|
| The Elements of Legal Style |
|
 Larger image
|
List Price: $30.00
Our Price: $19.80
You Save: $ 10.20 (34%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.06634
EAN: 9780195141627
ISBN: 0195141628
Label: Oxford University Press, USA
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2002-03-21
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Studio: Oxford University Press, USA
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
Since the first edition was published in 1991, The Elements of Legal Style has established itself as the authoritative guide on all the major issues of writing style in law. Now its coverage has been expanded in this new edition, which features additional sections, many more examples, and a thoroughly researched appendix that contains 80 major statements on prose style what it is and how to attain it. Inspired by Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, this book clearly (often wittily) explains the full range of what legal writers need to know: mechanics, word choice, structure, and rhetoric, as well as all the special conventions that legal writers should follow in using headings, defined terms, quotations, and many other devices. The Elements of Legal Style, 2nd Edition is written for lawyers, law students, judges, and their law clerks--and for anyone who writes in and about the law. With broad experience as a practitioner, academic, and writing consultant, Bryan Garner knows firsthand where legal writing so often goes wrong, and he pays particular attention to these trouble spots.
|
|
|
| Spotlight customer reviews: |
|
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Like HAL 9000 addressing the Harvard Club
Comment: You do not want to write like Brian Garner. He sounds like William F. Buckley, Jr. reading the phone book through Stephen Hawking's voice synthesizer. I found myself paying more attention to the author's ecclectic phrase choices and mincing composition than his message. Garner weighs the advantanges of the spare "Attic" style of writing (Holmes) against the florid "asiatic" style (Cardozo), then somehow manages to adopt the worst of both of them.
(And did he really just say "asiatic?")
As a member and fan of the "California" school of legal writing (Kozinski) and rhetoric (Nancy Grace), I admit my distaste for this book is personal. The information itself is valuable. However, the content here overlaps substantially with "The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style (2d Ed.)." As a day-to-day reference work, that book is a much better bang for your buck.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not just for lawyers
Comment: I am a physician who tested out of all college English to focus on science. Writing chart notes, scientific articles, or even parts of textbooks does not prepare one for the type of writing one must do when performing legal work.
Scientific-technical writing, legal writing, or the best-selling novel all require different writing styles. Mr. Garner's book must be a help to law students based on other reviews but importantly to me; it is very accessable to those who have never attended law school.
Legal style is a "style" that is important in the profession of law. If you do any work in this area at all, whether it is on the stand or writing essays, it behooves the non-lawyer to read this book. So, even though I agree with the glowing reviews from lawyers, this book may be even more important to those of us who must do legal work but have never been to law school.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Shockingly good
Comment: In short, this is the first and only style guide that I have ever been excited to continue reading and share with others. It has really improved my writing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: For those who wish to reach beyond the stars.
Comment: First introduced to Bryan A. Garner at one of his brief writing seminar, several years ago, I have since been a loyal reader of his works.
This book is (1) a reference book, (2) an invaluable resource, (3) more than just a grammar or style book ever thought of being, (4) chocked full of historical information and legal literary quotes, (5) presented in a humorous and accessible manner, and (6) the standard to which all legal writers should aspire.
Poor writing and the use of legalese have always been bug-a-boos of mine. And, over the lifetime of my legal practice, having to slave over thousands of statutes, briefs, decisions, motions, etc., has only intensified my belief that too few lawyers know how to write well, and that the legal profession should abolish the use of legalese from the practice of law.
In Mr. Garner, I have found a champion. In "The Elements of Legal Style", writers wishing to take their craft beyond the stars will find a valuable cache of information that will lay the foundations to improve their writing and persuading skills. He shows you how to remove the legalese from your writing, how to make your writing dynamic and exciting, and how to use your writing to better persuade. This book, along with "The Winning Brief", should be the foundation of your arsenal of writing tools.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Helped me get on the Law Review
Comment: I read a review where someone said they read this and it got them on the law review. That was what I was looking for, so I bought it and the same thing happened to me (which is incredible considering my grades). This book gave me the tools to express what I want to say without trying to cram everything into one sentence. Somehow, after reading this book, I felt much less inhibited about my writing and more confident that I was using correct grammar, sentence structure, etc. Now that I think about it I'd like to read it again. I'd highly reccomend this to someone who wants to write legal papers that are actually readable and have some style.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
