Posts tagged “Briefly Writing”

I use this blog to share with other lawyers certain techniques for persuasive writing that can be used when preparing an appellate brief, as well as to address other issues related to appellate practice. But even with the tips and techniques I offer here, it’s not always best for a lawyer who is inexperienced in appellate practice to draft his or her own appellate brief. That’s not always in the client’s best interests. As I’ve written here and here in prior posts, ABA ethics rules provide that a law firm may hire a freelance lawyer to provide legal services such as drafting appellate briefs and that in some circumstances the firm may add a surcharge to the fee charged by a freelance lawyer. Thus, the…

Categories: Miscellaneous

Tagged: appealsandbriefs.com, Briefly Writing, freelance attorney, Michael Skotnicki

Words to Use in Effective Legal Writing: “Because.”

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on August 6, 2012

Not all appellate briefs are created equal. Some lawyers are just naturally better in their legal analysis, or are better writers. But we can all learn techniques to improve our legal writing. In earlier posts I’ve written about some words that can help your legal writing be more effective, “but,” and “although.” Another powerful word to use in legal writing is “because.” The purpose of legal writing is often to persuade, and that is especially true of appellate briefs. The most obvious way to persuade a person, including judges, that something should to be done is to give the person a reason why it should be done. A simple way to transition between what is asked of the court and the reason proffered as to…

Categories: Writing Techniques

Tagged: brief writing, brief writing techniques, Briefly Writing, Ross Guberman

“The Dog that Didn’t Bark:” What We Can Learn from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle About Using the Absence of Expected Facts.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on July 25, 2012

The 1892 book, the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is a collection of short stories. One of the stories is “Silver Blaze,”a mystery about the disappearance of a famous racehorse the night before a race and the murder of the horse’s trainer. Sherlock Homes solves the mystery in part by recognizing that no one he spoke to in his investigation remarked that they had heard barking from the watchdog during the night. Gregory (Scotland Yard detective): “Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?” Holmes: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.” Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.” Holmes: “That was the curious incident.” The fact that the dog did…

Categories: Writing Techniques

Tagged: Arthur Conan Doyle, brief writing, brief writing techniques, Briefly Writing, Fiction writing, Michael Skotnicki, Sherlock Holmes

Briefly Writing is Now Listed on the ABA Journal Blawg Directory.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on June 26, 2012

Briefly Writing is now listed on the ABA Journal Blawg Directory under the topic of Legal Research & Writing and under the topic of Appellate Practice. If your interested in a blog about writing appellate briefs and issues related to appellate practice, I believe Briefly Writing is worth your time. Sign up to be a follower and get an email whenever a new post is published. And remember to vote for Briefly Writing when the ABA Journal Blawg 100 voting begins.

Categories: Miscellaneous

Tagged: ABA Journal, American Bar Association, blog, Briefly Writing, Michael Skotnicki

Suggestions for Emphasizing Facts Without Using Emphasis.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on June 25, 2012

In my last post I wrote about subtle ways to help lessen the impact of adverse facts when writing an appeal brief. Just as you want to lessen the attention the reader gives to adverse facts, you want to increase the attention given to positive, helpful facts. As I posted on March 30th, don’t be one of those lawyers that takes the easy approach and overuses bold, underline, and italics emphasis in a brief or, heaven forbid, a combination of emphasis. While I still do believe in the use of emphasis, my years of experience has taught me that less is more effective. The use of emphasis on every page distracts the reader from the proper flow of the narrative argument and inevitably cheapens the effect…

Categories: Writing Techniques

Tagged: brief writing, brief writing techniques, Briefly Writing, Diagrams, Emphasis (typography), Michael Skotnicki

Briefly Writing

Blogging about the process of writing appellate court briefs, appellate court rules, and appellate law.

Posts tagged “Briefly Writing”

The ABA Recognizes that a Small Law Firms Can Benefit Greatly from Using a Freelance Attorney.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on August 8, 2012

Words to Use in Effective Legal Writing: “Because.”

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on August 6, 2012

“The Dog that Didn’t Bark:” What We Can Learn from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle About Using the Absence of Expected Facts.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on July 25, 2012

Briefly Writing is Now Listed on the ABA Journal Blawg Directory.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on June 26, 2012

Suggestions for Emphasizing Facts Without Using Emphasis.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on June 25, 2012