— Brief-Writing Ninja —

LEGAL STYLE GUIDE

Formatting
■ If rules allow, use Century Schoolbook, 14-point font. Align left or justify. Indent first line 0.5.
■ If aligning left, reduce jagged edges using optional hyphens [Ctrl + -] so only part of the word
creating the gap spills onto next line. If justifying, do the same to reduce gaps between words.
■ Learn to use Styles. Modify Styles instead of modifying each heading or body text.
■ If your court, local rules, and local custom allow, use true double-spacing [Paragraph + Line spacing
+ Exactly At: font size × 2]. If unsure, especially in a jurisdiction that uses page limits, research your
judge, call the clerk’s office, and consider dropping an explanatory footnote in your certificate.
■ Use italics, not underlining or bold. Also emphasize with em dashes, colons, word placement.
■ Use indented, MS Word single-spaced (true double-space between) numbers and bullets for lists.
■ For headings, keep lines together and keep with next. Eliminate orphan headings.
■ Use orphan/widow control. If possible, aim for clean page breaks, meaning a new paragraph starts
at the top of each page and a full paragraph ends at the bottom of each page.
■ Modify sentences to prevent “runts” or “short lines,” meaning don’t let a paragraph end with one or
two short words that spill over onto the last line, creating too much white space.

Style and Tone

■ Value brevity, clarity, and grace, over every other element of style.
■ Be the voice of reason: no hyperbole, inflammatory rhetoric, or personal attacks.
■ In the facts, don’t argue or editorialize. Show, don’t tell.
■ Whether you’re discussing the facts or the law, don’t overpromise and underdeliver.
■ Don’t personally attack the lower-court judge or opposing counsel; do show why they’re wrong.
■ When your first draft is complete, run BriefCatch and consider all style suggestions.
■ After making style changes, run BriefCatch stats. Aim for scores of 90 and above.

Structure
■ Use shorter (ideally no more than two lines) headings for factual sections.
■ Use one- to four-line complete-sentence headings for argument sections.
■ Use ALL CAPS for section headings only (e.g., TABLE OF AUTHORITIES, ARGUMENT).
■ Never use ALL CAPS or Initial Caps for point headings.
■ Make argument point headings flow like a summary of the argument in the TOC.
■ If rules allow, consider opening with a Bryan-Garner-style syllogistic deep-issue statement.
■ In an Introduction, frame the issues, your best legal and equitable points, and the relief requested.
■ In the facts, tell a chronological story, ideally from the client’s point of view.
■ Arrange legal arguments from strongest to weakest, then consider dropping the weakest.
■ Make your affirmative case on each point first, then refute the other side’s arguments.
■ Don’t throw away the conclusion. If rules and tradition allow, restate the best legal and equitable
reasons why you should win and the specific relief you’re requesting.
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Paragraphs
■ Write actual paragraphs starting with a topic sentence followed by supporting sentences, not a
single sentence followed by a string cite of authorities.
■ Build bridges between paragraphs using connectors and transition words.
■ Keep most paragraphs under five sentences and vary your paragraph length.
■ Use guideposts. For example, introduce three points and then enumerate them using either
numerals—(1), (2), and (3)—or ordinals—First, Second, and Third.
■ Avoid substantive footnotes, minimize the use of footnotes, and keep them as short as possible.

Quotations
■ Don’t lose your voice (e.g., write: This Court will “review. . .” not: “We review. . .” ).
■ Avoid block quotes like the plague. If you can’t, summarize the full quote in the lead-in to the block
quote and then use italics within the quote to add emphasis.
■ Look for ways to minimize the need to use brackets, parens, and ellipses when quoting a source.
For example, consider paraphrasing or quoting a shorter snippet of the source instead.

Citations
■ Use the (cleaned up) parenthetical responsibly to signal removal of clunky brackets, ellipses, or
quotation marks that the source you’re quoting added to the source that it was quoting; don’t use it
as a free pass to alter or remove text or internal commas or periods without brackets or ellipses.
■ Don’t start sentences with citations; do minimize distracting mid-sentence citations.
■ Avoid lengthy string cites unless there’s independent legal value in the number of authorities.
Instead, discuss the best cases in the text and drop most (if not all) of the rest.
■ Begin explanatory parentheticals with a present participle (e.g., holding, explaining) unless you’re
including only a short phrase (e.g., campus speech codes) or quoting a complete sentence. Even
better, take out the parenthetical information and weave it into the paragraph.

Sentences
■ Only write sentences that you could easily speak.
■ Use the active voice unless you’re deemphasizing unfavorable facts.
■ Keep subjects and verbs close together.
■ Replace lazy adjectives and adverbs with vivid, more descriptive nouns and verbs.
■ Replace boring verbs with exciting verbs. Replace be-verbs with action verbs.
■ Vary your sentence lengths. Two- to five-word sentences add punch (e.g., So too here. Not so.).
■ Simplify long, complex sentences by breaking them into multiple sentences.
■ Aim for an average of 20 words per sentence.
■ Rarely start sentences with cumbersome connectors like nevertheless, accordingly, consequently,
and however. Do start them with conjunctions like and, but, and so.
■ Don’t start sentences with acronyms, numerals, symbols, or citations.
■ Eliminate throat-clearing phrases (e.g., It is important to note at the outset that . . .).
■ Also eliminate filler phrases (e.g., there is, there are, there were, there was, it is).
■ Cut unnecessary prepositional phrases, especially those beginning with of.

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Words
■ Replace boring words and phrases with snappy ones that spark interest.
■ Strive for mostly one- and two-syllable words.
■ Hyphenate all phrasal adjectives (e.g., free-speech rights) except phrases containing 1) adverbs
ending in -ly, 2) proper nouns, and 3) foreign phrases (e.g., de novo review).
■ Be consistent. Refer to the same people, places, and things the same way throughout.
■ Whenever possible, refer to parties by name, not by party label (e.g., Smith, not Appellant).
■ When you must use party labels, use Appellant or Plaintiff for parties to your case, the appellant or
the plaintiff for parties in other cases.
■ Describe actions, not filings (e.g., The State moved not The State filed a motion).
■ Avoid dates unless they’re legally relevant. Instead, say the next day or two months later.
■ Avoid legal jargon (e.g., aforementioned, hereinafter, pursuant to, prior to, instant).
■ Every word should have a purpose. Change Word settings to check for conjunction overuse,
nominalizations, and wordiness. Use BriefCatch for the same purpose.
■ Use that to add clarity. Resist efforts to cut that if deleting would create ambiguity.
■ Don’t be afraid to use a few contractions, but only if it makes the sentence sound noticeably more
natural (e.g., But that’s wrong.). And don’t overuse them.

Punctuation
■ Always use the serial (Oxford) comma.
■ Use nonbreaking spaces [Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar] within ellipses, after numerals in lists, and after
section symbols to prevent separation.
■ Use an en dash (–) to indicate a range (e.g., JA56–57 ), and an em dash (—) to set off part of a
sentence (e.g., The officials—who now feign ignorance—approved the plan.).
■ A comma after the first word in a sentence acts like an early speed bump. Avoid it. And fight the
temptation to add a comma after beginning a sentence with a conjunction like And, But, or So.
■ Use a semicolon between two complete thoughts to compare or contrast like things.
■ Use a colon to announce you’re going to illustrate, name, or explain something you just discussed,
or to add emphasis to an idea at the end of the sentence.
■ Avoid vanishing quotation marks (e.g., ‘Plaintiff’) by inserting a nonbreaking space in smaller font
between the word and the quotation mark (e.g., ‘Plaintiff ’).
■ Use exactly one space after any punctuation, including between sentences and after a colon within
a sentence.

Questions or comments about this style guide?

Contact Chris Schandevel at [email protected].

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