[영어서면쓰기] Wielding the pen (1)

Musings on legal writing in English

Hello everyone!  It feels quite odd writing in English on this platform.  But that is probably the prudent way to go about doing things, if one is to start a series on legal writing in English.  I have also just spent ten minutes alone on picking the appropriate font.  For now it is Georgia.  It also has just dawned upon me that I cannot italicise on Brunch.  

Indeed.

The basic point of this blog/brunch room(?) is to write things about English law and advocacy.  I do not feel there is any inherent or inescapable connection between the two.  Legal work in jurisdictions all over the world involve advocacy.  The two topics just happen to pique my interest.  In this series - perhaps too grandiosely titled "On how to wield the pen" - I hope to go over and organise the daily pickings I have had from books on legal writing, samples of legal writing, and the everyday conversations I have with my colleagues on legal writing.  English law posts take quite a bit of preparation and drafting, so with any luck and energy I will be pumping out posts in this series quite more frequently.

None of these posts are original.  That is to say, I am not coming up with new and inventive maxims and prescriptions on how to write better.  Setting aside the fact that doing so would far exceed what I am capable of at the moment, it is not the intention behind this series.  I have a great load of books on legal writing, and have not really took the effort to peruse any of them.  More likely, posts on this series will be in the form of a commentary.  No scratch that - more like the notes that students jot down in the margins of a new textbook.  There will be reflection.  Stories told.  Restating the principles and tips inside my head.

Will get started soon - with an inaugurating post detailing my own comments and thoughts on the first few chapters of the book <Effective Written Advocacy> by Mr Andrew Goodman.