Bad Legal Writing Explained and Tips for Legal Writing by Yuriy Moshes
For Quick Reference: A Baker’s Dozen of Bad Legal Writing Hallmarks
We understand that most lawyers, law students, and judges are busy people and may not have the time to read through the whole article. For simplicity, we’re providing you with our “baker’s dozen” of bad legal writing hallmarks so that you know what to look for ahead of time to spot your most obvious drafting problems.
Your sentences have more words than you would be willing to serve if each word was worth a day in federal prison: Short and concise legal writing is always preferable. Your longest sentences should hover around 20 words. If your document reads like the Gettysburg Address, it is well-written in this regard.
Your paragraphs form squares (or even worse, vertical rectangles): Pacing and white space is more important than you realize. Create new paragraphs often to avoid losing your reader in a smog of black text.
You overuse passive voice: Using active voice sentences will help cut word count and add a punch to your sentences. A powerful verb exists for the point you want to make. Use a thesaurus to find a verb if you need to. Also, it helps to try and always place the active verb close to the beginning of the sentence.
You do not murder your adverbs: Stephen King famously said: “the road to hell is paved with adverbs.” He meant that while adverbs are intended to provide clarification, they needlessly slow down the narrative. For example, the word “suddenly” takes any suspense out of a surprise because you know a surprise is coming.