Writing to Win Book Review by Thomas Van

I purchased this book solely for the purpose of improving my legal writings. I was surprised to discover that this book offers more than that. It has helped helped me with all of my writing, from non-fiction to fiction.

It’s a common stereotype that lawyers talk and write in an archaic language full of ancient words and professional jargon that even their colleagues can’t make sense of from time to time. So what hope do “average” people have of understanding writing of this manner?

Lawyers may say, “Well my writing wasn’t intended for the average person to read.”

Unfortunately, there are many lawyers, prosecutors, and judges with a moderate education level. Heaven forbid they actually have to talk to a jury.

Writing is a form of communication and communication has a purpose; to express or describe things in a manner to another human so they can understand you. Why make your writing complex and riddled with words that can have many meanings?

Granted, sometimes a lawyers best defense, or the best they can do for their client, is to confuse the matter at hand, but most of the time there is an actual defense to be heard. Without the judge or jury understanding your defense, you’ll have a hard time winning.

Most judges are so busy they will only skim most legal briefs and if they have to think hard about what you’re saying, forget about it.

Reading this book will help you with everything you write. You’ll find yourself asking very important questions like: “Is this easy to understand?” and “How can I simplify this while keeping the meaning in tact?”

It’s a great book for anyone looking to improve their writing.