Don’t Spite; Rewrite.

Bard of the Bar

Jun 27

“I know thou’rt full of love and honesty

And weigh’st thy words before thou giv’st them breath.”

- Othello III,3, Othello, impressed by Iago

Now that you have solidified the working draft of your brief, read it all the way through without stopping to edit, to get a sense of flow that the ultimate reader would experience. Keep that reader in mind as you read, looking for any big structural changes. Read portions out loud. Does the analysis flow?

After you have looked at the big picture, you can begin to drill down. Make necessary changes wherever they reveal themselves. Add and subtract as you go. Improve the readability of your brief. Make sure you have good transitions, and a variety of transitional statements. For example, don’t use overuse “moreover” or ‘however,” instead make intentional choices about transitions. Also, pay attention to where to start a new paragraph.

Weigh your word choices. Be prepared to go back to earlier stages in the process. Rewrite and rewrite again.

Once everything is in the correct order, edit and polish. Go through the brief yet again. There is a difference between editing and proofreading. Proofreading is checking punctuation and changes of tense and other minute details; editing is changing substance. It is hard to edit and proofread at the same time.

Ensure there is a record citation beside every factual or procedural reference, including those in the argument section. (Your index of the record becomes especially crucial at this stage.) If you have not yet done so, Keycite or Shepardize all cases for proper citation form and precedential value. Never cite a case or other authority that you have not fully read and Keycited/Shepardized.

Make sure you have at least one full day to put your brief aside, then pick it up with fresh eyes. Follow your intuition. Rewrite again where necessary. After vigorous rewriting, craft your introduction and conclusion. Write the introduction or summary of argument second-to-last, and the conclusion last. Trust me, this works.

This phase of the brief-writing process is where vigilant crafting comes into play. You cannot rely upon adrenaline at the end. Save time for careful work. Excellence cannot be rushed!