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Legal Writing: Persuading People on the Page & on the Screen
6 CLE / 1 E - A National Speaker Seminar
Client communications, in-firm emails and research memos, legal briefs and marketing are our life’s work. An insightful examination of the data underscoring the impacts of good (and bad) writing provides the basis for this valuable day.
TOPICS:
Writing Mistakes that Undermine Your Credibility
We all know the difference between “you’re” and “your,” but what about the mistakes that we don’t even realize we make? From the differences between “fewer” and “less” as well as “that” and “which,” the lesserknown (and frequently blown) rules of grammar substantially impact your credibility.
Effective Email
A study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology reveals that people misinterpret the meaning and tone of emails as much as 50 percent of the time. An inappropriate salutation or ineffective organization will undermine your effort to communicate clearly. Sybil Dunlop shares strategies to ensure that your emails convey the message that you want.
Eliminating Writer’s Block
We procrastinate, and some social scientists suggest that lawyers might procrastinate because they have to write so much. These tips will helpyou get going and, perhaps, even achieve flow (becoming fullyimmersed in a feeling of energized focus) with your writing.
Brief Writing
Don’t you wish you had an hour with the Judge to convince him or heras to the strength of your position? You do. It’s called your brief. Sybil Dunlop honed her craft analyzing briefs submitted to federal court.She knows what gets ignored and, more importantly, what works!
• The Opening Paragraph
• Tips for drafting a well-written fact section
• Strategies for crafting a legal argument
• Legal citation
• Conclusions
• Make it work
Credibility & Your Ethical Obligations
A lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of fact or law toa tribunal. But we recognize that our opposing counsel is out there mischaracterizing facts, failing to provide accurate legal citations, and ignoring the law. Here’s how to walk the line and call your opponentout for transgressions. Help is out there; here’s where to find it.
Writing Resources for Lawyers
Help is out there; here’s where to find it.
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NATIONAL SPEAKER:
Sybil Dunlop
Greene Espel, PLLP, Minneapolis, MN
Sybil handles complex litigation for local and international clients in both the public and private sectors. She has represented businesses engaged in commercial, patent and shareholder disputes as well as counties, cities, and school districts facing constitutional and commercial claims. Sybil has served her clients from initial investigations through trial.
An active legal scholar, Sybil has written articles that have appeared in Hamline’s, St. John’s and Vanderbilt’s Law Reviews. She received her B.A. in Government from Smith College in addition to writing a monthly column on all things legal for Minnesota Lawyer magazine. An enthusiastic teacher, Sybil also regularly educates audiences of government employees with respect to the latest developments in their field, including First Amendment claims and qualified immunity defenses. Sybil was recognized as “Up & Coming” by Minnesota Lawyer in September 2015.
ICLEF • Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum, Indianapolis, IN • Premier Indiana CLE
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