In-House Training

We conduct in-house workshops for law firms, corporate legal departments, federal and state government agencies, and courts throughout the country — from Boston to San Diego. There are five classes to select from. Advanced Judicial Writing is available for courts only.

Unlike a public program that has a set date, an in-house workshop can be scheduled at any time of the year if we have available dates. We tailor these programs to the organization's needs. Each full-day workshop runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with two 15-minute breaks and an hour for lunch. We also offer a half-day program from 9 a.m. to noon or 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., depending on our availability. To obtain an in-house brochure or to schedule an in-house seminar, please call our office. Ordinarily, our calendar stays booked about six to eight months in advance.

Please call our office or send us an e-mail if you would like to receive more information about in-house seminars, including pricing and more in-depth course descriptions.

Advanced Legal Writing & Editing

Our most popular seminar focuses on analytical and persuasive writing, with most examples coming from actual memos and briefs. The day concentrates on the five major skills that good legal writers must develop to:

• frame issues that get the judge’s attention and state the case in 90 seconds;
• achieve a lean style that makes their prose stand out from most legal writing;
• smooth the transitions between sentences and paragraphs;
• quote authority most effectively; and
• get their projects down on paper most efficiently.

To practice what they’re learning, participants work on several short but challenging exercises throughout the day.

Advanced Legal Drafting

Our seminar on drafting contracts and other legal instruments will help even the most experienced transactional lawyers improve their documents — both stylistically and substantively. Highlights of the course include:

• how to avoid the most commonly litigated ambiguities;
• how to structure complex provisions to make them more readable;
• why it’s important to edit inherited forms, even “recommended” ones;
• when to use shall, must, and will — words that often bring grief to the parties; and
• how to revise a contract efficiently with our proven step-by-step method.

Although the main focus is on various types of contracts — such as commercial leases, loan documents, and license agreements — we can, depending on your needs, shift the focus to other areas, such as legislative drafting or securities disclosure documents.

The Winning Brief

This seminar specifically for litigators comprises 100 tips, each illustrated with good and bad examples from motions and briefs filed in courts throughout the country. Both the class and its 516-page coursebook (now in its second edition and published by Oxford University Press) are full of pointers that even the most accomplished brief-writers will find useful. Participants learn how to:

• plan briefing projects for maximal efficiency — whatever the time constraints;
• capture a judge’s imagination with the first few words;
• avoid the mind-numbing conventions that make so many briefs boring;
• meet page limits with greater ease;
• counteract the exaggerated style of Rambo opponents; and
• persuade judicial readers more reliably.

Unlike Advanced Legal Writing & Editing, this course doesn’t require participants to do exercises. Instead, it covers much more material, and the coursebook supplies all the answers to editorial problems. It’s an excellent follow-up to ALW&E.

Legal Writing in Plain English

Our latest and broadest seminar focuses on the principles every legal writer needs to produce concise, down-to-earth, and powerful prose. Designed for lawyers, judges, legal scholars, law students, and paralegals alike, the day focuses on sound writing advice and practical tools. The goal, in essence, is to teach straight thinking by studying:

• principles applicable to all legal writing;
• principles mainly for analytical and persuasive writing;
• principles mainly for legal drafting;
• principles of document design; and
• ways to continue improving your writing skills.

The seminar includes a 227-page book by the same name, which includes basic, intermediate, and advanced exercises that can help participants further develop their talents. It also includes model documents and a guide to punctuation. More and more, clients are demanding plain English, and courts are rewarding it.

Advanced Judicial Writing

We’ve presented this workshop to judges in Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington. We also offer a one-day version for judicial clerks and staff attorneys.

The seminar emphasizes the techniques used by first-rate judicial writers. Participants examine the different ways to open judicial opinions, plus how and why those opening paragraphs determine the style of what follows. We show the 12 ways American judges typically begin their opinions and suggest which ways most effectively frame the determinative issues.

The seminar also demonstrates effective editing techniques: how to choose the best words, how to sharpen and tighten sentences, and how to bridge between paragraphs for better-flowing exposition. Some of the same principles are covered in Advanced Legal Writing & Editing and the Winning Brief, but this workshop focuses on the unique writing problems that judges face.