4. Legal Writing

To complete court forms correctly, you must learn some basics about legal writing. Legal writing is the style of writing used when you are writing a document that is filed or presented at court. When you think of legal writing, you may think of a phrase such as:

Please be advised, I am herewith returning the application to dismiss in the above entitled matter; the same being duly executed by me.

This convoluted traditional legal style of writing, often called “legalese”, is, thankfully, no longer necessary in legal writing. In fact, this style of writing is discouraged. This is not how you should write. Simple and plain language is best.

As you move through a lawsuit, you will likely need to fill out court forms or write other legal documents. When legal documents are poorly written, the judge has difficulty understanding your situation and your legal arguments might not be clear. The easier it is to understand your documents, the more convincing your legal arguments will be. Since you want to convince the judge to decide in your favor, it is important to take the time to write clearly and well.

15 Tips for Good Legal Writing

1. Use plain language: A judge wants to understand your case. The best way to ensure that they do is by writing in plain language.

Language Chart

2. Write shorter sentences: Avoid telling your reader too much in one sentence. Shorter sentences are easier to digest. A good rule of thumb is to keep sentences under 20 words.
3. Write one idea per paragraph: Complicated information usually needs to be broken up into separate paragraphs to be understood.
4. Always keep your reader in mind: Your number one reader is the judge but the other side is also important. When you are writing, be serious and professional. Do not be sarcastic or try to be funny. The judge needs to understand the relevant and material facts of your case. This does not necessarily mean you need to include the detailed story of your dispute – just what is needed for this application or trial.
5. Be clear: A good test is to read the document out loud. If you have to read a sentence more than once to understand it, you should rephrase it.
6. Be well organized: Start by getting your ideas organized. Figure out what you want to write, for example “what are you asking for”, “why” and “your evidence”. Make a point form outline. This will help your writing to have more flow and become easy to comprehend. To organize your document, number each page and number each paragraph.
7. Be specific: Try to give the exact detail. Choose more specific words instead of vague ones. Instead of using “recently,” use the date. Instead of using “him” or “her”, use names.
8. Be accurate: Avoid contradicting yourself. If one statement in the document says the opposite of another statement, the reader will not know which to believe. The last thing you want is for the judge to question your honesty because this can be fatal to your case. If you do not know whether something is true, do not say that it is true. Be clear if you only believe something to be true.
9. Be consistent: You want to make it easy for your reader to understand what you are saying. If you use a term or name for something or someone, be sure to consistently use it. For instance, do not keep switching between first name, last name, and nickname. Often you can use a definition. You can show that you are using a definition this way: “John Doe (Doe)”. From then on, you would always refer to John Doe as Doe.
10. Provide context: Assume the reader knows nothing about your situation. Provide a short description. One or two lines may be enough to help the reader understand the situation.
11. Say what you are asking for first: A legal document should not be a mystery novel. The reader should not have to guess what this is about or wait until the end. Instead, tell the reader your point right at the beginning of your document. You do not want your reader asking the question, “Why are you telling me this?” The strategy is to say what you are asking for and then support it with evidence. Use this strategy for every point you are making.
12. Only what is helpful: Do not get distracted when you are writing. Say exactly what you need to convince the reader. Irrelevant information will do nothing to help your case. You do not want the helpful facts getting lost in a pile of irrelevant ones.
13. Type your document: If you have the option to type your document, do so. Handwriting is usually accepted, but a typed document looks much more professional and is easier to edit and to read.
14. Edit your work: As in all professional writing, spelling and grammar is important. Be sure to read through it multiple times before finalizing your draft. If you can, have someone else proofread it.
15. Legal review: Getting a lawyer to review your document will help ensure that it is done properly. A lawyer can point out mistakes that are not immediately obvious to people without legal training.

Things to Avoid

Stating accusations as fact: Only tell the reader the facts (what you know is true). Let the reader reach their interpretation. In other words, do not tell the reader your interpretation; show them the facts so they can draw their own conclusion.

DO NOT: “He is a horrible parent.”

DO: “Our son failed two of his quizzes last month. His father was not aware of this.”

Exaggerations: Your statements should be neutral and truthful. Exaggerating can hurt your credibility.

DO NOT: “He is always late and drives like a race car driver!”

DO: “On March 3, 2020, he dropped the kids off 30 minutes late and drove through the stop sign without slowing.”

Long storytelling: The judge needs to understand the relevant facts and this is done best with clear concise sentences. Avoid personal narratives that take a long time to get to the point.

DO NOT: It was one of those hot spring days, so I was outside waiting for him to drop the children off. He was late. He is always running late. When we went on vacation 5 years ago, we missed our flight because he was late.

DO: On March 3, 2020, he dropped the children off half an hour later than agreed upon.

Slangs, idioms and acronyms: These make your writing look unprofessional. The reader also might not understand the terms you use. Tell the reader in plain language.

DO NOT: It was raining cats and dogs!

DO: It was raining heavily.

You might need to write an affidavit as part of your court case. An affidavit is a written statement of facts that you swear are true. Affidavits are often used as evidence to support your case when you are applying for interim (temporary) orders or consent orders. A non-party witness may also swear an affidavit on an interim or consent order application. It is important that an affidavit be properly written, as it is evidence, just as if you were in court testifying before the judge.

Writing Affidavits

Since an affidavit is used as evidence in court, there are strict rules on what you can write in your affidavit. Courthouse libraries often have resources on the court rules about writing affidavits that could be helpful. Affidavits must provide information that is true and relevant.

Here are some general principles.

• Truth: Everything within your affidavit must be true to the best of your knowledge. Lying in your affidavit will hurt your case and may lead to a criminal charge of perjury. If you have a doubt about whether something is true, you should not include it in your affidavit. If you think it is true, but are not positive, use “I believe”.
• Relevance: Do not include facts that are not related to the issues in your case. For example, if your application relates to a specific contract, do not include information about another contract, unless it is helpful.

Avoid hearsay evidence in your affidavit. Hearsay is information being offered for its truth, that a witness learned from someone else, but of which the person does not have direct knowledge. Hearsay is not always considered reliable, and not always allowed as evidence in court. To learn more about hearsay, and exceptions to allowing it as evidence in court, see Section 9.10: Hearsay.

Do not provide your opinion in your affidavit. Generally, only experts are allowed to state their opinions for consideration by a judge. Affidavits should be statements of facts, not personal opinions.

For example, an opinion statement would be, “I think she loves chocolate ice cream”. You cannot include this, but you can include, “I see her eat chocolate ice cream every weekend”.

Sometimes, opinions can be written to look like facts:

“He is a crooked businessman”.

The judge will likely wonder how you can know he is a crooked businessman. Try to just stick to the facts. Instead write:

“He refused to pay contractors for work done, reneged on our contract, and lied to investors”.

Reading this, a judge can come to their own conclusion that he is a crooked businessman.

The Dos and Don’ts of Affidavits

Formatting Affidavits

The affidavit can vary in length from one or two paragraphs to multiple pages. Keep your affidavit as short as possible. The facts are set out in paragraphs with each paragraph numbered on the left side. It is best to keep your paragraphs short. Limit each paragraph to one idea. Spacing should be set at least 1.5 and a space should separate the paragraphs. Never use a font smaller than 10 point or larger than 12 point for the main body of the text.

Exhibits

When you want to support a statement in your affidavit with a document, you can attach it as an exhibit. Any document that can be printed on paper can become an exhibit: e.g. income tax return, web page printouts, receipts, photographs, prescription, etc.

Here are examples of facts that can be supported by exhibits:

The judge may not automatically accept the evidence shown in every exhibit as true; it will depend on the nature of the exhibit. Some exhibits may need more support to be accepted.

Attaching an Exhibit

If you want to support a fact in your affidavit with an exhibit, you must refer to it in your affidavit. Each exhibit should be given a letter and referred to in alphabetical order. The first exhibit you refer to in the affidavit will be lettered ‘A’, the second, ‘B’, and so on. References to the exhibit should be typed in bold.

For example:

As of July 12, 2020, I have $30,000 in my bank account. Attached as Exhibit A is a true copy of my bank statement.

Attach all your exhibits at the end of your affidavit. If an exhibit has multiple pages, number the pages. When you bring your affidavit to the commissioner to get it sworn, you must also bring the exhibits so they can be stamped as part of the affidavit.

Swearing / Affirming the Affidavit

To “swear” or “affirm” means that you have read the affidavit and that you promise the information in the affidavit is true. Sign the affidavit in front of a commissioner for taking affidavits (or notary) that will also take your oath or affirmation, and will sign it. Lawyers and public notaries are commissioners for this purpose, as are some staff in lawyers’ offices. Sometimes a court official (clerk) may be a commissioner. If you do not know how to find a commissioner, try calling your local courthouse for help. Be sure to bring government identification when you go to have an affidavit sworn.