Hi Junior Attorney

I won’t be able to point out at a specific course or university, but I think a coruse in legal writing/journalism should be great option.

Even if we look at the Indian scene, such a profile will make you a good candidate for a job, say in Manupatra (and such legal research platforms) , Lexis Nexis (other publishing houses), Live Mint (and all good newspapers), Rainmaker (legal talent management/consultancy), LegallyIndia.com (online journalism), LST (legal education/training).

Otherwise, a ‘deviant’ career path could be professional blogging…very deviant actually.

I know, this won’t answer your questions. But still…I thought I should share.

Best

Thanks “Law poet” for your suggestion. Well, taking my eligibility into account, do you suggest me to pursue LLM? Actually, i’ve a dream to join a National Law School. So, for that i find no option except LLM.

Moreover, can you tell me where i can pursue a course in legal writing. What are its basic educational qualifications? What are the pros & cons of a career in legal writing?

Thanx again for sharing your experienced views.

Hi

Ermm…Its Legal Poet (am very egoistic about my name)

And I am not ‘legally experienced’; its just the stupid tagline which says so.

Course: I won’t be able to suggest any particular university or course. I guess the BA.LLB degree would suffice. LLM would be great.

I don’t think you need to do any formal course on ‘writing’. If you are good at it, you can hone your skills through your own effort. Write for good journals. Find them if you are not aware which one’s are good. Start a blog.

If you are really good you might land yourself in a freelance job. You might also get to write for really good and popular blogs. For eg. SpicyIP was hunting for bloggers some time back.

Internships could also help. Looks for some newspaper/magazine (The Hindu/ Frontline). Bar and Bench (LegallyIndia’s little competitor) also takes interns.

If you are intent on doing a course chillibreeze has a few. Caveat: I have no idea how good or bad the course is.

Pros:: You will do what you like to do. When people like your writing it will make you feel good. When you write on a social issue it will make you feel good. Feel good; all the time!

Cons:: You will be paid peanuts. Bad peanuts. Unedible peanuts. Your friends in corporate firms will earn all the money. While you will fall sick (courtesy the unedible peanuts).

But cheer up. Writing fortunes can take a turn. Think Khushwant Singh (who too is a lawyer. I hate ‘foreign’ examples).

And best of luck for the LLM. I hope you get NLS, NALSAR OR NUJS. If you get NUJS, we’ll surely meet up.

Btw..Why don’t you blog here? Though we still haven’t got the promised roundup, I still feel its an exciting thing happening here.

Best

Egoistically

LegalPoet

ps- I know I don’t answer your question. But still…I thought I should share.

Sorry “Legal Poet”. I sincerely apologize for wrongly typing your name unintentionally. Anyways, this name suits your writing.

Well, thank you very much for giving me an overview of the pros & cons of a career in writing. As i have already mentioned that i’ve no way except to opt for LLM to join a law school, provided i meet the tough competition. And as i reside in a small township of Assam without much legal facilities, so can you kindly sort out the preparation plan to crack CLAT to get into LLM. Honestly speaking, though i’m in the 4th year, yet i’ve hardly been able to get a strong hold on any of the law subjects due to lack of infrsstructural facilities & devoid of sincere guidance on the part of the faculty members. So, cracking CLAT is likely an impossible task for me. Hence, i’m thinking to start studying the primary law subjects from the beginning esp. for CLAT.

So, do you suggest me to go for any coaching? Hope you will not mind to reply to my irritating queries.

Regards,

Juniorattorney

Heya!

I was just kidding (about the name).

Frankly CLAT (LLM) is not a tough nut to crack, at all. I think you should have a look at the question papers (past years) and then see how to go about it.

Cheers.

Dear Junior Attorney,

Legal writing is both, a science and an art. Good legal writing skills will not come to you naturally. It has to be consciously developed. Good English writing skills is the basic pre-requisite for developing good legal writing skills. This is because legal writing is much more than just writing about the law in good English.

Let me give you an example. How many errors can you spot in the sentence below?

“A deravative claim is a property right that belongs to the Corporation, and is properly viewed as an “assert” of the corporation. See Cotton v/s Expo Power Systems Inc (2009) 170 Cal. App.4th 1371.

An average English writer will note that the word “derivative” was mis-spelled. That’s all.

A good English writer will note that apart from the word “derivative” being mis-spelled, the quotation marks at the end of the sentence is missing.

A good legal writer will spot the following errors, at the minimum:

a) The word “derivative” is mis-spelled;

b) The quotation marks at the end of the sentence is missing;

c) The word “assert” makes no sense. It should be “asset.”

d) The word “asset” should be in single quotes (because it is a

quote within a quote);

e) The word “Corporation” appearing for the first time in the

sentence should not be capitalized.

f) The entire case name should be italicized.

g) The term “versus” in the citation should be denoted by “v.” and

not “v/s”

h) There should be a comma after the words “Systems” and before the

word “Inc.”

i) There needs to be a period (i.e. a full stop) after “Inc” since

“Inc.” is an abbreviated term;

j) There needs to be a comma after the case name and before its

citation.

Hence, a good legal writer will re-write the sentence as:

“A derivative claim is a property right that belongs to the corporation, and is properly viewed as an ‘asset’ of the corporation.” See Cotton v. Expo Power Systems, Inc., (2009) 170 Cal. App.4th 1371.

This is just a small example, and is not nit-picking, mind you. Good legal writing is always very, very precise. On the substantive side, you need good analytical and comprehension skills. Next, you need the ability to articulate your thoughts clearly. Avoid legalese and complex, high sounding words. Follow the KISS rule - i,e. Keep it Short and Simple. Use active voice rather than passive.

Once you develop the art of writing, look up legal writing rules and make sure that your drafts follow those rules. There are rules on which words should be capitalized, and which should be italicized. There are rules on how to cite authority like case law, statutes, constitutions, internet sources, etc. There are rules on the use of quotation marks when you borrow text. There are rules on use of block quotes when you borrow large chunks of text. There are rules on spacing, indexing and formatting. There are rules on how to use cross references like “supra;” “infra.” and “id.” The list just goes on and on.

I am not personally aware of any institution that teaches legal writing to lawyers. Legal writing is taught in most law schools as part of the Legal Method course. Some of Rainmaker’s training programs may have a Legal Writing module built into them. If you want to self learn, perhaps you can “google” for information on legal writing on the internet. Also - try laying your hands on “The Bluebook - A uniform System of Citation.” That could help.

All the best

Legal Dodo

Thank you ‘Legal Dodo’ for pointing out the important errors of legal writing. I’ll take into account your important suggestions while taking up any legal writing. Though i am fond of writing, yet i haven’t been able to put it into practice. So i am trying to have some extensive reading of diverse issues so as to gather some prior knowledge before starting to write.

On the other hand, how do you look upon the need of LLM for a law student? As i have a desire to join a law school, so i am thinking to appear in CLAT 2012 for LLM. Or is there any lucrative course to pursue in a law school other than LLM?

I will be waiting for your kind response.

Yours sincerely,

Juniorattorney

Personally, I would advise you to do LLM only

if you are interested in academics. No point

doing LLM to get an NLU tag.

Legal Dodo

Some (supposedly) good links from the lawyerist.com

http://lawyerist.com/legal-writing-make-your-point/

http://lawyerist.com/legal-writing-make-yourself-understood-by-making-your-writing-easier-to-read/

http://lawyerist.com/10-legal-writing-tips-from-bryan-garner/

http://lawyerist.com/summer-writing-tips/

I hope it helps.