The Write Rainmaker

Forget Everything You Learned in Law School About How to Write

I have read probably thousands of pages of briefs and motions in my 28 years in the legal profession and in all that time, I’ve had to drink a lot of caffeinated beverages to avoid falling asleep. (Well… except for the cases regarding accusations of sexual harassment. Those briefs were usually pretty interesting.)

Attorneys learn in law school that it’s important to argue the merits of a case with the latest case law cites, using clear and cogent arguments, and being as dry and factual as possible. Nobody wins by making the judge laugh, usually.

However, writing for a website or for the internet means that an attorney has to appeal to a wider audience. (If all of your clients are other attorneys, or all your cases are referred by other attorneys, you can stop reading now, thanks.)

The main rule for persuasive writing is: Know your audience.

Your website needs to be considered one long piece of persuasive writing, because it is – it’s supposed to persuade potential clients to pick up the phone and call you.

Since I started writing for attorney websites several years ago, I have encountered a lot of resistance to the notion that attorneys need to alter their writing style to appeal to more folks. I have worked around attorneys for years and speak Legalese, but I spend most of my free time with non-attorneys, so this seemed crystal clear to me.

I was working for an attorney a few years ago who really didn’t believe me when I told him he needed to cut the legalese and write for normal people, when it came to his website. I think he didn’t even understand my use of the word “normal” because his normal was so different from mine. He was married to an attorney. He socialized with attorney friends. He talked to attorneys, paralegals, and legal secretaries all day in the office. He spent very little time conversing with or writing to non-legal professionals. He had forgotten that there is a huge world out there filled with people who do not understand attorney-speak, a/k/a Legalese.

I worked at a newspaper years ago and I will always remember the Managing Editor telling me that most newspapers are written for a fifth grade reading level. That's because they want to appeal to the widest possible readership.

There is an aphorism I like a lot and it goes like this: People will forget what you say. They will forget what you do. They will never forget how you make them feel. If your website is full of long sentences, long paragraphs, and big words, you run the risk of making people feel stupid.

To be more precise: if a non-lawyer reads your website or blog and the main emotions they feel are negative, they will stop reading. If they have to read a very long sentence with 3 dependent clauses and a lot of multi-syllable words they are going to feel frustrated and/or angry about having to grab a dictionary or stop and Google the long words. They may have to read the sentence twice, slowly, to grasp the actual meaning.

Also, if your paragraph has more than 6 sentences and looks like a big block of words, many readers will not even attempt it.

So… if you make people feel that they must wade into a bunch of words, and really work intellectually to grasp the meaning, they usually won’t. They will go back to their Google search and go to the next lawyer website, and see if that one makes them feel intelligent or if it makes them feel stupid.

Writing online is not formal. You can have a paragraph with one sentence.

You can use italics to make a point.

Unlike a pleading, you can stick in photos in the middle of your article - and you should.

And you can start a sentence with AND. You can write sentence fragments, to make a point. Just don’t go too far off the reservation.

A website with grammatical or usage errors - which are all too common – looks bad. This is a sentence I pulled off an attorney website:

As your cases progresses, it will be presented to the team as new issues arise and critical events occur.

Awkward? Yep. There is also a noun/verb agreement error, “cases… it.” But that’s just one example of stupid errors I’ve seen on the first page of a law firm website. Here’s another one.

If an attorney leaves who is a name partner, fix the entire website. For instance, your firm is called Smith Johnson & Harrison. Mr. Harrison leaves. The firm becomes Smith & Johnson. Yet, all the website articles refer to “Smith Johnson & Harrison.” For instance: “At Smith Johnson & Harrison we are dedicated to helping you get the compensation you deserve.” A potential client will read that and think, where is this Mr. Harrison? It looks sloppy and unprofessional.

 

The optimum way to write for your website or blog is to make sure you know your audience, and write for them, in a clear and appealing way.

Since the first page of your firm website is that first impression most potential clients get, it’s super important that the main emotions you evoke in the reader are not puzzlement or annoyance. How to know what emotions are evoked? Easy. You don’t have to hire a marketing firm to help you with this. Just ask 5 friends who are not attorneys [and not your employees] to take a look at your website and tell you their impressions, in an honest and constructive way. You may be surprised by what you hear.

You need to periodically check and re-check your website copy and your blogs to make sure you are not using Legalese and you are writing clean, concise, easily understood prose. Make sure the keywords don’t make the prose sound twisted. Correct any grammar, punctuation, or usage errors.

These steps will pay off in the long run.

The Art of Being A Wordsmith

I am always amazed and dismayed by folks who don't value good writing. Being a writer is not something that anyone can do, not unless they really make an effort. It is a very doable skill, though, for those willing to try.

I've been pondering how one would go about teaching someone to write. If you are trying to make a point quickly, which is the essence of most blogging and internet writing, you have to grasp the basic tenets of good writing. If you are needing to do more serious writing, this is aimed at you, too.

Here are some tips. These should simply be a starting point.

1. Before you start to write, imagine your audience. A teacher? A reader of online articles? A friend. Think about their possible reaction to your topic.

2. Why are you writing? Are you trying to inform, persuade, amuse? What is the point? You need to know why in order to best choose your words and structure your sentences. You might even use the "why" to help you brainstorm. For instance, if you are blogging because you want to persuade someone to use your services, you might start off by linking to an article, for instance:

[link] Explosion in cupcake factory results in some cupcakes containing bits of iron and bug parts

[your points - why you are different]

1. I bake cupcakes in a new facility

2. My place is regularly inspected for safety.

3. My shop is sprayed for bugs on a regular basis.

3. Brainstorm what you want to say, generally, and just put down your thoughts. Don't worry about spelling or grammar or mechanics. Getting the ideas down is most important. This is your first draft. You might even want to put a star by the most important points, and then your thoughts just below. For example:

The real estate market in Myrtle Beach has slowed down in recent years.

my houses are better built / my houses are closer to the ocean / I offer discounts to senior citizens

4. Go back and re-read your ideas. Decide what each paragraph will do, and make a rough outline. Don't let the word "outline" scare you. It can be in any form that works to help you organize your thoughts.

5. Do a second draft. Craft each paragraph. Make sure, if you're doing formal writing, that it has a topic sentences, 3-5 supporting sentences, and a conclusion. If you're simply blogging or writing informally, you can isolate particular sentences for emphasis. For instance:

The were many houses on the road. All were imposting. All had families living there.

Only one house contained a monster.

6. Proofread. There are two types of proofreading; one time over fixing sentences and making sure everything is grammatical and properly punctuated.Even if you hated English in school, you should know if a sentence has a subject and a verb, and if it ends with the correct mark - a period, question mark, or exclamation mark.

The second time is to see if the work accomplishes what you set out to do.  Try to read it objectively. Go back to the WHY - did it accomplish that?

7. Put it away. If possible, try to build in time to put away your writing for a few hours or a day or a week. Going back after time has passed will help you see the work again with fresh eyes.

8. Ask for help. If you read what you wrote and it doesn't seem to have accomplished the goal, ask for help from an Editor. That person can be a friend, teacher, mentor, co-worker, etc.

9. Make sure everything is spelled correctly. Spellcheck doesn't catch everything.

10.  Get feedback. After some time has passed, ask the recipient of what you wrote their response, if possible. If they have constructive criticism, listen to it.

 

As with any skill, practice is crucial. I am a good writer because I write every.single.day - anywhere from a couple hundred words to several thousand words. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

There are tons of resources for writers, but this is just a quick way to get to thinking about it. If you really want to be a better writer, WRITE.

Also, READ. Always be reading a book. That will help you know how to write better.

If you are really serious, STUDY. Take a class at a local college, or look up videos on YouTube, or consider getting a degree in writing.