Legal Writing in Plain English: A Text With Exercises

This is an excellent book for law students, paralegals and lawyers. I have been learning so much with it. The writing is pretty straight forward, very easy to understand and learn. Enough with the legalese! Let's write well!

I am satified with the service

I am pleasantly surprised by the readability of this useful book. The book kept my attention, and it was very helpful and informative.

Bryan Garner brings clarity and insight to the confounding world of legal writing. "Legal Writing in Plain English" contains dozens of comments and guidelines that should be burned into the brain of every attorney. Some of these are obvious (e.g., use a readable typeface), while others are more nuanced (e.g., delete perhaps the legal drafter's favorite legalism, "provided that"). Each suggestion urges the writer toward a simple yet difficult goal -- be a good writer so that your reader doesn't have to work so darn hard to understand you.

As everyone knows, a simple manual of rules can be maddeningly dull and preachy. Garner has enlivened his book by including a number of practical exercises so that the reader can put these guidelines into practice before the next memo or brief. These exercises range from "basic" to "advanced," and are well worth the time.

After reading this book (and attending Mr. Garner's one-day seminar), I submit that this book should be required reading for every One-L and associate.

The problem with the 1-star review is that it has the problem completely reversed. The reviewer suggests that traditional legal drafting is *shorter* than the plain english drafting that Garner proposes. He need only read Garner's books to learn that traditional drafting is *significantly* longer and more difficult to read than plain English.

Furthermore, the reviewer needs to realize that Garner is not advocating that all legal writing be poetry. First and foremost, he advocates for clarity and precision. If the writer can also make it interesting to read (or even a joy to read), then more power to the writer.

If you're a lawyer and hate seeing "WHEREAS" before each recital and prefer a simple sentence, Garner is the man for you.