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In one of the greatest patent cases of all time, Apple v. Samsung, Apple won a stunning billion-dollar verdict. But did Apple prevail on the writing front as well? Let’s see how many points each party racked up in the opening paragraph of its respective trial brief. Apple’s Opening Paragraph Samsung
Is the country’s malaise affecting our judges as well? The Seventh Circuit has referred a lawyer to the state ethics board for possible suspension of his license. His sin? “Rampant grammatical, syntactical, and typographical errors” (full opinion). A federal judge in Texas once issued a “Kindergarten Order” comparing the lawyers
Although law-firm partners have too many grammar-specific issues to detail them all in one article, here are eight of the most common issues below: 1. Misuse of Mid-Sentence Commas Tip: If you have and or but in the middle of a long sentence, check what follows. If it’s a person
Several years ago, a Wall Street Journal legal columnist put adverbs on trial. Witnesses for the prosecution: Stephen King (“The adverb is not your friend,” says he), a host of anti-adverb judges, and legions of legal writing teachers. Witnesses for the defense: Famed adverb fan Justice Scalia, an academic “legal anthropologist,” and
Who doesn’t need some inspiration these days? On the writing front, consider Chief Justice Roberts’s opinion in Buck v. Davis. Here are 25 ways to write like him. Or do so automatically. A Sense of Time 1. Replace full dates with phrases. Two months later, Buck returned to federal court . . . Within
“Throat-clearing”—starting sentences with phrases like “it is inconceivable that”—is a big problem in briefs filed by even the best firms. Take this paragraph from a recent emergency petition for stay of a Pennsylvania redistricting order: BriefCatch can help you find many issues in just this paragraph alone. Throat-Clearing and Much More The
Writing is vital to every part of your legal career. BriefCatch empowers you to stand out above the rest.