LawProse Lesson #344 Ginsburg on Good Writing. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was known for her clear, powerful prose. She learned how to write—how to write really well—from two undergraduate teachers at Cornell: Robert E. Cushman and Vladimir Nabokov. That's right. In a 2006 interview with Bryan A. Garner, Justice Ginsburg explained that Nabokov "was a man in love with the sound of words." He taught her "the importance of choosing the right word and presenting it in the right word order." 13 Scribes J. Legal Writing 133, 135 (2010). In a foreword to Garner’s anthology of essays, Garner on Language and Writing (2009), she wrote:
“Lawyers serve their clients best when their readers can quickly and firmly grasp their points. Readers of legal writing, on and off the bench, often work under the pressure of a relentless clock. They may lack the time to ferret out bright ideas buried in complex sentences, overlong paragraphs, or too many pages. Strong arguments can escape attention when embedded in dense or Delphic prose. Lucid, well-ordered writing can contribute immeasurably to a lawyer's success as an advocate and counselor."
Words to remember, especially for the less lucid, less ordered, more clunky but - hopefully - bright and well-intentioned among us.
