Wisconsin
Lawyer
Vol. 81, No. 11, November
2008
Legal Writing
Style Books, Web Sites, and Podcasts: A Lawyer’s Guide to the
Guides
With a resurgence of interest in
grammar, punctuation, and the art of good writing, lawyers now have more
options when choosing style guides. To help you choose, the author
describes the strengths and weaknesses of several reputable style
guides.
by Jill Koch Hayford
Sidebars:
Grammar and punctuation are cool again. Books such as Eats, Shoots
and Leaves1 and Grammar Snobs Are
Great Big Meanies2 and even
popular comedy shows such as The Daily Show and The Colbert
Report3 are covering these
topics. Renewed interest by the public has brought about a greater
selection of books, Web sites, and even podcasts that address matters of
grammar, punctuation, and style. This article describes the strengths
and weaknesses of several of these resources, sometimes called
“style guides,” so that each lawyer can choose the best one
to meet his or her needs.
Style Guides in Book Form
There is a wide range of style guides in book form. Some are designed
for all writers, and others are specifically for lawyers. The advantage
to guides designed for all writers is that they cover more grammar and
punctuation rules, and they cover them in greater depth. On the other
hand, one advantage to law-specific style guides is that they narrow the
coverage to rules that frequently trouble lawyers, focusing only on what
lawyers need most. Another advantage to law-specific guides is that they
cover the topics in the context of documents that lawyers frequently
draft, such as interoffice memoranda, briefs, client letters, and
contracts. Accordingly, when choosing between the two types of guides, a
lawyer should consider whether to invest in a comprehensive,
grammar-and-punctuation reference book or in a lawyer-friendly refresher
on basic rules.4 Below is a brief summary of
some widely available style guides in book form, divided according to
intended audience.
Guides Written Specifically for
Lawyers
- A Form and Style Manual for Lawyers.5 Written in a relatively informal
style, this guide is appealing to lawyers who prefer to take tips from a
coach instead of a curmudgeon. The book is organized according to the
writing process of pre-writing, writing, formatting, and editing.
Practicing attorneys will be most interested in the chapters on writing,
which range from using plain English to organizing an analysis using
subheadings. The book also dispels many common grammar myths and
provides advice on drafting litigation documents and business
correspondence. Some readers might find some of the advice too basic
(for example, the formatting chapter details how to use shortcut keys
and default settings on a word processor).
- Just Writing.6 This book
includes basic grammar and punctuation rules as well as style
suggestions, such as how to craft an effective paragraph.7 A real strength is that the book was written
by two experts, one an attorney with experience in writing legal
documents and the other a writing specialist with education and training
in rhetoric and composition. Thus, the style rules apply specifically to
the problems lawyers encounter when drafting legal documents, and yet
the rules are grounded in fundamental principles of rhetoric and
composition. For example, the chapter on effective paragraphs describes
the two basic shapes – “hourglass” and “V”
– of paragraphs written in any discipline and then explains why
the V shape is more effective in legal writing. Another strength is that
the book includes a chapter on eloquence, which goes beyond the basics
to help lawyers take their writing to the next level.
- The Redbook.8
Prolific legal writer Bryan Garner divided this book into three
parts: mechanics, grammar and usage, and preparing legal documents. This
compact, spiral-bound book covers a lot of grammar. It also includes
specific style recommendations for research memos and briefs, opinion
letters, demand letters, pleadings, motions, and contracts.
- Drafting Contracts: How and Why Lawyers Do What They
Do.9 This book is a comprehensive guide
to the style rules that pertain to the building blocks of drafting and
editing contracts. The book covers such matters as revising legalese,
avoiding ambiguity, and providing clarity through sentence structure.
However, because some of this information is available in more general
style manuals, the book’s real strength is in the other matters it
also covers: translating the business deal into contract concepts,
formatting contracts, deconstructing complex provisions, and adding
value to the deal. For this reason, the book will appeal to
transactional lawyers who want more than a style guide.
Jill Koch Hayford, Harvard 1985, is associate
professor of legal writing at Marquette University Law School, where she
teaches legal analysis, writing, and research, and contract drafting.
She previously practiced banking and bankruptcy law at Reinhart,
Boerner, Van Deuren s.c.
Guides Written for Writers in All Professions
- Chicago Manual of Style.10 Now
in its 15th edition, this manual has sold more than 1 million copies
since its inception.11 At nearly 900 pages,
this manual is exhaustive in its coverage, providing basic and advanced
rules and their exceptions. For example, the rules on commas span 17
pages and detail 67 discrete uses. The book is well organized and
includes an extensive index, although some users may find it difficult
to wade through the myriad examples and exceptions in search of an
answer to a simple question. Because The Bluebook: A Uniform System
of Citation references The Chicago Manual of Style as an
acceptable style manual for some matters,12
the Chicago Manual is thought to be consistent with legal writing
conventions.
- The Gregg Reference Manual.13 This book is a comprehensive, respected
authority on grammar, punctuation, and style. While The Chicago
Manual of Style is used extensively in the writing and publishing
world, The Gregg Reference Manual is intended for the business
world, as is evident by its focus on business correspondence. It
includes many rules, together with clear explanations and examples.
- The Elements of Style. Also known as “Strunk
& White,“ this pocket-size style guide has informed several
generations of writers since it was first published, in 1918.14 Accordingly, it enjoys wide acceptance and
thus has the advantage of authority. It does not cover everything,
however, and some readers may find its prescriptive rules too rigid.
Style Guides Via the Web
Many writers and publishers of style books also maintain companion
Web sites. For example, the companion Web site for The Chicago Manual
of Style is www.chicagomanualofstyle.org.
Web sites typically include the manual’s content online, in
searchable form.15
The writing centers of many colleges and universities also
maintain Web sites with grammar, punctuation, and style tips. One of the
most extensive is Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (the
OWL), available at owl.english.purdue.edu. The OWL
offers more than 200 resources, including handouts, tutorials, and
PowerPointTM presentations on grammar and writing mechanics
and information on issues common to workplace and professional writing.
While the OWL Web site targets university students, its resources may be
of interest to anyone seeking a quick and free answer to a basic
question.16
Style Tips Via Podcast
- Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.
A relative newcomer to the grammar scene, this series of podcasts is
available on iTunes, where it has rated as highly as second in number of
downloads per day,17 and at
www.quickanddirtytips.com.18 Each podcast
covers a discrete and narrowly focused topic, and so each podcast
requires only a few minutes of listening time. For example, recent
podcasts covered “Hyphens: Is the Glass Half Full or
Half-Empty?” and “Irregardless v. Regardless: If It’s
in the Dictionary, Does That Make It a Real Word?”19
- Grammar Grater. Even newer than Grammar Girl, this
series of podcasts is sponsored by Minnesota Public Radio and is
available on iTunes and at
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/tools/podcasts/grammar_grater. The
weekly series has a slightly narrower focus than Grammar Girl; according
to its Web site, Grammar Grater concerns “English words, grammar
and usage for the Information Age.” In other words, its focus is
on grammar issues that arise in electronic communication, such as email,
blog posts, and instant messages. Like Grammar Girl, Grammar Grater has
discrete topics, and each lesson is well researched and written in an
entertaining style.
Conclusion
Once thought of as esoteric topics, grammar, punctuation, and style
are enjoying a renaissance today; consequently, lawyers have more
options when choosing style guides to meet their writing needs.
Endnotes
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