What’s an Error in Language?

Dec 1, 2012 9:09 AM CST

A Text on Textualism, Part 2: Garner and Scalia Offer More Outtakes from Their Latest Collaboration

Nov 1, 2012 7:50 AM CDT

Letters: More for the Stage

Oct 1, 2012 9:30 AM CDT

Outtakes from a Treatise: Garner and Scalia Present a Quiz on Textualism: Part 1 of 2

Oct 1, 2012 7:20 AM CDT

Full Transcript of Bryan A. Garner’s Interview with Elena Kagan

Sep 1, 2012 7:51 AM CDT

Kagan’s Teachers: 9th Justice Talks About Her Influences in Writing, Reading and Reasoning

Sep 1, 2012 7:50 AM CDT

Textual Originalism and the Great Sandwich Debate: Posner Reviews Scalia

Judge Richard Posner picks apart Justice Antonin Scalia’s arguments for textualism in a book review that touches on the meaning of “sandwich” and the role of cognitive delusion in judicial decision-making. Scalia’s defense of “textual originalism” is lacking, Posner concludes in the New Republic essay. Scalia’s method relies on dictionary…

Aug 30, 2012 4:47 PM CDT

Shall We Abandon Shall?

Aug 1, 2012 7:20 AM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Nix ‘Here-and-There Words’; Has Blogging Changed Corporate Law Practice?

While Heretofore You May Have Used These Words—Really, You Should Stop Last year, U.S. Bank attorney Andy Mergendahl meditated on the work of Black’s Law Dictionary editor-in-chief Bryan Garner and took lawyers to task for their foolhardy uses of the word “shall” in contracts. This week, the Lawyerist contributor notes…

May 25, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Decisions on Coffee Makers and Baggy Pants Earn Honors for Best Legal Writing

International contract disputes aren’t usually high on legal reading lists, but there is one that should be. A majority and concurring opinion (PDF) by two judges for the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were among the best pieces of legal writing named by The Green Bag, the legal…

Jan 5, 2011 11:29 AM CST

Legal Writing Advice: Go Ahead, Split Your Infinitives

Blindly following grammar rules can be a mistake for legal writers, according to a lawyer and a public relations consultant. That means it is permissible to boldly split your infinitives, according to a Recorder article by AT&T lawyer John di Bene and public relations consultant Elizabeth Lampert. “Lawyers will write…

Sep 3, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Legal Writings of SG Nominee are ‘Dense, Hedged and Moderate’

The legal writings of Harvard law dean Elena Kagan don’t provide many clues about her terrorism positions that vexed the Bush administration. The New York Times examined the writings of Kagan, who is Barack Obama’s nominee for solicitor general, and found them to be “dense, hedged and moderate.” The Times…

Jan 7, 2009 1:34 PM CST

Scalia: Legal Writing Doesn’t Exist

Justice Antonin Scalia—the U.S. Supreme Court’s great dissenter—stayed true to form as he accepted a lifetime achievement award from the American Society of Legal Writers on Saturday. “I do not believe that legal writing exists,” he told an audience of approximately 100 at the Harvard Club in Manhattan. Lest the…

Aug 9, 2008 7:31 PM CDT

Making Your Case

The Art of Persuading Judges

May 1, 2008 1:01 PM CDT

Scalia Interview Transcript

ABA JOURNAL: We’re here in Washington, and we’re here with Justice Scalia and with Bryan Garner in Dallas. We’re talking about their new book, and the book is called Making Your Case, and it’s coming out this year. Bryan and I have chatted a little bit in preparation about how…

May 1, 2008 1:00 PM CDT