Typography for Lawyers by
Why typography matters -- Type composition -- Text formatting -- Font recommendations -- Page layout -- Sample documents
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Grammar and style guides often overlap in content. Grammar guides also talk about style, and style guides frequently include a section on basic grammar. The books below are broken up according to what they focus on most--grammar or style. They are only a small selection of what the library has to offer and does not include books available from the UST undergrad library. Please stop by the law library service desk or email your librarians for additional recommendations, or browse the UST libraries resources.
The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style by
This authoritative survey of English usage, grammar, and style offers guidance on almost any writing problem imaginable. Arranged in a single, easy-to-use A-Z list, the guide’s 1,500 entries include examples and quotations that show not only correct and incorrect usage but also the relative effectiveness of different expressions in context. The guide also presents the opinions of the American Heritage® Usage Panel--a group of two hundred prominent writers, scholars, and scientists--who are polled on traditional and emerging usage problems. The panel makes clear when attitudes about a word are changing, when old chestnuts have been laid to rest, and when today’s innovations are likely to become tomorrow’s standards. This book confronts traditional bugbears, such as disinterested and lay vs. lie, along with a variety of new challenges, such as seeking closure and begging the question. Commonly confused words, such as impinge and infringe, are teased apart. Notes on science terms explain the difference between popular and technical uses of words like relativity and exponential growth. Rulings are given for tough calls on grammatical controversies, redundancy, and parallelism, and sensible guidance is provided on punctuation, capitalization, and other conventions of style. Both readable and well researched, this book is an eminently sensible source of advice on how to use words effectively.
The Chicago Manual of Style by
Technologies may change, but the need for clear and accurate communication never goes out of style. That is why for more than one hundred years The Chicago Manual of Style has remained the definitive guide for anyone who works with words. In the seven years since the previous edition debuted, we have seen an extraordinary evolution in the way we create and share knowledge. This seventeenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style has been prepared with an eye toward how we find, create, and cite information that readers are as likely to access from their pockets as from a bookshelf. It offers updated guidelines on electronic workflows and publication formats, tools for PDF annotation and citation management, web accessibility standards, and effective use of metadata, abstracts, and keywords. It recognizes the needs of those who are self-publishing or following open access or Creative Commons publishing models. The citation chapters reflect the ever-expanding universe of electronic sources--including social media posts and comments, private messages, and app content--and also offer updated guidelines on such issues as DOIs, time stamps, and e-book locators. Other improvements are independent of technological change. The chapter on grammar and usage includes an expanded glossary of problematic words and phrases and a new section on syntax as well as updated guidance on gender-neutral pronouns and bias-free language. Key sections on punctuation and basic citation style have been reorganized and clarified. To facilitate navigation, headings and paragraph titles have been revised and clarified throughout. And the bibliography has been updated and expanded to include the latest and best resources available. This edition continues to reflect expert insights gathered from Chicago's own staff and from an advisory board of publishing experts from across the profession. It also includes suggestions inspired by emails, calls, and even tweets from readers. No matter how much the means of communication change, The Chicago Manual of Style remains the ultimate resource for those who care about getting the details right.
The Grammar and Writing Handbook for Lawyers by
The Grammar and Writing Handbook shows you precisely which rules need to be followed, how to choose the correct words, and the most effective way to structure every sentence to help you compose more persuasive, stronger material that's flawlessly written. The book includes a brief history of the English language, as well as comprehensive information on every thing from singular vs. plural, to composing a legal memorandum.
Just Writing by
Companion Website: www.aspenlawschool.com/oates_enquist Adapted from the popular Legal Writing Handbook, this powerful guide focuses exclusively on the style, grammar, punctuation, And The mechanics of strong legal writing. With the authors’ trademark step-by-step approach, Just Writing enables students to master a skill that will contribute to their success in both law school and practice. Proven to be effective in the classroom, The Third Edition features: honed coverage that zeroes in on style, grammar, punctuation, And The mechanics of legal writing in a concise length and format tips and techniques for every step of the writing process: planning, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading the authors’ trademark straightforward, building-block approach clear explanations and crafted examples practice exercises that allow students to use specific skills covered in the text writing for ESL students “Quick Tips” about writing integrated throughout the text a Glossary of Usage a bound-in CD with practice exercises a dedicated Teacher’s Manual, with specific teaching suggestions for each chapter in the book additional teaching and testing materials on a Teaching Materials Website , available to adopters Enquist and Oates’s clarity and finely honed content make Just Writing the perfect complement to any legal writing course. New professors will especially appreciate the ample teaching support that accompanies this book.
The Lawyer's Editing Manual by
While other manuals cover citation conventions, The Lawyer's Editing Manual covers all the rest that the legal writer ? and the editor ? ought to know: conventions that underlie effective formal prose, including grammar and punctuation, the effective use of quotations, and usage and style. "Rules"? meaning conventions most universally accepted ? are stated, but so are their exceptions and, when possible, the logic for each.The legal writer's ability to communicate to the reader directly and clearly is guided not just by "correct" prose, but by stylistic conventions that further its effectiveness. The Lawyer's Editing Manual thus includes advice on unambiguous word choice and modifier placement, conciseness, sentence and paragraph structure, and effective transitions. The manual ends with conventions inspired less by consensus than by the reader's reliance on consistency, such as whether and what to capitalize or how to treat abbreviations, symbols, and lists. For these, it matters less what the writer or editor chooses to do than that the choice be consistently applied: such details should never distract from the sense of what is being written.In short, The Lawyer's Editing Manual will help legal writers craft or edit clear, concise, connected prose. It is an invaluable tool to ensure that the writer's message reaches the reader's understanding enhanced, not impeded, by the form of its communication.
May I Quote You on That? by
We all use language in different ways, depending on the situations we find ourselves in. In formal contexts we are usually expected to use a formal level of Standard English - the English codified in grammars, usage guides, and dictionaries.In May I Quote You on That? Stephen Spector offers a new approach to learning Standard English grammar and usage. The product of Spector's forty years of teaching courses on the English language, this book makes the conventions of formal writing and speech easier and more enjoyable to learn thantraditional approaches usually do. Each lesson begins with humorous, interesting, or instructive illustrative quotations from writers, celebrities, and historical figures. Mark Twain appears alongside Winston Churchill, Yogi Berra, Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, Stephen Colbert, Oprah, Lady Gaga, andmany others. These quotations allow readers to infer the rules and word meanings from context. And if they stick in readers' memory, they can serve as models for the rules they exemplify. The lessons then offer short essays, written in a conversational style, on the history of the rules or the wordsbeing discussed. But because English is constantly changing, the essays offer not only the traditional rules of Standard English, but also the current opinions of usage panelists, stylists, and language specialists. When rules are controversial, Spector offers advice about stylistic choices. Acompanion website features a workbook with practice drills.This book will appeal to anyone who wants to write well. It's aimed at those who are applying to college, taking the SAT, or writing a job application, an essay, or anything else that requires clear and effective communication.
The Redbook by
Since first appearing in 2002, Bryan Garner's The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style has established itself as the go-to source for all questions of legal style (apart from citation form). The book isn't just one talented man's effort: Garner has two experienced coauthors plus a hands-on team of 54 editorial advisers, most of whom have long and valuable experience teaching LRW. The book is a one-of-a-kind resource--the legal writer's equivalent of The AP Stylebook or The Chicago Manual of Style. The brand-new fourth edition has lots of new material, including an especially helpful new chapter on handling quotations. The two exhaustive indexes (word and subject), plus the detailed table of contents, make it easy to find authoritative guidance within seconds, whatever the question might be. The author, Bryan Garner, is now the most frequently cited author in opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court. It's true: last term, four of his books were cited a total of 14 times (in the somewhat fewer than 90 cases decided). This term the count is on a similar pace. In American appellate decisions generally, Garner is at the top end of sources relied on. You can rely on him, too, in the most comprehensive, nitty-gritty resource available for legal writers: The Redbook. Don't leave home without it.
The Elements of Legal Style by
With expanded coverage in this new edition, The Elements of Legal Style features additional sections, many more examples, and a thoroughly researched appendix that contains 80 major statements on prose style--what it is and how to attain it. Inspired by Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, this book clearly (often wittily) explains the full range of what legal writers need to know: mechanics, word choice, structure, and rhetoric, as well as all the special conventions that legal writers should follow in using headings, defined terms, quotations, and many other devices. Garner also provides abundant examples from the best legal writers of yesterday and today, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Clarence Darrow, Frank Easterbrook, and Antonin Scalia. If you want to make your writing clearer, more precise, more persuasive, and above all more stylish, The Elements of Legal Style offers the surest--and the most enjoyable--means to that end.
Guide to Legal Writing Style by
This highly regarded paperback, specifically directed at legal writers, offers - crisp, pointed advice written in a personal and humorous style - lucid organization that helps students find the information they need most, including organization, sentence structure, word choice, punctuation, and formatting - helpful examples of both good and bad writing that demonstrate the practical application of the author's advice - an emphasis on legal ethics throughout, with most of the examples and exercises focusing on ethical issues - a chapter on organization that compares and contrasts undergraduate terms and goals with those of a legal audience - a guide that helps students guard against plagiarism - short, end-of-chapter exercises, with the answers at the back of the book, that strengthen skills and provide opportunities for self-testing Special features in the Fourth Edition include: - an updated interactive CD-ROM with multiple exercises to reinforce the materials in the book, which includes updated and expanded tests of basic skills and click-on answers and explanations - a new section explaining common errors in professional writing and how to avoid making them - new checklists that reinforce essential advice of each chapter When you examine your complimentary copy of this popular paperback, you will agree that Guide to Legal Writing Style, Fourth Edition -- concise, to the point, focused on the nuances of legal writing -- is the perfect ancillary text for any legal writing course.
Plain English for Lawyers by
– Bibliography note: Includes bibliographical references and index.
– Table of contents: Why plain English? -- Omit surplus words -- Use verbs to express action -- Prefer the active voice -- Use short sentences -- Arrange your words carefully -- Choose your words carefully -- Use commas carefully -- Use other punctuation marks carefully -- Use easy-to-read design techniques.
Point Made by
With Point Made, legal writing expert, Ross Guberman, throws a life preserver to attorneys, who are under more pressure than ever to produce compelling prose. What is the strongest opening for a motion or brief? How to draft winning headings? How to tell a persuasive story when the record is dry and dense? The answers are "more science than art," says Guberman, who has analyzed stellar arguments by distinguished attorneys to develop step-by-step instructions for achieving the results you want. The author takes an empirical approach, drawing heavily on the writings of the nation's 50 most influential lawyers, including Barack Obama, John Roberts, Elena Kagan, Ted Olson, and David Boies. Their strategies, demystified and broken down into specific, learnable techniques, become a detailed writing guide full of practical models. In FCC v. Fox, for example, Kathleen Sullivan conjures the potentially dangerous, unintended consequences of finding for the other side (the "Why Should I Care?" technique). Arguing against allowing the FCC to continue fining broadcasters that let the "F-word" slip out, she highlights the chilling effect these fines have on America's radio and TV stations, "discouraging live programming altogether, with attendant loss to valuable and vibrant programming that has long been part of American culture." Each chapter of Point Made focuses on a typically tough challenge, providing a strategic roadmap and practical tips along with annotated examples of how prominent attorneys have resolved that challenge in varied trial and appellate briefs. Short examples and explanations with engaging titles--"Brass Tacks," "Talk to Yourself," "Russian Doll"--deliver weighty materials with a light tone, making the guidelines easy to remember and apply. In addition to all-new examples from the original 50 advocates, this Second Edition introduces eight new superstar lawyers from Solicitor General Don Verrilli, Deanne Maynard, Larry Robbins, and Lisa Blatt to Joshua Rosencranz, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Judy Clarke, and Sri Srinvasan, now a D.C. Circuit Judge. Ross Guberman also provides provocative new examples from the Affordable Care Act wars, the same-sex marriage fight, and many other recent high-profile cases. Considerably more commentary on the examples is included, along with dozens of style and grammar tips interspersed throughout. Also, for those who seek to improve their advocacy skills and for those who simply need a step-by-step guide to making a good brief better, the book concludes with an all-new set of 50 writing challenges corresponding to the 50 techniques.