Writing skills training & coaching for lawyers, accountants, & other professionals, including paralegals, managers & staff. Effective Email programs
Joined March 2009
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Marilyn Bush LeLeiko retweeted
12 Jan 2018
And more than that, sometimes it is the best way to start a sentence. #legalwriting x.com/judgedillard/status/95…
12 Jan 2018
It is acceptable to begin sentences with conjunctions.
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Marilyn Bush LeLeiko retweeted
29 Dec 2017
Yes, especially good short stories and narrative nonfiction (in short form, like magazine articles). Reading good models of brevity is key -- because briefs can't (or shouldn't) be like novels. #legalwriting x.com/Miz_Rosenberg/status/9…
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Marilyn Bush LeLeiko retweeted
28 Dec 2017
Brief-writing tip: If there's one background fact that really should lead to a win for your side, keep your brief short to make it stand out rather than repeating it page after page after page. The repetition in the 50-page brief I'm reading today lessens the impact.
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Marilyn Bush LeLeiko retweeted
19 Dec 2017
If the string of citations really helps your case, perhaps you might explain how in at least a parenthetical? Or did you cite 6 inapt cases just to make me look them all up?
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Marilyn Bush LeLeiko retweeted
21 Dec 2017
I tell my new clerks that I love crappy first drafts. From a crappy first draft we can figure out where we need to go. #legalwriting x.com/aznchew/status/9435705…
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7 Dec 2017
Important x.com/joelklettke/status/936…
30 Nov 2017
Dear every single person who writes reports of any kind for clients:
PLEASE include an "Executive summary" section that sums up your core recommendations in plain English. It's probably the only thing most of 'em will read with focused attention.
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5 Dec 2017
First, before writing, delete name from TO line. x.com/morningmoneyben/status…
4 Dec 2017
One of life's most important skills is writing a nasty, angry email, letting it sit for a minute, then deleting it and moving on.
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29 Nov 2017
Great thread on upward feedback: how to give editing feedback to someone senior x.com/jaime_asantos/status/9…
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Marilyn Bush LeLeiko retweeted
5 Nov 2017
Lin-Manuel Miranda: “You write until the rust comes out of the faucet and it’s clear water. Then you write down the clear water.” #writing
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Marilyn Bush LeLeiko retweeted
14 Nov 2017
A 36-line deep paragraph is a wall of text that no reader should ever have to climb. #plainlanguage
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13 Nov 2017
"Change horses in midstream", "beat a dead horse", etc. — dictionary coverage for non-native speakers. x.com/PeterSokolowski/status…
10 Nov 2017
If you've never thought about the difference between a dictionary written for non-native speakers and one made for native speakers, take a look at these entries.
12 Nov 2017
And in legal writing, don't just drop the parenthetical thought into a footnote. x.com/editormark/status/9298…
12 Nov 2017
If a thought is parenthetical, maybe you ought not include it. If you include it, maybe it ought not be parenthetical. #amediting #writing
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12 Nov 2017
Never install any major software updates (operating system, PowerPoint, Keynote) on the day of a presentation. Or when traveling. x.com/zimmerjohn/status/9297…
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Marilyn Bush LeLeiko retweeted
30 Oct 2017
#EzraPound, #BTD, said good writers "keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear." Note the accuracy part.
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10 Nov 2017
Point-first writing: The last thing you want to do is force the reader to ask ‘What’s this all about and where is it going?’ tips.slaw.ca/#.WgXOr7hKvSY.t…
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10 Nov 2017
Spell check isn't enough. Best typo 2017 from Beethoven bio: Being dead did not stop him . . . x.com/plantypal/status/92689…
9 Nov 2017
Pre-tenure faculty members: writing full of dense impenetrable sentences choked with polysyllabic prose. Too much legal writing can be described the same way. @racheltoor x.com/chronicle/status/92867…
9 Nov 2017
"They’d earned their stripes, and in doing so, had made their work unpalatable to any except the few in their own speciated niches." chroni.cl/2m9B3Gz
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Marilyn Bush LeLeiko retweeted
9 Nov 2017
No. I am a skeptical reader. You earn credibility as I read your brief. If I see (cleaned up) and haven't heard of that, I have a new credibility question ("What the heck was 'cleaned up?'") and will have to check the quote.
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7 Nov 2017
Try to avoid giving your readers mental hiccups when you use hyphens: "10-digit dialing" but not "10-digits will be required" x.com/ArrantPedantry/status/…
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