Browse the Articles in the BriefCatch Content Library!
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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Are you a lawyer or a judge? Or do you just seek a writing muse? Look no further than Justice Elena Kagan’s majority opinion in Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools. Writing for a near-unanimous court, Kagan bolstered the right to special-education accommodations, in this case a service Goldendoodle named Wonder, for
Ted Olson and David Boies, opponents of California’s Prop. 8 had some unlikely allies to thank. Although the two men famously faced off in Bush v. Gore, their differences don’t end there. Olson argued against allowing women into the Virginia Military Institute; Boies once represented filmmaker Michael Moore. Olson served
When I fly both here and abroad, I often spot the SmartPhone-and-Bluetooth set poring over The Economist from the comfort of their airplane seats. Does the writing in that lauded publication offer any secrets about how to appeal to your client base? Here are five reasons the answer may be
In 2006, the Second Circuit rejected Martha Stewart’s appeal, which sought to overturn her conviction. Yet while Stewart’s appeal proved unsuccessful, the government’s briefing was far from so. In defending Stewart’s conviction, the government uses fact-section headings masterfully. Most lawyers include no headings in their fact sections at all. Even
Looking for some writing inspiration? Start with The New Yorker, the nation’s best-edited publication. Add Jeffrey Toobin, a prominent legal journalist. Now mix in his account there of an unsolved murder of a Seattle federal prosecutor. Here are ten great techniques at work in Toobin’s tale: 1. Start Sentences with Light
Imagine a judge digging into the next motion on her stack—your motion. Could she have written your opening just by glancing at the caption? For most motions and briefs, the answer is yes. How Many Lawyers… How many lawyers, when opening a motion for summary judgment, simply proclaim that the
One of the highlights of my 2011 summer was speaking to the Eighth Circuit Conference right after Justice Alito. My topic: Writing Highlights from the last Supreme Court Term. Here are seven of those highlights, Oscars-style. 1. Best Verb (tie) Samuel Alito, Snyder v. Phelps, dissent: And as far as culpability is concerned,
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
The U.S. Supreme Court’s current ideological divide may be the sharpest we’ve seen in a long time. Yet the justices do unite in one key respect: The current court boasts some of the best opinion writers in American legal history. Take the opinions from the tumultuous last term. From those
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