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Full-Text Articles in Law
Play It Again, Sam: Repetition-Part Ii, K.K. Duvivier
Play It Again, Sam: Repetition-Part Ii, K.K. Duvivier
Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship
Repetition plays a key role in legal writing. The September "Scrivener" addressed using repetition to ensure accuracy, to build emphasis, and to connect ideas. This article focuses on using repetition to make readers comfortable with the writer's use of authorities and to alert them to key wording. In addition, the article explores balancing the use of repetition to avoid making readers bored or irritated.
Play It Again, Sam: Repetition-Part I, K.K. Duvivier
Play It Again, Sam: Repetition-Part I, K.K. Duvivier
Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship
Repetition is part of learning. Advertising specialists do not expect their message to stick with consumers until the ad has aired at least three times. Yet, too much repetition can be both distracting and irritating. This column, and Part II, which will appear in the November 2001 issue, will address the role of repetition in legal writing.
Cross-References, As Stated Above, K.K. Duvivier
Cross-References, As Stated Above, K.K. Duvivier
Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship
Often one argument in your brief may share common elements with another. Have you ever attempted to save space and time by simply referring your readers to another argument in a brief with "as stated above" or a similar cross-reference? This article provides tips for helping your readers follow such cross-references with ease.
Footnote Citations?, K.K. Duvivier
Footnote Citations?, K.K. Duvivier
Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship
Let's face it-legal citations can interrupt the flow of sentences and make them harder to read. In comparison, the widely used Modem Language Association documentation style recommends short parenthetical citations in text that direct readers to a list of authorities at the end: for example, "(Gilli- gan 105)."Another format commonly used in history, art history, and other disciplines is that of the Chicago Manual of Style. The Chicago note style uses raised numerals in the text to refer readers to authorities in endnotes or footnotes. Although such a footnote style is predominant in law reviews, few have advocated it in …
Writing Help At Your Fingertips-Readability Scale, K.K. Duvivier
Writing Help At Your Fingertips-Readability Scale, K.K. Duvivier
Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship
Writing well takes constant diligence. We all can use some help. But many of us may not be taking advantage of the tools that are available right at our fingertips. Most of us, especially those who are spelling-challenged, run our documents through spell check. Now, many word processing programs list readability statistics in addition to spelling and grammar advice. For example, in Microsoft Word, go to the 'Tools" category and click on "Spelling and Grammar." At the end of the spell check, Microsoft provides a chart labeled "Readability Statistics." Understanding these readability scales can help improve your writing.
Parallel Citations-Past And Present, K.K. Duvivier
Parallel Citations-Past And Present, K.K. Duvivier
Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship
By quiet decree, the fifteenth edition of the Bluebook changed all of this. The convention of using parallel citations was dropped in every instance except for "state court cases in documents submitted to courts of the state that originally decided them." Parallel citations were no longer required in legal memoranda or law reviews. Furthermore, the fifteenth edition required writers to use only the West version when a single source was listed. This new rule seemed to undermine the value of official citations that traditionally came before the unofficial West versions and suggested a preference for the official source issued by …