LEGAL WRITING SEMINAR: WITH SOME NOT-SO-TYPICAL TOPICS - Digital Audio Download
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Faculty:
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Kenneth Bresler, Esq.
Staff Attorney, Massachusetts Appeals Court
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• You probably know to use the active voice in your writing. But how do you spot the passive voice?
When is OK to use the passive voice?
• Use one idea per sentence - generally, that is.
• Avoid nominalizations (“have knowledge of,” “have need of,” “make use of”).
• Ditch the synonyms. Pick one word and stick with it.
• Avoid common redundancies (“prior planning,” “future predictions”).
• Use “however” properly. (Many educated people misuse it.)
• Is it disinterested” or “uninterested”?
• Is it “flaunt” or “flout”? (Some courts get it wrong.)
• Is it “just deserts” or “just desserts”? (You won’t get this wrong ever.)
• Why there ain’t no such thing as “12:00 a.m.”
• Avoid the ambiguity of “12:00 midnight.”
The audio of this program was recorded at the Social Law Library on June 19, 2019.
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