On Legal Writing

Virtually all legal writing is atrocious! This is true about (a) statutes and administrative regulations; (b) judicial opinions and agency rulings; (c) trial papers and appellate briefs; (d) office memoranda and opinion letters; (e) annotations and digest paragraphs; and (f) law treatises and legal articles. It is even true (especially true?) about articles on legal writing. This is a serious matter.

For the ramifications of bad legal writing are very costly-in time, in money and, indeed, in the very quality of life. Working to improve legal writing is no frivolous exercise.