Plain English for Lawyers (5th Edition) | 
 enlarge | Author: Richard C. Wydick
Publisher: Carolina Academic Press
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
Buy New: $15.30
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Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 2041
Media: Paperback
Edition: 5th
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 152
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.1
ISBN: 1594601518
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.06634
EAN: 9781594601514
ASIN: 1594601518
Publication Date: July 30, 2005
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Product Description
Wydick s Plain English for Lawyers--now in its fifth edition--has been a favorite of law students, legal writing teachers, lawyers, and judges for over 25 years.
In January 2005, the Legal Writing Institute gave Wydick its Golden Pen Award for having written Plain English for Lawyers. The Legal Writing Institute is a non-profit organization that provides a forum for discussion and scholarship about legal writing, analysis, and research. The Institute has over 1,300 members representing all of the ABA-accredited law schools in the United States. Its membership also includes law teachers from other nations, English teachers, and practicing lawyers.
The LWI award states: 'Plain English for Lawyers . . . has become a classic. Perhaps no single work has done more to improve the writing of lawyers and law students and to promote the modern trend toward a clear, plain style of legal writing.'
In 2003 Wydick retired after 32 years on the law faculty of the University of California, Davis. But he still teaches his favorite course -- a seminar in advanced legal writing for third-year law students. For the past eight summers he has also lectured at the International Legislative Drafting Institute presented in New Orleans by the Public Law Center, a joint venture of Tulane and Loyola law schools. There the audience consists of lawyers and non-lawyers from abroad who earn their living drafting legislation in many different languages. 'Teaching at the Institute,' Wydick says, 'is a precious opportunity to learn how much we English-users have in common with people who write laws in other languages.'
How does the fifth edition of Plain English for Lawyers differ from its predecessors? It remains (in size only!) a little book, small enough and palatable enough not to intimidate over-loaded law students. 'Most of the text remains the same,' Wydick says, 'but in the past seven years I ve learned some new things about writing in English, and I want to share that with the readers.' In addition, the exercises at the end of the chapters are different (a welcome change for long-time teachers who are tired of the old ones). Finally, the teacher's manual includes additional exercises that teachers can give to students who want or need extra practice.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Totally Awesome July 29, 2008
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 The exercises really do help. June 13, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Most of the stuff just summarizes points from Strunk and White.
The practice exercises are really what's helpful.
Also a good reference when editing.
 Dumbed-down English for people who can't write June 8, 2006
4 out of 28 found this review helpful
This book advocates the use of a Procrustean bed to turn every kind of writing, good and bad, into mediocre but understandeable prose. The advice offered ranges from avoiding use of the passive voice, to reducing the word count of sentences, avoiding double negatives, using shorter words (i.e., using Germanic roots over Latin roots, say, "begin" over "initiate"), etc. Incidentally, all these techniques were used in Orwell's 1984's "Newspeak" if I remember correctly. I have no doubt many people will benefit from the treatment - just not the kind of people who should do much writing. It's not that overwrought writing does not get in the way of effective communication (a double negative!). It's just that good writing can (and should) be achieved by hard work and practice, and not by the shortcut of dumbing down one's style.
One of those style books that ranscebds its genre. January 10, 2006
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
I'm a lawyer who is considered a wordsmith by colleagues and judges. This is one of the most important books I've ever encountered. I was exposed to it in my first law school year's writing class, and its lessons have remained with me since. Banish the passive voice! (unless deliberately and thoughfully chosen and used). This is not merely a key to fluidity in writing, but in a sense a moral imperative. Actions are attributable to actors - they don't simply occur. If you're asserting an action took place, you and your reader should know who or what you claim set it in motion. This necessitates intellectual rigor and clarity. Also, I remember and have employed for twenty-five years Wydick's apt metaphor that good legal writing is like fine cabinetmaking: the skill of the craftsman is shown by the crafted joints not requiring glue, just as the quality of a piece of prose is shown by its lack of reliance on "glue words" (read the book). I've used the lessons of Wydick's brief book as a lawyer, writer and writing teacher. I've given it to colleagues, non-lawyers and young relatives. Their writing uniformly improved.
Simple and clear instructions for simple writing June 12, 2005
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a simple text reminding us simply how to write. Often we fail to communicate our message because we lack clarity in our writing. The mark of a genius is to take a complicated idea and communicate it to another in a simple manner: this text helps us act like geniuses. The target audience is the legal profession yet it is applicable to anyone who writes memos, briefs or such. It provides clear instruction, concise and illuminating examples and exercises. I found this useful when writing my thesis and continue to use it in practice. Please, buy this, read it and SHARE it: I hate reading legalise for the sake of legalise.
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