saps intelligence, and ultimately diminishes self-esteem and professionalism.
• It impoverishes our culture. Writing well in a calling that prides itself on professionalism in pursuit of justice ought to be an end in itself.

Despite these consequences, many lawyers fail to connect good writing with good lawyering. Good lawyers are genuinely interested in words, in their nuances, in the subtle distinctions between them in the growth of the language. Good lawyers browse usage books now and again because of their fascination with language and the power of writing. Good lawyers revere English—and edit their work one more time to ensure that they have expressed their thoughts with the clarity and felicity that they owe to their clients, to the public, and to themselves.

[This is an extract from The Lawyer’s Guide to Writing Well by Tom Goldstein and Jethro K. Lieberman (University of California Press, 2^nd Edition, 2002).]

For the lawyers, practitioners, and students who wish to improve their writing, refine and develop their skills, enroll in our courses now.