Growing number of law firms are coaching their first-year associates

Long Island Business News, May 26, 2006 by Jeremy Harrell

Matt Berkowitz's bosses wanted more.

Like many first-year associates, Berkowitz found the writing skills he brought with him from law school weren't cutting it in the real world. His partners demanded more clarity, more concision and more persuasion.

When law students come out of school they forget that partners only have a couple of minutes to read what you're writing, he said. It kind of brings you down to earth a little bit.

To help Berkowitz and other first-year associates improve their writing skills, his firm - Kenyon & Kenyon in Manhattan - provides a yearly writing and editing workshop for its new lawyers.

A 200-lawyer firm that specializes in intellectual property law, Kenyon & Kenyon is one of a growing number of law firms either hiring writing consultants or developing their own writing curriculums. Firms want their associates to ditch the legalese and term-paper style of writing they learned in law school for a more compelling style.

Lawyers need to make their writing as easy as possible for the reader to understand, said Marilyn Bush LeLeiko, a Providence, R.I., consultant who conducted the legal writing workshop at Berkowitz's firm this spring. Readers don't have all day to wade through long sentences and difficult-to-understand writing.

Kathleen Lynn, director of legal recruiting at Kenyon & Kenyon, said young associates typically overwrite everything.

You want something that's going to be much more persuasive, she said. You have to put it in some fashion that's going to sway.

Linda Altschul, director of marketing and recruitment at Epstein Becker & Green in New York, agreed: What happens is they throw in everything but the kitchen sink. They're so nervous about not giving partners everything they need.

LeLeiko offers junior attorneys two pieces of advice. First, focus on your reader.

What you write as a lawyer depends on who your audience is, she said. For example, if you're a patent lawyer, will the person reading what you write understand what you're talking about? You need to think about that.

Second, focus on your purpose. Whether it's a brief, a memo, a client letter or an e-mail, the writer should strive for coherency, clarity and conciseness, she said.

Absent those qualities, legal writing is flabby, and judges won't spend time on sagging briefs, said Lisa Solomon, an attorney who runs a legal writing and research outsourcing firm in Ardsley, N.Y. Tightening the prose usually means tightening the thoughts behind it, she said.

Poor writing can reflect fuzzy thinking and fuzzy analysis, Solomon said.

All kinds

Some lawyers need coaching because writing isn't a talent inherent in the profession, Solomon said.

People have different skills, she said. I don't think I could try a case in front of a jury.

It's not surprising that many lawyers are bad writers. After all, most people are bad writers, said David Abeshouse, a solo attorney in Uniondale who majored in English as an undergraduate.

Just because you've gone to law school and passed the bar exam doesn't mean much, he said. I think it's ironic. I've always believed that words are the tools of a lawyer's trade. Yet many lawyers can't write a simple declarative sentence in English.

Improving writing comes with a cost, however. A one-day seminar with a top-flight consultant can run as much as $375.

Longer-term consultations are even more of an investment. Epstein Becker and Green looked at the estimated $4,000 to $10,000 price of hiring a consultant and decided to develop its own in-house writing program.

Two of the firm's top litigators and a freelance legal writer established the seven-week program, and the firm offers the class in all of its 11 offices.

They designed an entire curriculum, addressing everything from writing a cover letter to writing a brief, editing, appellate advocacy, memos to partners and e-mail, Altschul said. The associates like it because it gives them an opportunity to get better reviews and develop their own style.

At Crowell Moring, a 300-lawyer firm based in Washington, D.C., no attorney is above the need to improve writing.

Some of our junior lawyers think writing is a concern just in their first two years, and then they're done with that, said Ellen Dwyer, a partner and chair of the firm's professional development committee. We can always learn something about improving our writing skills.

In addition to workshops, senior attorneys in the firm regularly work with junior lawyers to help them improve their writing skills. The veterans can provide the rookies with insight into tailoring briefs and motions for specific audiences.

To me, one of the most effective ways to help our [junior] attorneys improve their writing is working with partners, Dwyer said.

Writing mentors

At Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky, a 375-lawyer firm based in Washington, outside writing consultants and a strong in-house program help hone associates' writing skills.

Summer associates are each assigned a writing coach, a partner who reviews drafts of all their assignments and provides detailed feedback. Each first-year associate is also paired with a writing mentor.