7 Ways to Improve Your Legal Writing

Introduction

Legal writing includes all kinds of court drafts, applications, law school work, moot courts, answer writing, research papers, etc. To improve legal writing, we need to understand our current status. It means at what position on a scale of excellence you rate yourself. Self-assessment is really necessary to discover your present status of mastery in legal writing. In this blog, we will go through detailed process of improving your legal writing skills. In the first part of the blog, I will tell you how to self-assess yourself, and in the second part, I will tell you the process to overcome those shortcomings.

How to self-assess

1^st Method: Role Model Way

You must have had some writing experience, and as you are reading this blog, it means that you’re on your way to improving your legal writing skills. I assure you that after reading this blog and applying it to your future writing, your work will significantly improve. Now, coming to the method of self-assessment, you need to find out your writing role model. This won’t take much time, as you have already read something or some text that impressed you. It may be someone you met on internship, or it may be your college professor, or it may be your senior, or it may be your parents. Remember that the writing role model should be from the field of law.

Now that you have completed the first step of finding out your writing role model. You just need to compare your work with them and find out the differences. What makes their content rich and read-worthy? Is it quality research or the vocabulary, is it some fancy jargon or simplicity, Is it way of presenting or structure of the content. Find out which area of their writing you’re most impressed by, and find it in your legal writing lacking. Lot of readers may think that how is this even a good strategy when what we are doing is copying someone’s writing style.

The real catch here is that you need to understand that even if you want, you cannot copy someone’s style perfectly. Ultimately, this method is teaching you to adopt your own style because the writing you’re most impressed by is the one you want to adopt. Remember that those people have great writings only because they are inspired by someone at some point in time.

However, don’t worry if you cannot find any role models; there is another way for you. You can adopt reading top journals, blogs, articles, drafts, etc.!!

2^nd Method: Reading the Top legal journal/blogs, articles, drafts, etc.

For different legal writings you need to refer to different materials. Suppose you are writing a research paper; a legal drafting of writ won’t be really helpful for you unless you are writing on that specific subject. Therefore, you need to understand that when writing different kinds of legal documents, you need specific knowledge in different kinds of writing styles.

One legal writing can be totally amazing in one field; however, it may not have the same impression in the other field. Therefore, flexibility in legal writing is very important. In the first approach, people may struggle to find strong legal writing across every legal draft possible. They may consider having more than one writing role model, and it is completely justified. Not everyone can master everything. However, remember constant practice can help you achieve your desired writing standard.

Now, we will move further and discuss the ways in which you can improve your writing skills.

Ways in which you can improve your writing skill

After you have completed the first step of assessing yourself, you know your strengths and weaknesses. You’re on the verge of understanding something so fundamental in upcoming sentences that you always need to keep in mind before starting any legal writing. These foundations are the basis of any kind of writing, not only legal.

Conviction in writing

Do you believe what you’re writing? Have you thought of the best possible way to write that sentence or use that word from your vocabulary? Focusing on micro level changes can help you significantly increase your writing standards. When you think about all these small changes, you will see in long run that you’re gaining more conviction in your writing.

A great writing does not only fulfills the demand of work but it also inspires others to start writing. Majority of writing depends upon your process of thinking. Therefore, this quote becomes relevant. “Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why it’s so hard.” — David McCullough

Build a systematic chain of thought

The chain of thought is nothing but how you present your thoughts on a document. Before starting any writing, you need to identify the requirements of that particular piece. For example, consider the audience who will be consuming your writing. If you’re presenting in court, then you must be formal and follow strict formatting guidelines and rules prescribed by the court for submitting written documents.

A systematic chain of thought will help you stay on track with the writing’s objectives. The word ‘systematic’ here signifies the consistent and coherent presentation of your ideas. It enables you to structure your document more effectively.”

Always write at your own level

Great writing isn’t defined by jargon or heavy literature. Sometimes, the best writing is a simple and honest reflection of your thoughts. When you write, forget the urge to compare yourself with great writers or mimic their style. You don’t need to reach their level—you need to write at your own. That authenticity is what helps you connect with the right audience. Uniqueness is a rare asset—you cannot trade it for imitation and expect to find your true voice.

“However, in legal writing, you sometimes have to adhere to a specific format. You can follow the structure, but the content requires authenticity—and that can only be achieved when you write at your own level.” Don’t misunderstand ‘level’ as a matter of hierarchy. The levels of writing simply refer to how much practice you’ve had in the past. It keeps increasing steadily the more you write.

Read more and write less

When you read more, it’s natural to write more, as you have more data and literature to work with. However, the reality is often the opposite. When we hold a belief in our mind, we tend to read only as much as is needed to confirm our hypothesis — and we consider that as “reading more.”

Good writing, however, requires holistic reading: reading positives, negatives, and everything in between, and only then arriving at a conclusion.

“Read more and write less” also means writing concisely — condensing your thoughts so that you convey more meaning in 50 words than in 200.

Practice Ikigai in writing

Ikigai means “reason to live” — it is a well-known Japanese concept. In writing, I interpret it as the reason to write. So, ask yourself: What is the reason you’re writing this piece? Do you have a personal connection to the subject, or are you writing it for a client or professional purpose?

Whatever the case, always have a strong reason to write.

I know that, in many situations, you might not feel a deep reason to write — you may just be fulfilling a duty. But even that is a meaningful reason. Having a duty is a form of purpose.

Set a high standard for your writing. That standard itself can become your reason — a reason not to fall below the level you’ve set for yourself.

Legal writing requires technicality

One way or another, technicality is a major challenge in legal writing. It’s one of the main reasons many people hesitate to even start writing. You might never begin if you keep fearing that you’re not “technical enough” or “good enough” to write.

But everyone has a starting point. No one begins with dream-level writing standards — keep that in mind. This should not become a barrier for you. You must start writing NOW.

These are the seven ways I’ve shared with you to improve your legal writing. If you found them helpful, feel free to share them with your friends, colleagues, or anyone else you’d like to support.

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