Welcome to the BriefCatch Content Library, a brand-new repository of insight and innovation for legal professionals, scholars, and enthusiasts. In this Library, we are excited to present a comprehensive collection of articles authored by the renowned legal writing expert, Ross Guberman.
The articles included in the BriefCatch Content Library span across an array of topics, including persuasive legal writing, strategic argument structure, and innovative rhetoric. These pieces are not just theoretical discussions, but practical guides that are infused with illustrative examples, tips, and tricks that have proven successful in practice. Every piece is a potential masterclass in legal writing.
Browse our articles below. Happy reading, learning, and growing with BriefCatch!
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Writing Rules for Fun and Profit: The Agony and the Ecstasy
Ever since I created an editing app, my usual workshop feats, like engaging bleary-eyed associates and racing to the last flight to O’Hare, seem like child’s play. I still relish the challenge, but if I give you a peek behind…
Hyphenate or Bust? A Truce on Phrasal Adjectives
In the legal world, debates about hyphenating “summary judgment standard” or “publicly traded company” are as cordial and restrained as arguments over proper fonts, Oxford commas, and spacing after periods. Let me try to keep the peace with just these…
Case Study: Ford Motor Company v. Bandemer—Seven Ways to Write Like Justice Kagan
In Justice Kagan’s debut opinion, she imagined a debtor buying an old junkyard car “for a song.” Now, a decade later, writing better than ever, she’s penned an opinion about a Ford Explorer. Leave it to Kagan to adorn this specific-jurisdiction matter with rhythm…
Three Justices. Three 100s. Three Tips.
A single day at the Supreme Court generated three perfect composite BriefCatch scores. What can the rest of us borrow or steal? From Justice Kagan, how to punch up your prose by starting a series of sentences with one-syllable words. From…
Kagan and Kavanaugh Unite: Stop Cutting “That”!
Kagan and Kavanaugh disagree on a lot these days, including in their Borden v. United States face-off. These two prominent Justices do share supreme writing skills, though. Like all great stylists, they trim their respective sentences with gusto, but as I’ve explained…
Writing About Testimony: Is There a World Beyond “The Witness Further Stated”?
Many lawyers find themselves retelling—or regurgitating—testimony from fact witnesses, expert witnesses, or both. The default mode is often as painful to write as it is to read. A witness “stated that.” And then, in the next sentence, the witness “further…
The $500 Million Appellate Brief: Five Takeaways
Appellate hotshots from Hogan Lovells and Mayer Brown won a Second Circuit reversal of an order allowing Revlon to keep $500 million that Citi had accidentally wired to its account. Talk about a return on investment! According to my math, their…
Talk to Yourself: The Rhetorical Question
I used to think that rhetorical questions in briefs were pompous, if not offensive. I shuddered at the thought of a lawyer penning this rhetorical question from Justice Scalia’s dissent in PGA v. Martin, the case about whether disabled golfer Casey…
The Apple of Our Eye: Scoring the Apple v. Samsung Openings
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…
The Supreme Writer on the Court: The Case for Justice Kagan
Justices Scalia and Kagan once joined forces on deer-hunting trips. They share the same gift for writing as well. In only a few years’ time, Kagan’s engaging yet biting opinions have astonished a once-skeptical Left—and have catapulted her to the top…