About the Book
Guide to Legal Writing Style
Fifth Edition Terri LeClercq Karin Mika
University of Texas
Cleveland State University
2011. 130 pages. ISBN: 978-0-7355-9998-7
About the Book
Ancillary text for legal writers focused on the nuances of legal writing style.
Features:
- Brief paperback that gives legal writers the skills they need to polish their writing. Intended as an ancillary text to any basic legal writing coursebook, LeClercq and Mika’s book expands on the basic skills that students learn in their first-year courses by discussing additional techniques to help them improve their writing.
- Focuses specifically on style issues that legal writers can incorporate into their writing to make the end product more readable and elegant.
- Crisp, pointed advice written in a personal and humorous style.
- Clear organization helps students find the information they need most. Chapters cover organization, sentence structure, word choice, punctuation, and formatting.
- Helpful examples of both good and bad writing show students how to put the advice into practice.
- Emphasis on legal ethics throughout, with most of the examples and exercises focus on ethical issues.
- Chapter on organization compares and contrasts undergraduate terms and goals with those of a legal audience.
- Enhanced by short, end-of-chapter exercises that strengthen skills and provide opportunities for self-testing. Answers to the questions are included at the back of the book.
- Checklists key into essential aspects of each chapter.
New to the Fifth Edition:
- New co-author, law professor Karin Mika, who has been associated with the Cleveland-Marshall Legal Writing Program since 1988, brings legal credentials and enthusiasm for computer-based enhancements to the new edition
- Shorter, streamlined edition with an unusually robust Companion Web site (which will replace the CD)
- Exercises in the book will now include open-ended exercises with answers available on web as well as self-graded exercises in the text
- The well-received chart comparing the college essay and the legal memo will be expanded and enhanced through format
- A new section added to Chapter 4 Choosing Words with Style that covers the basics of email communication, including sentence structure, word choice, punctuation, formatting, and professional tone
- Special coverage of legal tone for international students
The Companion Web site will include multiple resources for students and professors:
- General introduction with Table of Contents
- An expansion of Chapter 1, Reviewing the Basics, with numerous additional exercises available to students
- An expansion of Chapter 1, Reviewing the Basics, with numerous password-protected exercises available to professors
- Dictionary of grammar and punctuation terms
- Expanded explanations and multiple self-graded exercises for students
- Games and unusual opportunities for students to track their progress
- Exercises and exams with answers, suggestions for short lectures, grading advice for professors
