Speaker 1: Here to for, here in, where for, where in, where as, you've got to be kidding me. Hey guys, welcome to Associate Tribe. I'm Angela Vorpahl. In case you're new to the channel, I'm a former big law associate making videos on all topics related to law school, law firms, and being a lawyer in general, with the goal of providing skills training and mentorship and advice to lawyers and aspiring lawyers, and in particular, answering any questions you may have about the legal world. So, if you haven't subscribed already, go ahead and click subscribe, tap that notification bell, and you'll be notified every Tuesday when new videos come out. I'm really excited about today's video because it's all about nerding out on legal writing, and specifically talking about the seven most common legal writing mistakes I see professional attorneys making all the time, and how to fix them so that you can bring your legal writing to a new level, and generally dominate in memos, briefs, legal research and writing, and of course, winning those brief battles with opposing counsel. Number one, do not use adverbs. Adverbs are extraneously descriptive language that lawyers use all the time, and they add zero substance to your argument and actually work against you by signaling to the reader that your argument is much weaker than presented. Examples of how adverbs are commonly used are saying things like, the contract was unquestionably breached, or there was an exceedingly long delay in delivering the goods, or the defendant's actions were clearly negligent. If you have to add these words, it screams to the reader that you're overcompensating for something, that the contract probably wasn't breached, or that the delay probably wasn't that long, or the defendant's actions were not clearly negligent at all. Take adverbs out of your writing. You don't need them. They don't do anything for you, and they actually work against you. Just tell the facts as they are. Get to the meat of your argument. Don't over-embellish, and your writing will be clearer, more concise, and more convincing. Number two, do not get angry or aggressive. Some lawyers get really passionate about their position or their client's case, but not in a good way or a productive way. There's nothing less professional than getting angry or upset about opposing counsel's argument or position. We all care about our work, but the better option is to always keep a clear, cool head, and attack an argument's validity and substance, and not to resort to loaded language in a brief. Examples of this type of loaded language are outrageous, atrocious, unforgivable, blatant, misleading, frivolous, sanctionable. Don't say that stuff in your writing. No matter how awful opposing counsel may be acting, or how frivolous their argument may very well be, that language is thrown around way too often for it to ever be effective. Number three, don't use legal jargon. For crying out loud, write in plain English. Gone are the days of the elevated, elegant legalese. Modern legal writing is all about using clear, concise language that normal people actually use to communicate. I know it can be tempting to use that pretentious legalese, here, forthwith, whereas, thereto, for, wherein, or those fancy Latin phrases, ipso facto, a priori, nunc pro tunc. I don't even know if I'm saying those right. It doesn't matter. No one wants to read that stuff. No one's impressed that you know those words. Don't use them. Number four, don't use pronouns. This is actually a personal favorite of mine. I learned it from my contracts professor first year of law school, and I have taken it with me ever since. The most common pronouns, he, she, it, they, this, and that, don't use those. Take those out of your writing, because while you're writing it, it might seem very clear to you, and you know who those pronouns are referring to. But for your reader, it's such a headache to have to work it out and guess and figure out what subject from the previous sentence your pronoun is referring to. So take those extra seconds and rewrite the subject of the sentence so that it's very clear what and who you're referring to. Roger was crossing the street and was immediately confronted by the driver of the car. He started yelling and waving his hands. In that second sentence, we don't know who he is referring to. Is he Roger? Is he the driver of the car? So just take the guesswork out of it and say who it is. Roger started yelling and waving his hands, or the driver of the car started yelling and waving his hands. That makes it clear to everybody who you're talking about. Another common example is the court held that A, B, C, D, and E. This was appealed by the plaintiffs. In that second sentence, what is this referring to? Is this referring to the court's entire order? Is this referring to the court's holding that D? Be clear about what you're talking about so that it is obvious to everyone. If you've lasted this far, congratulations. Let me know by commenting tribe on in the comment section below, and congratulations for being a fellow grammar and writing nerd. Let's get going on the last three most common legal writing mistakes. Number five, tighten up your language. Now, this is a big one and it takes on several different forms, so we're going to run through them quickly. First, cut out extra descriptive words. Just like we talked about with Adbergs, cut out adjectives, cut out descriptive phrases. Just get to the point of what you're saying and get to the argument that you're making. So instead of saying something like, he drove the very long trip from LA to New York, just say, he drove from LA to New York. Second, when you can, use one word instead of multiple words. So instead of took the deposition, just say deposed. Third, cut out prepositional phrases when you can. So instead of saying the employment manual of the company, say the company's employment manual. Fourth, always write an active voice, never passive voice. So instead of the witness was questioned by the police, say the police questioned the witness. And fifth, cut out transitional words whenever you can. The however's and therefore's and such as's are so wildly overused. So when you can, cut those out completely and just move on to your next point. Number six, don't use overused lawyerly sayings. I love this one and I hate this one. I love this one because there are these things that lawyers love to say. For some reason, they become addicted to saying them. You'll see them all the time in briefs. And when I see one, it makes me laugh out loud. Examples of these overly used lawyerly sayings are a distinction without a difference, constellation of factors. There is no basis to believe it goes without saying, don't say these things. They are gross. Number seven, use the most out of every line. This is one of my biggest pet peeves and also one of my favorite ninja hacks. It drives me crazy when the last sentence of a paragraph just spills slightly over to the next line. It looks sloppy. It looks lazy. It looks unprofessional. It looks like the attorney did nothing to revise or redraft that paragraph. So that's exactly what you want to try to do. Go back to that paragraph and redraft, reword, tighten up your language, cut out extraneous facts or arguments or wording so that that last line is as close to flush with that margin as possible. Because that signals to the reader that that paragraph is incredibly well-written, is incredibly substantive because it indicates that you whittled it down to its very core, such that the last line barely fit on that page. I know that's a ton to keep in mind when you're worried about writing a solid substantive memo or brief, but just keep in mind that these things are going to come easier and easier as you use them more and more. And that these mistakes and tips and tricks are only to be incorporated into later drafts and revisions. Don't worry about them as you're doing your first draft. That's when you should be getting your research and your facts and your substantive writing done. These are going to be done on the backend as you're beautifying and finalizing your memo or brief. With that in mind, thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this video, please give it a big thumbs up, comment tribe on in the comment section below and consider sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. If you have any questions about legal writing or being a lawyer in general, feel free to leave them in the comment section below, direct message me on Facebook or Instagram or email me. And of course, if you haven't subscribed yet, go ahead and subscribe, click that notification bell, and you'll be notified for videos that we release every Tuesday. So that's where I'll be. I'll see you guys in the next one. Bye.