Attended an excellent CLE today, taught by Judge Bacharach. Judge Bacharach is the author of “Legal Writing: A Judge's Perspective on the Science and Rhetoric of the Written Word.”

Here are a few highlights from the Q&A.

#legalwriting #AppellateTwitter

On who helps him with *his* writing, the judge discussed how he works with clerks to edit his opinions. When he has a draft opinion, he gives it to one clerk for initial edits. He then reviews those edits & accepts the ones he likes. #legalwriting #appellatetwitter

He then gives it to a second clerk for substantive edits. After he reviews those edits, he gives it to a third clerk to edit for style. Then, after he reviews those edits, it goes back to the first clerk for a final read through. #legalwriting #appellatetwitter

On the issue of continual self-improvement, he said “If I am not a better legal writer next week than I am now, I’ve done something wrong.” #legalwriting #appellatetwitter

On judicial pet peeves, he said don’t resort to name calling when talking about judges or opposing counsel. It’s not a good look and it does nothing to help judges decide cases. #legalwriting #appellatetwitter

When asked about using diagrams, pictures, or other visual aids in briefs, Judge Bacharach said they are underutilized. “By all means, use them...just make sure they are in the record.” #legalwriting #appellatetwitter

When asked how to make briefs sing, he said to continually change up the rhythm of your writing by varying sentence and paragraph structure and length to avoid tedium. #legalwriting #appellatetwitter

When asked if he likes any particular #legalwriting books in addition to his own, he recommended “Thinking Like a Writer” (Terrell & Armstrong) and “Point Made” and “Point Taken”( @legalwritingpro). He also mentioned Bryan Garner’s books. #appellatetwitter

Speaking of @legalwritingpro, Judge Bacharach said he’s not on Twitter but he does check it out on his wife’s phone and specifically mentioned reading Ross’s tweets.

In sum, I highly recommend attending a CLE taught by Judge Bacharach. Very informative and entertaining, and he’s a great speaker. Also, look for his book. It has a lot to offer new and experienced writers alike. #legalwriting #appellatetwitter