Rating: 
Summary: This book is especially apt for "seasoned" brief writers
Review: One misses the point of Mr. Garner's book if they think this is another treatise on brief writing. Mr. Garner's approach, though commonsensical, is sorely needed in the legal world. So many briefs are too long, too boring, and too obtuse to be of any use. Granted one need not follow all of Mr. Garner's tips, such as footnotes, but if you follow most of them, you will end up with a brief that is not a chore to read, succinctly informs the judge of the issue and why she should rule in your favor. This book is definitely for people who think they already know how to write a brief, and who don't need any book to help them do so (and who also most likely churn out boring, difficult to read briefs). There is a world of difference between a typical brief and the type that Mr. Garner envisions. By the way, anyone who has not taken Mr. Garner's course should. He is one of the best public speakers and teachers you will ever encounter.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent handbook on legal writing.
Review: This volume is by far the best work available on legal writing. Most of Prof. Garner's advice applies not merely to briefs but to memos, letters, and other persuasive or analytical forms. His chapters take you through every step of writing, from the earliest, painful efforts to collect your thoughts, through outlining, issue-framing, structuring an argument, and finally the specifics of sentence structure, word choice, and punctuation. Unlike many writing manuals, this book places emphasis where it is really needed: not on mechanics, but on the large structural tasks that can make or break a project. While some of Prof. Garner's formatting suggestions may not be acceptable in many jurisdictions, his more general advice -- the real reason for buying this book -- will be helpful everywhere.
Rating:
Summary: This book is especially apt for "seasoned" brief writers
Review: Yes, there are a lot of good things collected here in Bryan A. Garner's big book o' brief writing tips. I do, however, have a couple of serious reservations about this book. Some of the advice given here, in Garner's efforts to be "hip," "contemporary" and "cutting edge," is simply ridiculous and so out-of-touch with modern appellate practice that it must be taken for hogwash. I know that if I followed Tip 21 and put all my citations in footnotes, I would not only get laughed at, but also chastized, by every appellate court in my jurisdiction. (Oh, my judges would just kill to see my briefs littered with 20 footnotes per page!) Also, while I respect an author's confidence in his subject matter, Garner is so enamored with himself and his "accomplishments" that you wonder if the work isn't just one big advertizing brochure shilling his company's legal writing seminars. ("My brilliant colleague at LawProse... ."; "I got a huge verdict..." ad nauseum. And by the way, the "stunningly good" brief writer, the late Thomas Gibbs Gee, did not invent Tip 72, the "deflating opener." I had been using this technique for years before Gee left the bench. )That said, it all boils down to this: Beginning brief writers should buy the book but have an experienced colleague help them separate Garner's good points from his bone-headed ones. Experienced brief writers probably won't need much of Garner's advice, but they should buy the book anyway for a chuckle or two. Overall, Judge Ruggero Aldisert's NITA book, "Winning on Appeal," is my pick for best brief writing book.
Rating: 
Summary: A qualified positive review.
Review: Yes, there are a lot of good things collected here in Bryan A. Garner's big book o' brief writing tips. I do, however, have a couple of serious reservations about this book. Some of the advice given here, in Garner's efforts to be "hip," "contemporary" and "cutting edge," is simply ridiculous and so out-of-touch with modern appellate practice that it must be taken for hogwash. I know that if I followed Tip 21 and put all my citations in footnotes, I would not only get laughed at, but also chastized, by every appellate court in my jurisdiction. (Oh, my judges would just kill to see my briefs littered with 20 footnotes per page!) Also, while I respect an author's confidence in his subject matter, Garner is so enamored with himself and his "accomplishments" that you wonder if the work isn't just one big advertizing brochure shilling his company's legal writing seminars. ("My brilliant colleague at LawProse... ."; "I got a huge verdict..." ad nauseum. And by the way, the "stunningly good" brief writer, the late Thomas Gibbs Gee, did not invent Tip 72, the "deflating opener." I had been using this technique for years before Gee left the bench. ) That said, it all boils down to this: Beginning brief writers should buy the book but have an experienced colleague help them separate Garner's good points from his bone-headed ones. Experienced brief writers probably won't need much of Garner's advice, but they should buy the book anyway for a chuckle or two. Overall, Judge Ruggero Aldisert's NITA book, "Winning on Appeal," is my pick for best brief writing book.
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