Legal Writing and Editing
from a Multilingual Paralegal’s Perspective

Presented by Peter Kirchikov

Date: Wednesday, 10/21/2009

Location: Alabama Association of Paralegals, Inc.

Seminar Agenda

Writing is a hard job and many people, including executives, do not like doing it, but with the advent of Internet and hand-held and electronic devices, things changed drastically. But is it really hard to write? Can you write a research memo, draft an annual report, legal brief, memorandum of law, opinion letters, etc. or is does it look like a rocket science and scare you ?

“Lawyers are people who write a 10,000 page document and then call it a brief…” Franz Kafka

In order to succeed in legal writing and editing, you need to have perfect command of English, be able to communicate powerfully and express yourself clearly and deliver your message accurately and keep your education updated and upgraded.

Having effective communication and legal writing skills make you competitive in the legal profession. Words are writer’s tools of the trade. Law practitioners use persuasive language, words with clarity, precision and accuracy to make their case and win the argument.

Writing is rewriting and revision. Why? A writer/attorney may have 5-7 or more drafts before the final copy.

What is plain English/plain English statute and who uses it ? Plain English alternative words are simple and easy words to use vs. pompous, long, hard, unnecessary, outdated, antiquated words, phrases, that litter professional writing. Plain English document is easy to read and uses common sense language, understandable by all readers. Using everyday words, not jargon or slang, but good, plain English words is the first step. What is persuasive writing- persuasive brief, memorandum of law, it is also the attorney’s persuasive argument before the jury and in the courtroom.

Conclusion - Legal writing and editing are great intellectual challenge and accomplishment. Mastering your legal writing and editing, proofreading skills is great asset and investment in your career and your future, it makes you competitive and successful in your profession.

Short outline

Introduction: Hammer the laws, hammer the facts, but do not forget to sharpen your mother tongue skills.
Definition of professional legal writing. Types of professional legal writing. Paralegal’s role in drafting and filing legal documents.
Hamlet’s question vs. Orwellian questions in legal writing and editing.
Born to edit… Why legal writing is rewriting. Your employer/attorneys-legal writers love your job as an editor, because editors can do both write and edit, edit and write, all the time, all the way. Who are the legal writers? What are the tools of the trade for legal writers, editors and proofreaders? What are the “Bluebook” and the “Redbook”. What is the attorneys Bible? What are the legal writer and editor’s blocs? What are the tools of your trade.
When in doubt, …subpoena, sorry, edit. What is the Word’s Court, who rules it, who are the judges there and who dominates it and what are the rules in that court ?
Legal/business correspondence- Legal Writer and Editor’s Ten Commandments. Obey your ethics instincts, mind your business and etiquette, be polite, professional and correct at all times, be fair and civil, do not misrepresent, do not lie, do not defraud, do not confuse, do not misunderstand, do not offer miscommunication, etc. Covenant not to sue, sorry, not to fail. Hypothetical situations from our real legal community life.
Ask yourself these Orwellian questions before legal writing and editing: why are you writing this legal document? Who is your audience? What is your message, main idea- what are you trying to say? What words, image or idiom, phrases will make it clearer, better? Do you have enough knowledge, expertise, tools to do that? Am I really responsible in my writing or am I saying something, that is inappropriate? Have you considered the legal aspects- what are the jurisdiction, the authorities, law cases to cite, what are the summaries of the law, regulations, citations, etc.? Questions, questions… And this one: when is the project due? Answer: I have kind of an emergency project… It was due two weeks ago..”
Why legal writing is rewriting? A writer may have 5-7- or more drafts before the final copy of the legal document. Hold conferences and get feedback with your attorneys.
What is legalese and how to digest it? Oh, yes, legalese is a jargon. Dad, would you please give me an example of a legalese term, phrase? My life is legalese. Legalese is not the only professional jargon-e.g., how about journalese, medicalese, officials, business speak, corporate speak

My experience as a regular legal contributing lexicographer to Black’s Law Dictionary.

My experience as a regular legal contributing lexicographer to Black’s Law Dictionary. I was surprised when a professional asked me during the presentation what does legal contributing lexicographer to Black’s Law Dictionary do and what does lexicographer means? The term “lexicographer” is of Greek origin: “lexicon” means “word” and “graphos”, “grapher”- “writer” and means a linguist, who is an author or editor of a dictionary, works with the words, terms, phrases, idioms, sentences, abbreviations, acronyms, linguistic units, etc. and works from the master list of the words and gives definitions, meaning, senses to each entry, term, word, lexeme, etc. and arranges them in a certain order according to the publisher’s instructions and editorial protocol/style sheet/ manual of style and usage/stylebook, etc. Lexicographer is a dictionary writer/compiler/maker, dictionarian, compiler, definer, explainer, etymologist, philologist, philologer, glossarist, glossarator, lexicologist, glossographer,glossologist, etc., etc Law lexicography is one of the most popular branches of linguistics and lexicography and deals with the law terminology, lexicons, glossaries, vocabularies, industry-specific terms.

Terminology, dictionaries, glossaries, lexicons, vocabularies wordbooks, list of terms are essential part of our life, including writing and lexicographers play a vital role in that process. E.g. Sedona Conference has approved Glossary of commonly used terms for e-discovery and digital information management under E-Discovery, ESI (electronically stored information), storage & spoliation laws.

Twitter, micro-blogging and networking has its own terminology.

Only in the last 9th edition of Black’s Law Dictionary 3.000 (three thousand) new terms were included with multiple senses and meanings for each term.

Visualize your audience when you are writing- are you are writing for your counsel, attorneys, your co-counsel, national counsel, client, opponent, opposing counsel.

Visualize your writer-when editing: who is writing this legal document: your associate attorney, law partner, senior law partner, or co-counsel, national counsel, client, opposing counsel, judge, justice, or a law clerk, intern, et al?

Try to be in his/her shoes, or even better in his/her head/mind- what is the idea that she/he wants convey to the .

When editing work as team with your legal writer, attorney, et al.: 1. make suggestions to improve, change, correct, amend, rewrite the attorney’s draft. Do not make it bleed, do not chop and hop. 2. hold phone conferences and eye to eye conferences, 3 exchange emails as for the drafts and updates on the corrected, improved, edited , rewritten copy of the legal document.

Editing - in several stages: to revise, rewrite, amend, rephrase, redact, rectify, annotate, copy-edit, polish, fine-tune, select, compile, compose, alter, adapt, modify, improve, correct, to suit a particular purpose, to delete, to prepare for public presentation, hearing, trial; 1. editing for organization- your paragraphs, indentation, justification, etc.; 2.editing for accuracy, clarity, brevity, etc.3. editing for mechanics- grammar errors, spelling, punctuation, etc. 4. fact-checking, type codes, numbers and dates, key terms, glossaries/terminology/vocabularies; primary references and sources, authorities; law review manuals, footnotes, etc. Tools of the Trade
Peter Kirchikov’s Tips on Writing Well

Writing is all about words, terms, phrases, idioms, abbreviations, acronyms and handling them- it is about the use of words, their combinations, arrangement, harmony, contrasts, senses, definitions, meanings. Be sure you have a good dictionary, thesaurus, e.g. latest editions of Webster’s 11th New Collegiate Dictionary, Black’s Law Dictionary, “The Bluebook”, “The Redbook, manual on legal style,” synonym finders.
Say what you mean. Yes, you can write, yes you can accomplish your writing project/assignment and organize your material and have the job done. Use common sense, sound judgment and get your facts straight and you will get it right.
To write well, you need to read the best authors, to listen to the best speakers and practice, practice your own style, practice writing every day. Writing is a practice, writing is a practice of study of the mind, as Natalie Goldberg said
Know your subject well, be an expert in your field, unparalleled, unsurpassed connoisseur, do a thorough research, utilize multiple sources of information and resources, do the interviews, etc.
Be concise, clear, brief, right to the point, direct, positive, use the right, appropriate tone. Have empathy for your reader.
Self-edit. Writing is rewriting- if you can write, you can edit; if you can edit, you can write too. You were born to edit-it is what your English language teacher told you and your mother too. Know your Grammar, mechanics, punctuation, spelling, citing, quotations, etc.
Use “the drawer doctrine/principle”- after your wrote your draft copy, save it to your CD, USB port drive, floppy disk, leave it in your drawer/computer/on your desk/folder, take a brisk walk, go to the gym, take Jacuzzi, clear your mind, etc. You can do many things. Forget about your copy for a while, but do remember to meet your deadline.
Always keep a notepad within your reach- on your desk, next to the table, near your nightstand, chest drawer, in your pocket/pocketbook, bag-you never know, when the next greatest thought attends you.
Chop it, crop it, shorten it, trim it, if you can- avoid all those long-long, archaic, needless, meaningless words. Let us consider saving the environment, let us go green.
Relax: “Writing is just work”, as Sinclair Lewis once said. Writing is just a hard work. Get used to it. It is your job. You are doing it every day. Yes, you can write, yes you can accomplish it. Writing and editing are about attention to details, rewriting and revision , looking again at your copy.

Conclusion:

Legal writing and editing are great intellectual challenge and accomplishment. Mastering and polishing your legal writing and editing, proofreading skills are great asset, great investment in your career and your future, it makes you competitive in your profession.

-- Peter Kirchikov