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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A good editor is like Pavlov’s dog. Here are five expressions that should make you salivate—for all the wrong reasons. 1. Regarding, Concerning You know you’re talking to a lawyer when you hear things like “Do you have any thoughts regarding where we should go for dinner?” or “I have a serious
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
An elite litigation boutique filed the rejected motion for Meta (Facebook). The apparently offending footnotes seemed reasonable, but the judge still kicked the motion out of court until the litigators could refile. Lesson for all: When it comes to word and page limits, avoid even the appearance of impropriety. View
Good legal writers form coherent paragraphs. Great legal writers like Chief Justice Roberts do far more: 1) create a linear progression of paragraph openers, 2) add interim conclusions, 2) sprinkle in higher-level logical transitions, and 4) use echoing and dovetailing to help all the moving parts snap together. I’ve mapped
“Judges are not like pigs, hunting for truffles buried in briefs.” Footnote-averse judges love to cite that condemnation from United States v. Dunkel. Others quote Noel Coward on the subject: “Having to read a footnote resembles having to go downstairs to answer the door while in the midst of making love.”
Few things are duller than a paragraph stuffed with dates. “Using an exact date signals to the reader that it is important—that the reader should remember it for future reference,” says former Judge Mark Painter. “If that’s not your intention, strike it out. You can convey continuity and order by
With legal disputes, rarely does every fact favor the prevailing party. To present a compelling case while maintaining credibility, nod to bad facts and then neutralize them by controlling how they appear in context. One strategy is to embed unfavorable facts in Although clauses and then turn the reader’s attention
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