Do You Really Write as Well as You Think You Do?

Do You Really Write as Well as You Think You Do?

The 9 Failings are:

1. The writing high school and college students do is usually self-expression or knowledge-telling, not analysis.
2. Legal writing courses must cover legal research, the conventions of legal English, objective written legal analysis, and persuasive written legal analysis; this leaves little time to focus on fine points and writing style.
3. Law schools do not adequately train students in legal drafting.
4. Lawyers imbibe lots of poor writing from judicial opinions and other required reading.
5. Lawyers rely on form documents that are poorly written.
6. In writing legal analysis, many digest the authorities superficially; in drafting agreements, many understand the transactions superficially.
7. The time pressure of law practice doesn‟t allow enough revising and editing to produce a quality product.
8. Some lawyers have a misguided sense of professionalism, leading to a formal writing style that ignores audience needs.
9. Many lawyers are complacent, believing their writing is above average or better.

see - http://www.lexisnexis.com/Community/lexishub/blogs/careerguidance/archive/2010/11/24/do-you-really-write-as-well-as-you-think-you-do.aspx