Legal Research and Writing:  Ted Tjaden

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Legal Writing

Readers should consult Chapter 12 of my book for more detailed commentary on legal writing.

 

There is not very much freely available online material on legal writing. However, I do recommend the following sites or freely available articles:

• Ken Adams: Adams on Contract Drafting

• Cheryl Stephens, Plain Language Legal Writing (CBA):

• Part 1: Writing as a Process
• Part 2: Writing to be Understood
• Part 3: Mastering Modern Legal Correspondence

• Peter Butt, "What is Plain Language Law and Why Use It?" in Speaking Plainly: Plain Language Law for Non-Lawyers (12th September 2002) (Law and Justice Foundation, Australia).

• Clarity (An International Association Promoting Plain Legal Language)

• Plainlanguage.gov (USA)

• British Columbia Law Institute: Report on Gender-free Legal Writing (July 1998) (PDF, 19 pages)

• Justice Paul Perell, "Getting a Judge's Attention" (2009) Briefly Speaking 30

• Legal Writing Prof Blog

Aside from that, some of my favourite print materials on legal writing are listed below (links below for each title are to the websites of the publisher or to Amazon, where available):

Books on legal writing or style more generally:

• Asprey, Michèle. Plain Language for Lawyers, 4th ed. (Leichhardt, NSW: Foundation Press, 2010).

• Dick, Robert. Legal Drafting in Plain Language, 3rd ed. (Toronto, ON: Carswell, 1995).

• Fitzgerald, Maureen (with Susan Barker). Legal Problem Solving: Reasoning, Research and Writing, 8th ed. (Toronto: LexisNexis Canada, 2019).

• Garner, Bryan. Elements of Legal Style, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002). 

• Garner, Bryan. Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage, 3rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).

• Garner, Bryan. Legal Writing in Plain English: A Text with Exercises, 2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013).

• Garner, Bryan (with Jeff Newman & Tiger Jackson). The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style, 4th ed. (St Paul, MN: Thomson West, 2018).

• Goldstein, Tom & Jethro Lieberman. The Lawyer’s Guide to Writing Well, 2nd ed. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003). 

• Hollander, John. Legal Writing: Mastering Clarity and Persuasion. (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2013).

• Leclercq, Terri. Guide to Legal Writing Style, 5th ed. (New York: Aspen Publishers, 2011).

• Mowat, Christine. A Plain Language Handbook for Legal Writers, 2nd ed. (Toronto, ON: Carswell, 2015).

• Perrin, Timothy. Better Writing for Lawyers. (Toronto: Law Society of Upper Canada, 1990).

• Volokh, Eugene. Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, and Seminar Papers, 5th ed. (New York: Foundation Press, 2016).

• Wydick, Richard & Amy Sloan. Plain English for Lawyers, 6th ed. (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2019).

Books on contract drafting:

• Adams, Ken. A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, 4th ed. (Chicago, IL: American Bar Association, 2017).

• Butt, Peter. Modern Legal Drafting: A Guide to Using Clearer Language, 3rd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013).

• Elderkin, Cynthia & Julia Shin Doi. Behind and Beyond Boilerplate: Drafting Commercial Agreements, 4th ed. (Toronto, ON: Carswell, 2018).
  

• Stark, Tina. Drafting Contracts: How and Why Lawyers Do What They Do, 2nd ed. (New York: Aspen Publishers, 2013).

Books on written advocacy

• Bullen & Leake & Jacob's Canadian Precedents of Pleadings, 3rd ed. (Toronto: Carswell, 2017. Available from the publisher's website in PDF: Table of Contents, Index.

• Bullen & Leake & Jacob's Precedents of Pleadings, 19th ed. (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2019).

• Cromwell, Thomas. Effective Written Advocacy. (Aurora, ON: Canada Law Book, 2008).

• Fasken LLP et al, eds. Williston and Rolls Ontario Court Forms, 3rd ed. Loose-leaf. (Toronto: LexisNexis Canada, 1987). Also available here on Lexis + Canada.

• Garner, Bryan. The Winning Brief: 100 Tips for Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Courts, 3rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014).

• Guberman, Ross. Point Made: How to Write Like the Nation's Top Advocates, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014).

• Guthrie, Neil. Guthrie's Guide to Better Legal Writing, 2nd ed. (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2021).
  

• Harris, David et al, eds. "Chapter 2: Pleadings" in BC Civil Trial Handbook, 3rd ed. Loose-leaf. (Vancouver, BC: Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia, 2005).

• How Do You Plead? Breaking the Bonds of Boilerplate. (Toronto, ON: Department of Continuing Legal Education, Law Society of Upper Canada, 1994).

• Irvine, Frederick, ed. McLachlin & Taylor British Columbia Court Forms, 2nd ed. Loose-leaf. (Toronto: LexisNexis Canada, 2005). Available here on Lexis + Canada.

• Morton, James. Written Advocacy, 2nd ed. (Toronto: LexisNexis Canada, 2013).

• "Division XIII: Ontario Court Forms" in O'Brien's Encyclopedia of Forms and Precedents, 11th ed. Loose-leaf. (Toronto: Canada Law Book, 1987) (available here on Westlaw Edge Canada by subscription).

• Perell, Paul & John Morden. "Chapter 5: Types of Actions, Pleadings and Applications" in The Law of Civil Procedure in Ontario, 4th ed. (Markham, ON: LexisNexis, 2020) (available here on Lexis + Canada).

• Raymond, James. Writing for the Court. (Toronto, ON: Carswell, 2010).

• Scalia, Antonin & Bryan Garner. Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges. (St Paul, MN: Thomson West, 2008).

• Van der Hoop, JP et al, eds. Supreme Court Chambers Orders—Annotated, 2nd ed. Loose-leaf. (Vancouver, BC: Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia, 1990). 

• Van Kessel, Robert & Edwin Upenieks. "Appendix A: Charts of Causes of Action, Defences and Their Legal Elements" in  Dispositions Without Trial, 3rd ed. (Toronto, ON: LexisNexis Canada, 2019).

Recent selected articles on written advocacy

• Christopher Rusnak, "Effective Legal Writing" in How to Be a Great Litigation Junior 2019 (Vancouver: CLEBC, 2019).

• Stephen Morrison, "How to Write an Effective Mediation Brief" (2019) 38:2 Adv Soc. J. 9.

• Barb Cotton, "Crib Notes on How to Write a Great Factum" (2018) 37:2 Adv Soc J 37.

• Stephen Grant, "Form and Function: The Beauty of the Factum" (2016) 35:3 Adv Soc J 3.

• Daniella Murynka, "Write Less, Win More" (2016) 46 Adv Q 77.

• Carolyn Leach, "5 Rules for Writing a Great Factum" in 9th Annual Family Law Summit 2015 (Toronto: LSUC, 2015).
  

• Kenneth Peacocke, "Drafting Facta: Some Tips for Written Advocacy in the Civil Litigation Process" in Solo and Small Firm Conference 2015: The Business of Law (Toronto: LSUC, 2015)
  

• JE Côté, "History of Factums" (2014) 52 Alta L Rev 71.

• Adam Lamparello & Charles MacLean, "Beyond the Rules: Creating Great Writers: Not Just Legal Writers" (2014) 39:1 Can L Libr Rev 23.
  

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Legal Research and Writing:
4th Edition

by Ted Tjaden

Softcover 512 pgs.
Published: January 2016
ISBNs:
Paperback: 978-1-55221-414-5
e-book: 978-1-55221-415-2

Purchase here

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