The State of Legal Writing
by Andrew P. Connors on August 10, 2011
I came across a good post at “Writing, Clear and Simple” detailing the abysmal state of high school writing instruction. As Roy Jacobsen notes there, college English professors spend a significant amount of time editing poorly written papers. Unfortunately, it seems that the same can be said about law student writing too. Jacobsen blames the state of public secondary education for the deficiencies he notices at the undergraduate level. I am sure that has something to do with it, just as the state of public higher education probably has something to do with some of the poor legal writing produced at the doctorate level.
Yet, the problem seems to go quite deeper than that. I have encountered many “smart” law students who nevertheless are unwilling to do the hard work necessary to produce good writing. Writing is not easy, especially in the legal field, where difficult questions often arise. It seems to me that the biggest problem we have is that many people do not care whether they turn in a less than stellar final product.
The difference between good writers and great writers is not aptitude alone. A great writer must be willing to constantly proofread, learn, and improve. It’s a cliche, but it’s true: practice makes perfect. Maybe we all need to practice a little bit more.
Update: I’ve followed up on these thoughts in Notes to a Prospective Law Student and Does Law School Produce Lawyers?
