Clear and Credible Legal Writing

Product Type: Course

This course has no current sessions.

DescriptionMore DetailAgenda

Develop an empathetic approach to your communication

Wednesday, October 30, 2024
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
via webinar only

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Who should attend: This course is designed for lawyers who communicate about technical concepts in writing. As specialists in their field, it is challenging for lawyers to visualize their writing from the perspective of a reader who has less expertise on the subject matter, such as a client or judge. This course will teach you how to visualize your own writing from the perspective of your readers.

Learning level: All levels

Can your legal writing stand up to scrutiny? Even the strongest legal arguments lose power if they aren’t clearly communicated. This course will teach you how to write clearly and precisely, ensuring your message resonates with clients, persuades judges, and minimizes misunderstandings.

Through two focused modules, you’ll learn how to approach legal writing from the reader’s perspective—whether that’s a judge, client, or colleague—so your message is understood and trusted.

Module 1: Writing Clearly

Master five essential strategies to draft concise, unambiguous emails and legal documents.
Simplify complex concepts without losing meaning or precision.
Learn how clearer communication encourages client buy-in and judicial alignment with your arguments.

Module 2: Paying Attention to Detail

Use grammar, word choice, and proofreading tools to elevate your writing's credibility.
Understand how small errors can undermine your message—and your reputation.
Analyze real-world mistakes to develop practical rules for flawless legal writing.

This hands-on course offers practical techniques, real writing samples, and expert guidance to help you eliminate ambiguity and build credibility. Whether drafting an email or preparing a legal brief, you’ll leave with the tools to write with precision and confidence—every time.

Testimonials:

"Ryan Standil presented a 'lunch and learn' at our office that everyone found valuable. Junior lawyers received excellent advice for drafting documents, while senior lawyers identified new strategies for communicating with clients."
Jeremy Brisset, Partner, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

"Ryan Standil is a dynamic presenter who offers practical tips to avoid common mistakes in legal writing. His presentations are well received by our lawyers."
Bonnie E. Fish, Partner and Coordinator of Continuing Professional Development, Fogler, Rubinoff LLP

You may also be interested in Drafting User-Friendly Emails and Documents on Wednesday, November 13, 2024.

Law Society of BC CPD Hours: 3 hours (this course does not contain professional responsibility and ethics, client care and relations, and/or practice management)

Course Instructor
Ryan Standil — Write To Excite, Toronto

Pricing	EARLY BIRD Register by Oct. 2/24	Regular Price After Oct. 2/24
Live Webinar	$269	$299
Live Webinar Articled Student	$159	$159

Are you a member of the Indigenous legal community (lawyer/Articled Student/legal support staff/paralegal) or a non-lawyer Indigenous community member?
We value your contributions and encourage your participation in all of our programs. To increase accessibility, we offer a 50% discount* to all Indigenous lawyers/Articled Students/legal support staff/paralegals and a limited number of free online registrations to non-lawyer Indigenous community members (*discount applies to Regular prices, not Early Bird prices). Please contact Customer Service to find out more.

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Registration includes an electronic copy of the workshop materials.

CLEBC Programs Coordinator
Jessica Hodgins
jhodgins@cle.bc.ca

Course Instructor
Ryan Standil — Write To Excite, Toronto

About the Course Instructor
Ryan Standil leads workshops about effective legal writing.

His workshops are attended by lawyers and law students throughout North America. Ryan frequently presents at industry conferences, individual law firms, and the Law Society of Ontario. He now looks forward to giving his first presentation at CLEBC.

During Ryan's sessions, participants learn to visualize their own writing from the perspective of their readers.

Ryan attended Western University, where he graduated from the Ivey Business School and the Faculty of Law. After graduating, Ryan joined a corporate law firm in Toronto.

Today, Ryan owns and operates a seminar company, called Write To Excite. His training is filled with practical advice that can be implemented right away.

This course will be divided into two modules:

Module 1. Writing Clearly (85 minutes)
Module 2. Paying Attention to Detail (80 minutes)

In Module 1, Writing Clearly, we will explore five strategies for drafting unambiguous emails and legal documents.

By applying these strategies, you will ensure that your readers can fully comprehend your legal writing, even when the topic is highly technical. In turn, your clients will be more likely to agree with your advice, and judges will be more likely to side with your position.

Through an engaging format, we will assess various writing samples to uncover where miscommunications tend to arise, and we will use these samples to introduce the five strategies for writing clearly.

In Module 2, Paying Attention to Detail, we will examine a variety of tools to enhance your credibility.

In the context of legal writing, you can achieve credibility with clients and judges by mastering the rules of grammar, spelling, and word choice. If readers detect that you have paid attention to detail, they will be more likely to trust your underlying logic. Conversely, if readers detect sloppiness, they will doubt whether you have the competence to act on the file.

As a group, we will review several examples that demonstrate costly mistakes in written communication. We will then develop a list of the key rules to follow in order to gain the approval of analytical readers.

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Clear and Credible Legal Writing

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