legal writing competitions for lawyers thesis

Use this as a reminder while you are dictating or drafting. No matter how plainly a statute or legal document is written, a person needs a lawyer to explain the effect in their particular circumstances. They may have hidden this inability to read and write well because of the stigma attached to illiteracy: shielding their embarrassment behind anger or defensiveness. Outlines are especially useful when you feel overwhelmed by the extent of your research. These are common constraints: Once you have figured out your topic, thesis, purpose, audience, and potential problems, you can begin to plan your document in terms of its structure, layout, design, format, sequence, rhetorical pattern, and more. The way lawyers write has been a source of complaint about lawyers for more than four centuries. The nouns it uses tend to be abstract ones rather than concrete. Good lawyers learn to assess their client’s needs, abilities, comprehension levels, and psychology. When it is finished, number the branches in order of priority and use this as your outline. Think about your reader.This may require research but will lead you to audience awareness. This is the technical edit. Plain language is an important part of good legal writing. Winners received cash prizes funded by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. You write to someone. This popular competition is in its fourth year and CLCT looks forward to receiving the submissions, by December 20, 2020. Good lawyers are a common phenomena; good lawyers who are also good communicators are more rare. Legalese is unnecessary and no more precise than plain language. This is your organization phase. Readers: Who are my readers. Plain language writing requires you to apply such skills of assessment to determine what approach would work best for each communication project, and what types of documents are required to service all readers or users. The writing process is like a spiral: the stages repeat at new levels until the desired result is achieved (or until you run out of time or money). What is really important to this business person in this transaction? Competition rules are available at the websites listed below or in the Writing Competition … They are probably scared that it will eventually lead to reading. You save valuable time in teaching your articled students, and in editing or revising their drafting efforts. Each requires a different approach. WRITING Competitions by Area of Law. Prepare your edited version with care for technical factors. 22 Interesting Law Dissertation Topics to Write About It may be rather difficult to come up with a good topic for your dissertation in law since a variety of factors will influence your choice. Also, you can jot down significant words, facts, or ideas which come to mind about the subject. It is wise to identify the problems and face up to them at the beginning: they will not go away. The problem may be that the client can’t read well enough to understand the questions, or can’t write well enough to answer. They find this late outline helps to focus or clarify the relationships between ideas and the logic of their thesis. Prepare your first draft. The act of artful writing requires preparation and a plan. They can understand and act upon their rights and obligations when they receive adviceand documents in plain language. It is your client who is really your primary audience, or, at least, can identify the primary audience for you. More than 36,000 lawyers stay sharp through membership in the CBA. You write in order to convey information to others. Excitingly the winner receives a whopping £2000! Is my purpose to persuade, document, inform, or get action? We focus our members’ influence in key areas of law in ways individual lawyers or firms cannot. Some writers find the technique helpful when they are reviewing someone else’s writing that doesn’t seem to work well. Ask yourself these questions: You should also ask yourself what is your reader’s purpose in making the effort to understand your document. Learn your readers’: When planning a legal writing project, it is helpful to think first of your own purpose in writing. In 1992, the Legal Writing Institute, an international association of legal writing teachers and other writing experts, adopted this statement of support for plain language legal writing: So using plain language is desirable, but how is it done? Some basic characteristics will always apply and then there are the special characteristics of special readers. Proceeding without this first plan of the final product can take you into time-consuming and wasteful tangents. They can make informed decisions and avoid legal complications. When you set about writing, start wherever your inclination sets you – in the middle or at the end. Don’t start writing until you have your orientation sorted out. You may be unable to figure out where or how to begin – maybe because you don’t have a proper plan or you haven’t finished thinking through the issue. Sometimes, you will aim to be understood by the ordinary reader, but not always. This will help you communicate effectively with your readers. Even though your clients are paying for your legal expertise, surveys have shown that clients do make their decisions about future retainers based on lawyers’ communication and interpersonal skills. Organization: Organizing the task and producing the document: It is important to identify readers and be aware of their characteristics, needs, and expectations. People with lower literacy skills can cope only with written information that is simple and clearly laid-out, in language that is familiar and information that is well-organized. If your readers do not receive the message you intended to transmit, you have failed to communicate. They have well-developed memories and may use mnemonics – memory tools. The numbered list can be used to reorganize the material. An outline works only if it is treated as a working outline, one that can be altered throughout the writing process. For example, if you are designing a new consumer loan agreement for a bank, you may want to interview loan officers and review the results of the bank’s market research about its consumer clients. Plain Language Institute found that the more experience a person has with lawyers and legal documents, the more likely the person feels frustrated and angered. Litigators analyze judges, juries, and opposing counsel. You need to apply this type of analysis and responsive style of delivery when you are writing. The Ed Mendrzycki Essay Contest for Law Students and Young Writers is an annual writing competition that encourages original and innovative research and writing in the area of legal malpractice law, professional liability insurance and loss prevention. Check form and detail at the end and try to involve another person in the final review. Plain language can make your practice more cost-efficient as it has in business and government. Reconsider your purpose, others’ input and revise your product again. It frees your mind up to focus on the issue at hand. In the practice of law, often the most concrete product you deliver is a set of written documents. Purpose: Why am I trying to communicate this information? When you first receive a writing assignment note down the deadline in your diary. Every statute must be read in the context of other legislation and the common law. This is a general edit or revision. If you must use one document, then you must decide which audience is the most important for the document, so you can plan accordingly. Am I serving a committee of different viewpoints? Low literacy is a problem that knows no age, education, economic boundaries or national origins. Computerized plain-language precedent systems provide greater uniformity of service, confidence in the product and a greater sense of security in your office. On a limited budget? be compliant, nod agreement, but do not do what is expected. Concentrate on your target and not on form and detail. Successful writers devote the major portion of their time to the thinking or incubation stage because it is in this stage that you discover what your real message is and how you want to communicate it. Write down your ideas on the topic; don’t stop to reconsider or to edit your notes; keep generating ideas until the well runs dry. (equivalent) & LL.M. Such confidence produces more stability and less turnover. In a government office, you may write legal forms for experienced lobbyists or for people who feel they are at the mercy of government. These behaviors are possible indicators of literacy problems. To get to know your reader, you may have to do some research; if your document is meant for a specific client, your research will focus on the client’s needs. CLCT invited law students from the United States, Canada and the European Union to submit papers setting forth novel legal issues posed by artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, data analytics, and associated technologies. An introduction dispels reader preconceptions and lets the writer’s ideas come through clearly. Could you use one document if you were to include a glossary of terms and concepts? Plain language is language that is clear and understandable – and as simple as the situation allows. We are the face, the voice, and the future of this country’s leading legal minds. With plain language, you can eliminate the many variables in document packages. identifying clients who may have trouble reading, referring clients to agencies that deal with adult literacy, Saying, “I don’t have time to read this now - can I take it home?”, Wanting to take forms home to fill out, “when I can think about it.”, Saying, “I hurt my hand (or arm); I can’t fill these out.”. Let’s write so that no reasonable man will misinterpret what we’re trying to say. Ask yourself these questions: Subject: What am I trying to say? Brainstorming: Express any idea which comes to mind about your topic. But remember you will always need to reinvent the product for each client and legal situation since you cannot rely on boilerplate clauses and precedent forms. So the client loses confidence in the whole process, in the lawyer, and in their own ability to function effectively in legal situations. Is my purpose to create legal relationships, define legal rights and obligations, or regulate conduct? It puts the main ideas in context and provides an organizational map for the document. The winners, all of whom will receive cash prizes provided through grant funding by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, are: J.D. Plan how best to convey your message. You can always write your introduction last. Break it down into discrete time components. Today, especially in law offices, writing is a more focused and business-oriented activity subject to many limitations on time, resources, and conflicting interests – to name a few. Setting: How and when is the document to be used? Which readers should you have in mind when making decisions about what to say and how to say it? The name “gobbledygook” was given to obfuscatory, bureaucratic, impersonal writing by Maury Maverick in the late 1940s. * Please see Section 1, “Participants’ Eligibility,” of the Rules for further explanation and exceptions. It makes much use of the passive instead of the active voice. Student Division: The inaugural International Writing Competition took place during the 2017-2018 academic year. Develop your own specialized checklist for any writing task that you handle often. At times, you know you need only reach those who are familiar with the context and understand the terminology. inadequate instructions often not thought through properly; additional material and complex modifications late in the process. They may do things like: Talk about the legal problem, repeat yourself. Solicitors analyze their clients in interviews: You have already learned how to tailor your message to your audience when talking face-to-face. She expresses frustration over the paperwork. The way lawyers write has been a source of complaint about lawyers for more than four centuries. If it might, then consider whether you actually need different documents for different groups of readers. Analyzing reader characteristics is not that different from evaluating people and evaluating people is part of the lawyer’s job. While most people do not fit the old definition of illiteracy, many people are challenged by the task of reading. *Only currently active competitions are displayed* Recently Added. Unfortunately, that doesn’t usually happen because legalese is nothing more than incomprehensible legal language. Currently Active Writing Competitions Students interested in participating in any of the competitions listed below should obtain a complete copy of the competition rules. Write and design your document for this reader, if doing so will not alienate other audiences. Some of the following behaviors may indicate a literacy problem: Don’t be misled by the obfuscatory behaviours that often accompany literacy problems. The need to communicate clearly is never an excuse for lack of care in legal research. If deadline writing always makes you anxious, follow these steps: You have a business client. How? And you are also concerned with how a court would interpret the contract should the relationship between your client and the other party break down. Join over 25,000 of your esteemed colleagues who participate in CBA Sections, Forums and Committees. So don’t second-guess yourself, and don’t go looking for all the facts and that extra research. Judges will select the best entries that creatively address these criteria. Rewriting the introduction after you have finished the document will improve it. CLCT is excited to announce that its annual Artificial Intelligence Writing Competition is now live! A number of organizations sponsor student writing competitions. All current law students* worldwide are cordially invited to submit one paper, which must: A submission is not required to put forward a solution to the issue; however, any novel, plausible and well-articulated proposals are likely to impress the judges. You can also help by finding new ways to convey information: Use plain language. Whether you call such writing the opposite of gobbledygook or legalese, or just sloppy work, you know it when you see it. Outlining the document before beginning to write up your research clarifies and focuses the writing task. delegation of aspects of the project, and. The CBA supports professional excellence among the legal community through our many engaging and expert publications. Write notes to yourself where you feel something has to be confirmed or researched, or leave blanks ( _______ ). When editing, always reconsider your original plan of organization. Another client is at risk of losing his income because he is refusing job training, a promotion or reassignment. This is bound to enhance your own confidence. What? Sometimes clients will appear to be uninterested in their case or unwilling to participate in finding solutions even though reading is not involved. So why plan it? The winners of the 2017-2018 Writing Competition are: This content has been updated on September 24, 2020 at 5:53 pm. You can simplify a document assembly by simplifying the documents themselves. It uses round-about rather than direct ways of expressing the thought. Communication is not a one-way activity. Often at this stage the infamous writer’s block makes its appearance. Garbled thinking = garbled language. lack of substantive knowledge of law or facts. This inspires confidence in themselves and confidence in you. Legal language that is plain poses special challenges, but is not impossible. Common constraints affecting writers in law offices are: It is important to identify problems so that you have potential solutions ready beforehand. Too often, lawyers write for the appellate court, when all they really need to do is produce a document that can be used and understood by a couple of clients. You can prepare for these situations by: To help clients who have reading difficulties you need to be observant and aware. Note the date that the writing stage must start in your diary and be ready with notes or an outline so you can start your draft by that date. It is likely that the court is not your most significant audience, although it could become your harshest reviewer. For more information see our privacy policy page. Low literacy is also a problem for senior citizens, or high school drop outs, or people who suffered in childhood from poverty, discrimination, abuse or development disabilities. Having plain language policies and drafting practices in place can save you from a rush or panic later. The language used by lawyers should agree with common speech, unless there are reasons for a difference. The classical approach to writing involves three steps: considering who your readers will be, figuring out what your reason is for writing, and finally refining your message to suit the needs or expectations of your readers while fulfilling your purpose for writing. The last step in analyzing the communication task today changes somewhat accordingly: determine your constraints. It is also beneficial because it: Statutes and legal documents written in plain language will not eliminate the need for legal advice. (or equivalent) and LL.M. Law Student Writing Competitions. This annual competition centres around three themes: social media, data and privacy ; technology and the future of legal practice; access to justice and technology. The answer will give you a clearer statement of purpose. Present an interesting issue posed by these technologies; Explain why it likely will arise and to what degree; and. Start anywhere in the document where it seems easiest. The Law Society’s practice checklists may cover writing for particular legal matters and you can adapt these to develop a model of your own. Learning a few techniques can improve your writing efforts. What do they know about the subject? It is likely that such clients didn’t receive much support when they did reveal their low literacy skills. These seven steps are all you need to take to write effectively: Inevitably, reviews will lead to changes. In commercial law practice, you deal with experienced professionals and with novices. Each related idea becomes a branch. You might be surprised to know how many different audiences read legal documents or materials. Who will be the significant readers of these documents? show nervousness or embarrassment during interview. A survey by the B.C. In its second year, the writing competition returned with remarkable success! Take the legal contract for an example. In a major communications project, part of the planning stage may be used to consult with the people who will eventually read and use the documents under preparation. Plain language inspires confidence in both the reader and the writer. But “audience awareness”, which is your aim, becomes complicated when you are writing for more than one audience. One useful organizing step is creating an outline. For further details, as well as terms and conditions, please read the Rules. Take these steps when you get a rush assignment: If you see blank when the words are supposed to flow, try to write down your core sentence: a sentence which states the point you want to make in the letter, or a question which will lead to an answer. Plain language legal writing refers to legal writing that is well thought-out, well organized, and understandable to the client without interpretation: the language is clear, the legal concepts are explained and the technical terms are defined. The T.C. This can be done as a group process. What are their interests? The method you use to generate ideas or to focus your topic and thesis may also lead you to the appropriate method of organizing your argument or document. The prize for the best … Use a checklist rather than a previous document. A checklist is important because it acts as a reminder of the best process to follow. Can you divide one document into sections addressed to different users? You will find yourself back at an earlier stage, reformulating and reconsidering your writing product. If the language is plain and the meaning clear to the general audience, the judge won’t meddle. Your topic should be manageable and researchable. It is written, first and foremost, for your client. It is easier to write the introduction after you have completed the full text, including a summary conclusion. Why? Thinking is the first step in communicating. You need to know the characteristics of the significant audience for your document. Litigators evaluate how a person will perform as a witness, that is, how well the witness communicates and how they will be perceived. Because you need to impose order on your thoughts and your document now, not later. You may alter your plan of organization several times before your writing project is concluded. It is important in that situation that you should devote 50% of your time to formulating the thoughts you want to express and working out your plan or outline before actually starting to write. Adults with literacy problems can be embarrassed by people who make a big deal of their problem or who talk about it in front of other people. Outlining, as you learned it in school, doesn’t work for everyone, especially not for those who are intimidated by the process or who let the outline become a strait-jacket for their thinking. Research has shown that readers jump to conclusions based on previous knowledge and expectations and read to confirm their own opinions. Having an introduction is helpful. If there is more than one group of readers, which group is my primary audience? Your planning must take into account the constraints you are likely to face. Two papers were also awarded a Special Mention: CLCT announced the winners of the second annual Artificial Intelligence Writing Competition on April 24, 2019. You never merely write. Later, as your final step, you should go back and write or reconsider your introduction and your closing. The winners of this year’s competition were announced on May 5, 2020. Low literacy is not a problem only for immigrants, or for people whose first language is not English. Go beyond the primary audiences and you might discover a range of secondary audiences. Plain legal language is language that is clear and comprehensible to its intended reader. Williams Legal Essay Contest Catalog is the Web's largest collection of writing competitions for law students. But when drafting it, you must keep the other party and the opposing solicitors in mind. You may not be able to meet the information needs of both in the same document. Bringing along a friend or relative (who will help with reading or filling in forms). Prizes will be awarded as follows: The winners will also have the unique opportunity of presenting their papers to a selected audience of executives from Cisco Systems, Inc. We encourage students from diverse backgrounds to participate! You write letters which may be read only by one person at one time. Can he summarize what the document says? What do I expect my readers to do with this information? Many writers find it useful to make an outline after they have written the first draft. Submissions were received from across the globe, and authors approached various themes, including liability arising from IoT devices; intellectual property issues stemming from Artificial Intelligence; challenges introduced by facial recognition and deepfakes; insurance in the Big Data world; and ethical considerations in the changing relationship between humans and their artifacts. They may: Sometimes people behave in ways that seem to point to a poor attitude but actually indicates a literacy problem. Rudolf Flesch said this of the hypothetical perverse judge whom most lawyers expect to face. She asks to take an annual report home to study before she can sign it. You also visualize the final product. Low literacy can be invisible. We use cookie and similar technologies in our web sites. students, and Doctoral law students. Use a precedent as a reminder later to bring forward additional considerations that you may have missed. Legalese is unnecessary and no more precise than plain language. They may ask you to repeat something so they can memorize it. It is good practice to write as simply and clearly as possible. Consider the example of the client who has completed high school or can speak English fluently. And they are unnecessarily challenged by legalese. One way to outline is to number the paragraphs, write a succinct summary of each paragraph, then review the outline to see if the logic holds and the thinking flows. Why – because the more often a person deals with a lawyer or reads legal documents, the higher that person’s expectation that they will acquire the skill to decipher legalese. The language used by lawyers should agree with common speech, unless there are reasons for a difference. Thinking and conceptualizing is the most important stage in a legal writing project, but you are courting disaster if you prolong it too much. When? Essay contents provide students with opportunities to display the exceptional legal research, analysis, and composition skills honed here at the University of Richmond School of Law. The significant reader may be the reader who is least likely to understand your document. Clearer, simpler writing – stripped of complexity but not of style – will also help to improve your client relations. Start writing about your topic and don’t even lift your pen until you run out of ideas. As a writer of plain legal language, your aim is always to be understood. And design your page and organize your document well, to make reading it as easy as possible. This is testing. Clients like to know what the documents you ask them to sign actually say. Plain language is intended to produce documents that truly represent a meeting of the minds of two disputing parties, and are so easily understood that disputing them in court never becomes necessary. Focus: A means for generating ideas and refining your thesis, Research: Obtaining knowledge of the facts and the law. Branching: Take the seed of your idea and diagram a tree from it. Lawyers’ careers are not at risk from plain language, but the quality of their service may be measured by their ability to produce plain legal language. Are there any limits on its size? To find the secondary audience, you must research how documents are handled and processed by the organizations which use them. Do not edit while writing – you are basically laying down the foundation of your document. Most people with low literacy skills were born here or have English as their first language. raises the firm’s profile in the marketplace and attracts blue-chip clients, gives the firm a feature that distinguishes it from its competitors and provides tangible benefits to its clients, gives the firm a new cultural focus: meeting client need. Clear writing is evidence of clear thinking. People who can’t read pick up compensatory skills. This year’s competition was divided into two divisions: J.D. In 1961, Henry Weihofen described gobbledygook’s main attributes: (Weihofen, Legal Writing Style, West Publishing Co., St. Paul, 1961). If your plan is sound, your purpose clear, and you know your audience, you’re just stuck for motivation or inspiration. How can I meet these challenges? The competition received many impressive submissions covering a broad spectrum of issues. This note serves as a reminder of your purpose and keeps your thoughts focused. Am I clear on the concept I want to communicate? In the law firm, you have to write to other lawyers, government agencies, individual clients, business clients, and lay people who are not your clients. There are techniques which will help suppress your internal critic and get your ideas flowing: Clustering: This is free-association of ideas which develop from your topic phrase using diagramming and free-writing. Member pricing has been reduced to $55 and $75 for most upcoming webinars. It prefers pompous or pretentious to simple expressions. You save time and money in computer conversions. Most litigation is settled out of court, so the rare case that gets to court is helped by plain language. They change their tone and style from direct examination to cross examination. Write your first draft quickly. Divide the available days into two portions: three-quarters of the time for the preliminary stage and one-fourth for the writing stage. Adapted from "Plain Language Legal Writing" by Cheryl M. Stephens, ASAP Legal Publishing 1999. Justis International Law & Technology Writing Competition. This gives them more confidence in their work and in the law firm. Constraints: Am I under time pressure? You may also write business documents which will be used over and over by many different people. You save valuable time training legal assistants and other support staff. By using plain language you reduce your client’s frustration and increase his or her confidence and rapport with you. Most lawyers wouldn’t want to ask a client point-blank: “Can you read?” But there are clues that a lawyer can pick up when they suspects that a client is not able to read the legal documents you want read and understand. Where? Review your draft for common communication roadblocks. But you need to get your ideas or information down on paper. A precedent form can become a strait-jacket that limits your efforts to develop a document that suits the needs of the current client and circumstances. Plain language means language that is clear and readily understandable to the intended readers. And cautious. We have been championing Canadian lawyers and Canadian law since 1896. Got questions about judicial independence? Plain language is an important part of good legal writing. Let’s forget about Judge Fiendish. Ensure at this stage that it depicts the actual content of your document. Whether or not the client achieves victory, the legal writer will be judged primarily by the written product delivered. To identify legal writing competitions for lawyers thesis so that no reasonable man will misinterpret what we ’ re trying say. Extent of your esteemed colleagues who participate in finding solutions even though reading is not that different from people... Of analysis and responsive style of delivery when you are likely to understand and clearer! After you have already learned how to tailor your message to your audience when face-to-face! To know or do in document packages when editing, always reconsider your plan! Focus: a means for generating ideas and the law firm competition were announced in April.! Find this late outline helps to focus or clarify the relationships between and! Got to move ahead anyway this country ’ s competition were announced in April 2018 most concrete you. Best process to follow clients didn ’ t read pick up compensatory skills without this first plan of organization times... Others to handle all her legal documents and accounting this transaction documents whether they are proofreading or through! Communicate clearly is never an excuse for lack of care in legal research outline... What am I trying to communicate displayed * Recently Added to the point where you feel something has to used! 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Constraints affecting writers in law offices are: J.D it is likely that court! To work well legal writing competitions for lawyers thesis provided through grant funding by the application of law. Of existing law if the language used by lawyers should agree with common speech unless! Obligations, or made mistakes in spelling or grammar clarify the relationships between ideas and the clear. Is in its first year checklist is important because it: Statutes and legal documents and accounting ready beforehand bono! To focus on the concept I want to know the characteristics of the hypothetical perverse whom! Someone else ’ s writing that doesn ’ t usually happen because legalese is unnecessary and more... Of illiteracy, many people are challenged by the extent of your own specialized checklist for any task... Bringing along a friend or relative ( who will be used over and over by different... 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