Bryan Garner on Words

When writing motions and briefs, typography matters

Of all the easily fixed bad habits that pervade legal writing, perhaps none is more perniciously persistent than some brief-writers’ insistence on capitalizing each word of point headings.

Dec 1, 2024 1:50 AM CST

Guard against poor legal research with these 3 writing practices

“Not long ago, the partners at a law firm told me of an embarrassingly disastrous trial. … They wanted to know whether I knew of ways to prevent this type of problem. The answer is a qualified yes: While there are no panaceas, certain protocols can minimize the risks of suboptimal research. Here are the three crucial points.”

Oct 1, 2024 2:10 AM CDT

Lawyers as Explainers: Remember, you are writing for intelligent people

As professional workers with words, lawyers above all must be good explainers. The basic approach of expert explainers is to say what would need to be said clearly, simply and pleasantly to a small mixed audience of intelligent people. You think all this is obvious? It’s not. The qualities we’re discussing here aren’t commonplace. They’re rare.

Aug 1, 2024 1:40 AM CDT

In some lawyers’ hands, the lexicographer rule can run amok

As a professional lexicographer myself, I can attest that writing definitions is an extremely demanding discipline. Dilettantes invariably go awry. Yet we have this doctrine that every lawyer is a lexicographer without the need for other credentials. It’s called the lexicographer rule.

Jun 1, 2024 2:00 AM CDT

New Legalese: You may have heard a deepfake, but what about ‘Twiqbal’?

In many ways, the new legal vocabulary reflects the time in which we live. As you look through the terms that have arisen over the last 24 years, you’ll see much of our recent history.

Apr 1, 2024 1:40 AM CDT

Can you spot the wrong words in Bryan Garner’s quiz?

The tough thing about English isn’t grammar so much as word choice. There are so many homophones, or words that sound the same but mean completely different things and may be spelled differently. Let’s see whether you’d have made the right choice. If you’ve read a lot over the years and paid attention, you’ll do well here. Most of the choices don’t involve true homophones but instead similar-sounding words.

Feb 1, 2024 1:50 AM CST

Bryan Garner’s 2023 legal writing tips

This year, Bryan Garner gave us a legal interpretation quiz, advice for bringing brio to your written words, and musings on the blissful ignorance of bad legal writers. Here's the full wrap-up of 2023 columns by the Black's Law Dictionary's editor-in-chief.

Dec 21, 2023 8:57 AM CST

Blissful Ignorance: Bad writers may be happier than good ones

“For some, it’s probably better to know little to nothing of English usage,” writes Bryan Garner. “They’ll be happy. Ineffectual, but happy. When teaching lawyers, one technique I use is to see whether the participants recognize good writing when they see it.”

Dec 1, 2023 1:50 AM CST

Bring some brio to your writing to add clarity, says Bryan Garner

There are many obstacles to clarity: fuzzy thinking, wordiness, abstractness, inept phrasing and plain dullness. It’s often said that an unclear mind cannot produce clear prose. That’s true enough. But the very techniques of good writing can reinforce clear thinking. The more lucidly you write, the more sharply your ideas will come into focus, both for your readers and yourself.

Oct 1, 2023 3:00 AM CDT

Legal Interpretation: A quiz based on recent cases

It’s fascinating to monitor how American courts interpret legal instruments. Do they go by the words, or do they let other considerations influence their decisions? That is to say, are they textualists or nontextualists? Regardless of how you see the merits of that issue, you might try your hand at these problems that American courts have decided since 2017.

Aug 1, 2023 2:10 AM CDT

Will ‘chatbot lawyer’ make it into Black’s Law Dictionary?

As I write this column, less than 24 hours after the invention of the phrase chatbot lawyer, I’m fully aware that it will be my call, in conjunction with my staff, on whether the term merits an entry in the next edition of Black’s Law Dictionary. And here I am, in a national magazine for lawyers, actually using the term and thereby potentially helping it along. But I can assure readers that I will assess the matter as objectively as I can.

Jun 1, 2023 1:50 AM CDT

Was the first English-language dictionary penned by a legal lexicographer?

The contender for the distinction is John Rastell (circa 1475–1536), who is commonly credited with having written the first English law dictionary. Yet he might just deserve credit for producing the first dictionary in the English language. Though early editions are undated, the first printing is thought to have appeared in 1523.

Apr 1, 2023 2:30 AM CDT

How to frame a legal issue: Part II

A great boon to clarity results from rejecting the four traditional dogmas about framing a legal issue.

Feb 1, 2023 2:00 AM CST

Bryan Garner’s 2022 legal writing tips

This year, Bryan Garner gave us a new game for word lovers, a hypothesis on hyphens and four principles of legal writing that he learned as a clerk in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New Orleans. Here's the full wrap-up of 2022 columns by the Black's Law Dictionary's editor-in-chief.

Dec 22, 2022 8:34 AM CST

4 Dogmas Debunked: How to frame a legal issue, Part I

“During my first week of law school in August 1981, we were put through a legal-methods course taught by senior faculty. My small section was led by a respected professor who taught us ‘four essentials’ for stating legal issues,” writes ABA Journal columnist Bryan A. Garner.

Dec 1, 2022 1:50 AM CST