Johnson, James A., Persuasive Legal Writing (June 1, 2021). Persuasive Legal Writing – Michigan Bar Journal, Sept.2021, Volume 100, No.8, Page 42-43., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3922852

“The most important tool in a consummate lawyer’s toolbox is the ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing. Persuasive legal writing is knowing precisely what one wants to say with clarity and simplicity. Good writers carefully choose what and how to write and what words to use. They arrange words in an organized fashion that the reader finds enjoyable. Properly and judiciously used rhetorical devices give persuasion and polish to your words. Lawyers must write to win. They should make every word count. Preliminary editing should be done with the writing. Persuasive writing is the ability to use words with telling effect. Use analogies to make a point. It is a painful but necessary exercise to put the scalpel to one’s own writing. Edit and re-edit and you will find that less is almost always more.”