Point taken : how to write like the world's best judges /

"In Point Taken, Ross Guberman delves into the work of the best judicial opinion-writers and offers a step-by-step method based on practical and provocative examples. Guberman begins with a system for crafting effective and efficient openings to set the stage, covering the pros and cons of whet...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Guberman, Ross
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Oxford University Press, 2015
Edition:1st edition
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Summary:"In Point Taken, Ross Guberman delves into the work of the best judicial opinion-writers and offers a step-by-step method based on practical and provocative examples. Guberman begins with a system for crafting effective and efficient openings to set the stage, covering the pros and cons of whether to resolve legal issues up front and whether to sacrifice taut syllogistic openings in the name of richness and nuance. He then focuses on the fact section, offering strategies for pruning clutter, adding background, emphasizing key points, adopting a narrative voice, and guiding the reader through visual cues. The structure and flow of the legal analysis are targeted next, through a host of techniques for organizing the discussion at the macro level, using headings, marshaling authorities, including or avoiding footnotes, and finessing transitions. In a section on 'Must Haves' in style, Guberman shares a bounty of edits at the word and sentence level that add punch and interest and that make opinions more vivid, varied, confident, and enjoyable. The next style section, 'Nice to Haves,' reveals what it takes to turn 'great judicial writing' into 'great writing': metaphors, similes, examples, analogies, allusions, and rhetorical figures. Finally, he addresses the thorny problem of extracting the best practices of dissents based on facts, dissents based on doctrine, and dissents based on policy. The appendix provides a helpful checklist of practice pointers along with biographies of the 34 featured judges"--Unedited summary from book cover
Physical Description:xxvi, 348 pages 21 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN:9780190268589 ((pbk.) : alk. paper)
0190268581 ((pbk.) : alk. paper)