JDs Rising

Brevity is one of the cornerstones of good writing (including good legal writing, although not every lawyer takes heed).

Don’t be afraid to elaborate  if the situation calls for it, however. Some concepts simply require more words to explain than others. An article in the September issue of Bench & Bar contains this caveat to the brevity rule:

“The quest for conciseness nonetheless may raise a judgment call for lawyers and judges. Justice Joseph Story, the most prolific treatise writer in Supreme Court history, warned that sometimes ‘[b]revity becomes of itself a source of obscurity.’ Where full exposition of a legal doctrine, argument or agreement requires extended discussion, conciseness for its own sake may actually breed imprecision and compromise the sound administration of justice or the rights of clients.”

Thus, be concise, but not at the risk of obfuscating. The rule of clarity trumps the rule of brevity.