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6 Effective Ways to Polish Your Legal Document Format
You may spend a considerable amount of time writing and preparing legal documents day after day. Whether it is the writing of a legal memo, preparing a brief or pouring over another case-related document, polishing the legal document format can seem like an endless process – especially if you have limited experience in this area. Here are several effective ways to polish the format, structure and overall content within your legal documents and correspondence.
1. You Still Need a Solid Introduction
There are quite a few significant differences that separate creative writing from legal writing. However, you must still be creative to develop a well-worded, quality introduction to hook your readers and keep them engaged throughout the rest of your document, brief or presentation. When preparing a case for trial, everything you do must be organized and detailed – from the initial arraignment to presenting your closing statement to the jurors. Your legal document format needs to have the same approach – starting off with a properly written introduction.
When someone reads through your introduction, they should be able to identify:
the purpose and/or objective of the content
what will be covered within the body of the content
how the content covered will fulfil the purpose and/or objective
how the reader is affected by the content
As you proofread and edit your legal writing, make sure you follow this “checklist” of sorts to ensure you have a top-notch introduction in place.
It’s extremely important to keep your legal writing skills sharp. Read our blog “6 Tips for Boosting the Quality of Your Legal Writing Skills”.
2. Highlight the Conclusion at the Beginning, Not the End
It may seem natural to keep a conclusion at the end of any document. By definition, that is how most people define this literary element in the first place. With legal writing, though, you need to summarize your conclusions on the frontend – not the backend. Keep in mind that legal writing is nowhere near as captivating as a well-written story, which is why you must handle your legal document formatting carefully and cautiously if you want to maintain your audience’s attention. Otherwise, your reader’s limited attention span and lack of interest may prevent them from reaching the finish line of your content.
According to the American Bar Association (ABA) Journal, the upfront summary needs to include the following three factors:
Principal questions
Answers to the questions
Reasons for the answers
Keep in mind that the legal document format and layout would vary slightly depending on the type of correspondence you create. For instance, a research memo should follow the order outlined above – question, answer and reason. When creating a brief or motion, you should primarily focus on laying out the main issue on the first page – specifically targeting why your client should walk away from the case with a victory.
3. Proper Transitions and Clue Placement
Transitional phrase are essential tools used in legal writing to connect one section to the other. As mentioned above, your goal is to guide your readers from start to finish. Connecting your supporting points to the primary objective like dots in a line may seem daunting. However, using such transitional phrases as “furthermore” and “in addition” can lighten the load of switching gears from paragraph to paragraph.
Based on a report published by The Balance, each paragraph needs to include a topic sentence that connects with the primary topic of discussion. Do not clutter your content with multiple topics within the same paragraph, because that will only make it easier to disengage your readers. Use your supporting points as visual clues essentially like breadcrumbs – leading your readers from Point A to Point B without making the transition seem too forced or excessive.
4. Approach Your Headings Systematically
To keep the reader engaged and make it easy to follow along, your legal documents should be structured with subheadings throughout the content. Properly placed headings enhance the overall presentation and efficient organization of your material. However, you need to use a systematic approach to creating and placing these headings.
For instance, according to Lawyerist, your headings and subheadings should create white space within the document to break up the otherwise endless flow of page-after-page content. When editing your legal writing, check to make sure these headings are easy for your readers to comprehend and that they flow well with the structure and flow of the document. Use your heading as road signs that navigate your reader from the starting point to the final destination – fulfilling whatever purpose you had in mind when creating the content in the first place.
5. Avoid Rushing into Quoting Cases
There is no need to exercise the depth of your legal knowledge by quoting as many related cases and legal precedents as possible within the same document. According to the Georgetown University Law Center, this is a “normal tendency” – especially for the legal rookies who are new to the industry that strive to cover their lack of experience and qualifications with case numbers and historical facts. It is recommended to be comfortable enough with your research and the law to “paraphrase and synthesize rather than quote from a case for every proposition.” Not only will the quality of your legal writing improve, but so well your analytical skills as an attorney or law office staff member as well.
All the legal document preparation and editing in the world can still miss common errors and mistakes. Read our blog: “Creating Legal Documents – Common Errors and How To Avoid Them.”
6. Do Not Hesitate to Start Over from Scratch
When polishing your legal document format and content, it is unwise to become too attached to the material to the extent where you end up beating a dead horse. There will be times when simple edits and grammatical changes will only scratch the surface and a complete rewrite becomes required instead of optional. Keep in mind that legal writing is based on critical thinking and a lot of research.
As you review your work, you will likely find sections that need more or modified content or even structural damage within the format that needs to be addressed and resolved before submitting it to the client. You need to expand your legal writing process to accommodate for these inevitable occurrences. In addition to research and drafting the content, schedule time for additional research and analysis, reorganization, revisions and a rewrite before you proofread your work. Remember: You may have to start from scratch all over again after you receive feedback.
Read our Blog: “How Word LXTM Saves Time With Legal Document Preparation and Creation”
The Quality of Your Legal Writing Speaks Volumes
It may seem like a lot of work to polish your legal document format and overall legal writing skills. The reason why is because it is a lot of work involved. Keep in mind that the quality of your legal writing speaks volumes about you as a legal expert and the firm that you represent. The last thing you want is to jeopardize your chances of having a long and successful law career simply because of missing the mark with your handling of legal documents.
What steps can your firm start taking to improve on the time it takes for your legal document preparation and polish? With the following tips together with powerful legal document software, those endless hours can turn into a short matter of minutes. Learn more today.
DISCLAIMER: While we are not lawyers or legal experts, we know a thing or two about legal document formatting and structure.