Writing Tips for Foreign-Trained Attorneys and Graduates … Some Brief Observations

Writing in a foreign language is always a bit of a challenge, even more so when topics are complex and require the use of proper terminology. Yet, for the bar exam, the importance is communicating legal concepts and rules in a clear way to guide the reader through the logical analysis of hypothetical scenarios. Flowering style is not required.

To achieve clarity, we recommend using:

Short sentences

Typical English sentence structures:

1) SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT + PLACE + TIME

Example: I play tennis (,) at the club (,) every Saturday morning.

2) TIME + SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT + PLACE

Example: Every Saturday morning, I play tennis (,) at the club.

3) PLACE + SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT + TIME

Example: At the club, I play tennis (,) every Saturday morning.

4) TIME + PLACE + SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT

Example: Every Saturday morning, at the club, I play tennis.

Active voice (whenever possible)

Example: The police caught the thief (in lieu of “The thief was caught by the police”).

Pronouns when the person or item referred to is unmistakably identifiable

Example: “John will buy a car for Marc if he finishes his master’s degree”.  Who needs to graduate, Marc or John? Repeating the name is crucial to convey the proper message.

Certainly, you can change the sentence to avoid repetitions:

“If Marc finishes his master’s degree, John will buy him a car”; or

“If John finishes his master’s degree, he will buy a car for Marc”.

Unfortunately, during the exam, you have only 30 minutes per essay, and if the sentence in the example comes to mind first, write it down but repeat the names, regardless of whether it is nice or not. If you have spare time, you can always go back and change it. If not, you still have a clear and grammatically correct sentence. Remember, the message is more important than the style.

Order of Adjectives

Determiner + opinion + size + shape + age + color + origin + material + purpose + NOUN

Example:

        A            nice         big     square   new    pink  American  cotton     sleeping    BLANKET

American English Forms (in lieu of British English)

Sometimes, Americans are unaware of British English versions and consider the latter mistakes. For example, if you write “licence” or “TAKE a decision”, Americans understand but may think you are not very educated. The American versions are LICENSE and MAKE a decision.

I hope this helps. Keep pushing forward!