The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style

Rating:
Summary: When you have to be right, this is the book.
Review: Do you edit your documents based on vaguely-recalled rules from junior high? Do you turn to a colleague when you have a question about grammar, punctuation, usage, or style? Do you rely on old forms to prepare professional documents? Stop it. The answers are here; the source is the Redbook. It's the ultimate guide to writing correctly. Every lawyer should get it and use it.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Resource for the Pro Se Litigant and Newbie Pra
Review: The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style is an invaluable resource for the Pro Se litigant. Many Pro Se litigants are not as fortunate as I have been. I have working relationships with several well-respected attorneys who allow me to borrow their templates and make my own from theirs. The attorneys actively practice in the area and are known for writing documents that win cases.

Most litigants are forced to resort to grabbing another attorney's brief off the internet and format theirs in a similar manner. But this can be problematic. After all, how do you know that the attorney you grabbed the brief from is doing it correctly? You dont -- until you get into court and the judge and the opposing counsel both give you 'the look' which inaudibly says "What the heck is this piece of garbage and why is it in my courtroom?".

Its often not just about what you say, but rather how you lay it out on paper. Presentation is very often just as important as what you actually say. That's why style guides like The Redbook are so important.

Rating:
Summary: A mindf*ck
Review: This book practically uses subliminal mantras to mold one's writing skills to its liking. Its emphasis on cut-and-dry sentences and utter distaste for a healthy vocabulary are both striking and shameful. If lawyers are to write for the lowest common denominator as the book implies, there'd be no need for a law degree in the first place; if everyone could understand legal opinions, then why does it take a J.D. to practice law? Garner has produced some heavy-hitting and useful manuals, but this is by far his worst. It seems that Orwell's "1984" Thought Police had a hand in writing this one.