Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The Importance Of 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.

There are two types of writing common to lawyers. The first one normally creates a balance on the legal issue at hand. It includes writing of documents such as inter-office memoranda and letters being addressed to clients. While addressing the recipients, the lawyer needs to make sure that he/she has taken into account the interests of the client as well as having considered his/her background.

These two documents mentioned above will actually be written in a different way because the office memoranda is being addressed to a legal professional and the letter to someone who may not be understanding the law. For instance, when writing to a fellow colleague in the office, he/she cannot go on defining basic law terms used in the document as it would be expected of if when addressing the client. Otherwise, he may only be annoying the other lawyer.

The other type of writing is the persuasive one. This includes writings such as negotiation letters being sent on the behalf of the client and appellate briefs. Here, the lawyer needs to put out his point straight without arousing any provocations by making the other party to feel disrespected. He should also not write unnecessary information to the individual as this would be just a waste of time. If a document is being presented to an administrative agency or a court of law, then it must be written in 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.

The uniqueness of these writings is what has led to the development of coaching lessons for lawyers. The main aim is to ensure that when an experienced reader gets hold of the document, he/she can be able to analyze the authorities sited in it as well as understand the information being presented. The coach will therefore train the lawyer into knowing the right format for citations according to court rules and also how briefs and memoranda need to be presented in court.

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.

If you therefore join a coaching program, you may have to submit your project for review. It is after this that the coach will check on the substance of the argument in it as he edits it. Other programs involve the coach editing the whole document first on a line-by-line formula while checking for grammar. They then go ahead and check the tone, logic, structure, tone, integrity, balance and persuasiveness before giving their comments.




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