Plain English for Lawyers (5th Edition)
by Richard C. Wydick
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Book Summary Information
Author: Richard C. WydickEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-07-30
ISBN: 1594601518
Number of pages: 152
Publisher: Carolina Academic Press
Book Reviews of Plain English for Lawyers (5th Edition)
Book Review: unnecessary
Summary: 2 Stars
This was one of about 8 books I was told to purchase before the start of my 1L year and like any young, gung-ho, aspiring lawyer, I bought them all. Of those 8, there were probably only 3 that I legitimatly found useful in either law school or real world application. This book was NOT one of them.
I'm not going to sit here and disparage this book like some other negative reviewers have; it is well written and teaches what it purports to. I gave this book 2 stars not b/c it is a terrible book, but because I found its utility lacking. That being said, if you have somehow made it into law school w/o the ability to write clearly and concisely, you're pretty screwed and this book isn't going to save you.
I realize that yes, sometimes lawyers can get a little long-winded and use a lot of big words that the lay person may have a difficult time comprehending at first glance, but isn't that the POINT?! No body wants to hire a lawyer who writes like an 11th grader.
I will say that I took one or two pointers away from this book regarding sentence structure and syntax, but certainly not enough to justify the purchase. Besides, unless you plan on keeping for the rest of your life all the books you buy in law school (it's impossible, you'll go broke), you won't remeber anything this book "taught" you a year after you sell it back.
To conclude, my point is this: you will have so much REQUIRED reading on your plate your 1L year that to spend time reading this book would really be an inefficient use of your oh-so-valuable time. That notwithstanding, you will have already spent an arm and a leg to buy the books your required reading comes from. It really isn't worth it to spend the extra coin to purchase a book that doesn't return very much bang for your buck.
Summary of Plain English for Lawyers (5th Edition)
Wydick s Plain English for Lawyers--now in its fifth edition--has been a favorite of law students, legal writing teachers, lawyers, and judges for over 25 years.In January 2005, the Legal Writing Institute gave Wydick its Golden Pen Award for having written Plain English for Lawyers. The Legal Writing Institute is a non-profit organization that provides a forum for discussion and scholarship about legal writing, analysis, and research. The Institute has over 1,300 members representing all of the ABA-accredited law schools in the United States. Its membership also includes law teachers from other nations, English teachers, and practicing lawyers.
The LWI award states: 'Plain English for Lawyers . . . has become a classic. Perhaps no single work has done more to improve the writing of lawyers and law students and to promote the modern trend toward a clear, plain style of legal writing.'
In 2003 Wydick retired after 32 years on the law faculty of the University of California, Davis. But he still teaches his favorite course -- a seminar in advanced legal writing for third-year law students. For the past eight summers he has also lectured at the International Legislative Drafting Institute presented in New Orleans by the Public Law Center, a joint venture of Tulane and Loyola law schools. There the audience consists of lawyers and non-lawyers from abroad who earn their living drafting legislation in many different languages. 'Teaching at the Institute,' Wydick says, 'is a precious opportunity to learn how much we English-users have in common with people who write laws in other languages.'
How does the fifth edition of Plain English for Lawyers differ from its predecessors? It remains (in size only!) a little book, small enough and palatable enough not to intimidate over-loaded law students. 'Most of the text remains the same,' Wydick says, 'but in the past seven years I ve learned some new things about writing in English, and I want to share that with the readers.' In addition, the exercises at the end of the chapters are different (a welcome change for long-time teachers who are tired of the old ones). Finally, the teacher's manual includes additional exercises that teachers can give to students who want or need extra practice.
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