Sunday 27 April 2014

Why Lawyers May Need A Legal Writing Coach

By Essie Osborn


In many law firms, lawyers are needed to write some specialized forms of written communication. It is through this writings that the lawyers are able to express their analysis on various issues that they may be on and try to convince other people on behalf of their clients. These legal documents need to be clear, concise and in line with the objective standards which have set in the legal profession. A legal writing coach can therefore help in mastering the skill.

In the legal field, there are two kinds of writings which are common to attorneys. The first kind includes those documents sent to fellow legal professionals in the office and letters addressed to the client. It is required of these writings to create a balance on the stated problem. Therefore, the background of the recipient has to be given some consideration as well as his/her interests.

If for example one is sending a memorandum to a fellow lawyer in the firm, he/she needs not to define basic law definitions or otherwise the whole thing would be totally inefficient and may even lead to annoyance. However, this is not the same when the person being addressed is a client who does not understand much about law. If he/she is sent the same writing as the other lawyer, then he would only remain confused.

There is also the persuasive type of writing which includes documents such as negotiation letters and appellate briefs that are written on behalf of the client. The content of these documents need to be straight forward and not show some form of disrespect to the party being addressed as it would only lead to provocations. The document should also be clear without unnecessary information. Normally, documents presented to the court or administrative agencies are needed to be written according to the right style.

Lawyers are also tasked with drafting contracts and wills. They, however, need to write them very keenly in order to ensure that the interests of the client are well presented. There is therefore a unique platform that they are supposed to follow, and this is why there are guides to help them in writing.

Training coaches help lawyers in mastering the concept of legal writing. Once one has undergone the training, their documents can be better understood by experienced readers as they are able to get the right information from them as well as evaluate any cited authorities in the document. A lawyer can therefore learn about the format of citations in line with court rules on how they are supposed to be done.

In most coaching sessions, the coach meets one-on-one with the clients while reviewing projects they have done before for structure, style and substance. These analyses are meant to make the client learn various techniques employed in self-editing. By this, they help to nature the legal talent of the clients.

As seen, coaches use past writings of their clients to teach them. There are those who will first check out for the English used in the document before analyzing the structure, tone, logic, integrity, persuasiveness and balance of the document. They will then give their comments and go through it once again with the student.




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