Pleasing the Court: Writing Ethical and Effective Briefs

Abstract:     
This book examines professionalism in legal writing by analyzing more than two hundred examples of judges' reactions to lawyers' errors. Serious ethical breaches are examined, including misrepresentions of the law or the facts, plagiarism, and lack of civility. Wordiness, lack of clarity, and grammatical and citation errors are also covered. The erring attorneys incurred consequences ranging from disbarment to strong verbal rebukes.

The book promotes high standards in brief writing. It also demonstrates that the U.S. legal system includes restraints on incompetent lawyering and the filing of frivolous lawsuits.

Keywords: Lawyer, attorney, court, errors, unprofessionalism, legal writing, brief, research, misrepresentation, organization, clarity, wordiness, verbosity, legalese, court rules, grammar, spelling, punctuation, citation, civility, plagiarism, bar discipline, suspension, Rule 11, sanctions, judges

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