Too true

Animus Revertendi, a blog by Chinese students in American law schools, has an interesting commentary on American legal writing. To put it briefly: legal writing is unnecessarily dull because, beginning in law school and continuing on into our legal careers, creativity is beaten out of us:

... The best-regarded law student writings are often throughly researched and clearly presented, but without any originality in style or organization. In fact, if a student tries to write with a sense of humor or an unusual touch of personality, he could be punished in terms of grades. Thus, the incentive is to produce pieces of writing that are standardized and flavorless. Sure, the result may be an end product with "balanced-nutrition." But who really wants to consume, or tends to remember, something that tastes like wax?

... In recent years, since many more clerks with similar background (top grades, law review, top schools) are drafting opinions, they tend to gravitate towards what served them well in law school — too many citations and too little personality.

Writing with style is difficult; learning to do it is a lifelong job, and sometimes the effort isn't appreciated. Conformity, on the other hand, is relatively easy. That, I think, is why too much legal writing is needlessly dull.

Comments

[Amicus Curiae]

Thank you for the comments and the link to my blog entry!

I have just finished a brief for the moot court competition at my school. Although it is somewhat risky, (I think) I managed to inject a little personal style into it. :)

[China Law Blog]

So true.