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In the case of
Steven D. Stark v. members of the American Bar Association, we'd all come out winners, if Stark prevailed. For 12 years Stark taught legal writing to Harvard Law School students; now, he's out to teach the rest of us. "You don't need a literary critic," says Stark, "to know how badly most lawyers write." He offers as evidence most briefs, memos, and law review articles. Using legal jargon helps lawyers confuse the court, which in some cases is the best defense they've got, and it also helps convince impressed clients that exorbitant fees are well earned.
But Stark argues that good legal writing should pass what he calls the McDonald's test. "If you were to read the document you're drafting aloud in McDonald's," Stark asks, "would people understand what you're saying?" He also insists that, like fiction writers and journalists, lawyers need to be good storytellers. "On one level," he says, "a lawsuit is simply a clash of competing stories. If you tell your story better than the lawyer for the other side ... you will have a far better chance of prevailing." Writing to Win is an excellent resource for guidance on organization and research, litigation writing, oral argument, and even writing memos and letters. Stark illustrates his lessons with examples written by lawyers--whereas most law schools rely more heavily on the writing of judges. Among his many salient points are his recommendations that you should lead with your conclusions ("legal arguments or explanations," he says, "should not be like an O. Henry short story") and that you should deal with the arguments against your case. The latter is not only best heard from you rather than from your adversary, but it "actually enhances your credibility." --Jane Steinberg
From a master teacher, a results-oriented approach to powerful legal writing that communicates, that persuades--and that wins.
Of all the professions, the law has the most deserved reputation for opaque, jargon-clogged writing. Legal education, which focuses on judicial opinions, not instruments of persuasion, is partly to blame. Yet forceful writing is one of the most potent weapons of legal advocacy. In
Writing to Win, Steve Stark, a former teacher of writing at Harvard Law, who has taught thousands of aspiring and practicing lawyers, has written the only book on the market that applies the universal principles of vigorous prose to the job of making a case--and winning it.
Writing to Win focuses on the writing of lawyers, not judges, and includes dozens of examples of effective (and ineffective) real-life writing--as well as models drawn from advertising, journalism, and fiction. It deals with the problems lawyers face in writing, from organization to strengthening and editing prose; teaches ways of improving arguments; addresses litigation and technical writing in all its forms; and covers the writing attorneys must perform in their practice, from memos and letters to briefs and contracts. Each chapter opens with a succinct set of rules for easy reference.
No other legal writing book on the market is as practical, as focused on results, as well written as
Writing to Win.
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