The Briefing Room

– The Latest In Legal Writing –

Billing the Right Way—What Every New Attorney Needs to Know This month’s feature is different than our typical writing-focused one, but it is just as important. Knowing how to bill will save you time and avoid lots of stress. Most new attorneys start their first job knowing how to research,...

The First Two Pages: How to Write a Statement of Facts That Actually Moves the Judge Most lawyers spend the bulk of their brief-writing time on the argument section. They labor over the standard of review, polish their point headings, and obsess over whether they have cited the right cases....

The New Legal Writing Coaches: How Tech-Centric Writers Are Rewiring the Way Lawyers Draft For most of the profession’s history, legal writing has been treated as a solitary craft. A junior lawyer learns by reverse‑engineering partner redlines and hoarding old briefs. If you were lucky, you picked up good habits;...

Three Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Legal Writing This Year Happy New Year, and welcome back to the newsletter! We know the feeling: you start January with grand ambitions to transform your practice, but by February, the crush of deadlines pushes “self-improvement” to the bottom of the pile. So, we...

Embracing AI in Legal Writing—Insights and Takeaways from Our Recent Seminar Earlier this fall, we had the privilege to deliver a seminar that explored how artificial intelligence is transforming legal writing. Our session was designed as a hands-on, interactive experience, giving attendees the unique opportunity to see first-hand how AI...

Elevate your legal writing and general practice by exploring the Kanban method. Introduction Legal writing is one of the most time-consuming and mentally demanding parts of modern law practice. Drafting a persuasive motion, composing client communications, or refining internal memoranda all require sustained focus, strategic organization, and frequent revisions. Yet...

Our Annual Legal Writing Subscription Plan—Now Open for Enrollment We are thrilled to continue building on the excitement from last month’s announcement: our new annual Legal Writing Subscription Plan is officially up and running! This program is designed to give attorneys consistent access to high-level feedback, expert insights, and trusted...

Minnesota CLE’s Small and Solo Firm Conference: Innovation Meets Community in Duluth The Minnesota CLE Small and Solo Firm Conference in Duluth on August 4‒5 proved that even in our increasingly digital profession, the most powerful connections happen when legal minds gather in person. This year’s two-day event showcased a...

Today’s main feature explores the role and structure of a well-written appellate brief based on Bryan Garner’s Redbook. I. Understanding the Role of the Appellate Brief An appellate brief is the primary written document submitted by counsel to an appellate court to advocate for a client’s position after a lower...

Featured Post: Cultivating Legal Arguments: How Writing a Brief Is Like Planting a Seed As attorneys, we often think of legal writing as a technical, precise process—and it is. But sometimes, it helps to step back and see our work through a different lens. Imagine, for a moment, that writing...