the (new) legal writer

Point Made, by Ross Guberman

For briefwriters of any level of expertise, I recommend Ross Guberman’s new book, Point Made. Ross offers 50 valuable briefwriting tips. But he doesn’t just tell you what to do: he shows you, through real-life examples taken from briefs written by 50 of the nation’s top advocates. I learned a lot from reading Ross’s book; I think you will too.

Federal plain-language guidelines

The good ladies at Writing Matters have posted a useful, hyperlinked outline of the Federal Plain Language Guidelines. Don’t just read it—bookmark it.

The difference between “Oh” and “O”

Five minutes ago, I thought “O” was an alternative, perhaps poetic spelling of “Oh.” After reading this post by John McIntyre, explaining the difference between the two words, I don’t think that anymore.