Tag Archives: Writing tips

30 Years of Legal Editing

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Linda Kruschke

By Cheryl McCord, Legal Publications Attorney Editor I am a legal editor. For over 30 years, I have edited legal resources used and relied upon by Oregon lawyers. Over the years, I have seen a lot of mind-boggling changes in … Continue reading →

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He Said, She Said

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Linda Kruschke

By Ian Pisarcik, Legal Publications Attorney Editor One of my favorite cartoons depicts a young female student standing next to a tall male teacher. Both are staring at a chalkboard. The chalkboard reads: Stone Age Man, Bronze Age Man, and … Continue reading →

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And/Or

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Linda Kruschke

By Ian Pisarcik, Legal Publications Attorney Editor Lodged somewhere between income disparity and climate change on the list of greatest threats facing the nation is the use of and/or. I am kidding of course. But on any given afternoon you … Continue reading →

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Fiction for Attorneys

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Linda Kruschke

By Ian Pisarcik, Legal Publications Attorney Editor As an attorney, two things are reasonably certain to occur in your lifetime: Sallie Mae will deduct an astronomically high student loan payment from your checking account and someone, somewhere will ask you … Continue reading →

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Searching for Clues in The Bluebook

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Linda Kruschke

By Ian Pisarcik, Legal Publications Attorney Editor I recently stumbled across Derrick Muller’s blog post, “Was Barack Obama’s Greatest Contribution to Legal Scholarship the Bluebook?” The post posits the following three facts: (1) Harvard Law Review members generally lead the … Continue reading →

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Is Your Writing Verbose and Redundant?

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Linda Kruschke

By Ian Pisarcik, Legal Publications Attorney Editor If you were to assemble together people from the general public, most would agree that lawyers are not very concise. Further, they would likely agree that the verbosity found in most legal texts … Continue reading →

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Kill Your Darlings

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Linda Kruschke

By Ian Pisarcik, Legal Publications Attorney Editor The phrase “kill your darlings, kill your darlings” has been attributed to numerous writers, including William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, and Anton Chekhov. The phrase, however, likely originated with British writer and University of … Continue reading →

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A Beautiful Hypothetical

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Linda Kruschke

By Ian Pisarcik, Legal Publications Attorney Editor There is a scene in the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind where John Nash’s wife Alicia, played by Jennifer Connelly, discovers that the door to an abandoned tool shed at the edge of … Continue reading →

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