Page 7 - First Year Associates

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First-Year Associates Handbook | Tuesday, OcTOber 13, 2015 | S7
are the cornerstones of an efficient and effec- tive team. in short, having junior associates with exceptional research and writing skills is an important component of a strong legal team, and something that is often recognized and valued by clients.
From a career growth perspective, becom- ing a trusted member of a team can be invalu- able for a junior associate. it can provide a junior associate an excellent opportunity to gain practical experience, increase access and exposure to senior attorneys and cli- ents, and provide a platform for the associ- ate to gain substantive legal knowledge, all of which can accelerate a junior associate’s learning curve.
What Is Good Writing?
although this article does not address the technical aspects of legal drafting, there are some fundamental concepts that are worth discussing. as a threshold matter, an effective legal writer’s key objective is to convey information to the reader in a clear, concise and organized fashion. an associate’s written word product should be free of spelling, grammatical and typo- graphical errors.
By way of example, a typical task for a junior associate may be to draft a research memorandum. This usually requires the junior associate to research case law and then convey the results in written form.
although some memoranda will be advo- cacy pieces, most require an objective anal- ysis that addresses all sides of an issue or both the strengths and weaknesses of a par- ticular legal argument. a well-organized and presented research memorandum should, at a minimum: (1) clearly identify the issue to be addressed; (2) include an executive summary that sets forth the conclusion or answer to the research question; (3) pro- vide support for the conclusion, typically through a discussion of the relevant case law; and (4) identify potential counterargu- ments and/or weaknesses in the particular legal position at issue.
Whether drafting a neutral legal mem- orandum or an advocacy piece, a junior associate should think of his or her writing as a “proof.” each step in an associate’s reasoning should flow into the next, leading to the conclusion. and there should be no gaps in the legal analysis.
a common criticism that young associ- ates often hear about their writing is that it needs to be “tightened up.” generally speaking, this means making sentences shorter and punchier. extraneous word- ing, particularly the use of adjectives and adverbs, which may provide depth and description in creative writing, are unneces- sary distractions in legal documents. The key to effective legal writing is to be brief and articulate. a legal document written in short, simple, straight-forward prose is
easy to follow and usually flows well. Quite simply, shorter is better.
Practical Advice to Improve Writing
Legal writing is a skill that improves with practice and experience. in the beginning though, writing can be challenging and often frustrating. a task that should take two hours may take four hours. nevertheless, the key objective for a junior associate should always be to submit his or her best work product. as a general rule, an assignment should not be submitted unless it is in final form. if a task is supposed to take two hours, but isn’t at the level it should be, then the associate should take as much additional time as neces- sary to make sure the work product reflects the associate’s best effort. concerns about meeting a deadline or exceeding an expected budget should be discussed with the senior attorney on the matter.
developing good drafting habits and implementing a consistent drafting process are important factors for effective writing. some suggestions include the following:
• Start by outlining or drafting a skeleton of the document. This will assist with orga- nization and structure.
• Proofread and edit the document as many times as possible. if time permits, it is beneficial to take a break and review the document with a clear mind after getting a good night’s rest.
• Ask a peer to review the document before submitting it to a senior attorney. it is often beneficial to get a fresh set of eyes to review a document.
• Heed and implement prior advice received from senior attorneys. Junior attor- neys should not just “input” suggested edits or revisions received by senior attorneys, but should try to understand the reason for them and apply that reasoning to future work.
While the primary objective of a junior associate should be to hand in the best pos- sible work product, deadlines should always be complied with and quite often are short in duration. so another tip, which may seem obvious but is important, is to start as early as possible and leave extra time that will permit editing, rewriting and peer review. Time management is almost as important as technical writing skills when it comes to creating a polished work product.
Finally, if writing is a struggle, recogniz- ing that it is a weakness is critical because there are resources and steps that can be taken to improve an associate’s writing skills. Books such as “The elements of style,” by William strunk and e.B. Whyte, “The ele- ments of Legal style,” by Bryan garner, and “Making your case: The art of Persuading Judges,” by antonin scalia and Bryan garner are a few examples of excellent resources to enhance one’s writing skills. Many firms will offer classes or provide writing tutors to junior associates who seek » Page S12