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27 Pass It On: Newsl. Gov't & Pub. Sector Law. Div. 1 (2017-2018)

handle is hein.journals/passit27 and id is 1 raw text is: How Your Briefs Might Annoy Them, and How You Can Make Them Smile Instead By Ross Guberman f you're a government lawyer who writes briefs all the time, wouldn't you like to climb into the heads of the judges who read your briefs? I've basically done that for you by surveying thousands of judges, ranging from state trial court judges to U.S. Supreme Court justices to learn many of their pet peeves. My questions touched on everything from formatting conventions to word choice, use of case law, treatment of facts, and strategies for persuasion. Their anonymous responses showed surprising candor and consistency. Some of the results are summarized below. Judges have their quirks, of course, and you should always follow court rules and individual judges' preferences. However, you're sure to make many judges happier if you follow this advice. Looks Matter: Style Dreams Ever wonder what the average American judge prefers to look at all day? See below. 1. Use the Oxford comma. 56% prefer the Oxford comma 21% prefer no Oxford comma 23% don't care 2. Put citations in the text, not in footnotes, unless the court suggests otherwise. 78% prefer citations in the text 12% prefer citations in footnotes 10% don't care Sample comments: Don't want to have to look down to see citations. Sometimes they're not on the same screen when you're ,,. . reading electronically. Citations in foot- notes make you lose your place in the brief. (Note that as a compromise, you could include the caption and the court in the text while relegating the reference matter to the footnotes.) 3. Include two spaces after periods (sorry, one-space fans, but many judges are traditional). 62% prefer two spaces after a period 21% prefer one space after a period 17% don't care 4. Do what you want with your right margin, though note that typography expert Matt Butterick recommends ragged, which is easier to read. 35% prefer the text to be fully justified 31% prefer a ragged right margin 34% don't care 5. Use italics, not bold, for emphasis, but use emphasis sparingly. 76% say that bold or italics for emphasis is okay (though many stressed that emphasis Number 1, Fall 2017. © 2017 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof i any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.

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