In Point Taken, Ross Guberman delves into the work of the best
judicial opinion-writers and offers a step-by-step method based on
practical and provocative examples. Featuring numerous cases and
opinions from 34 esteemed judges - from Learned Hand to Antonin Scalia -
Point Taken, explores what it takes to turn "great judicial writing"
into "great writing".
Guberman provides a system for crafting effective and efficient openings
to set the stage, covering the pros and cons of whether to resolve legal
issues up front and whether to sacrifice taut syllogistic openings in
the name of richness and nuance. Guberman offers strategies for pruning
clutter, adding background, emphasizing key points, adopting a narrative
voice, and guiding the reader through visual cues. The structure and
flow of the legal analysis is targeted through a host of techniques for
organizing the discussion at the macro level, using headings, marshaling
authorities, including or avoiding footnotes, and finessing transitions.
Guberman shares his style "Must Haves", a bounty of edits at the word
and sentence level that add punch and interest, and that make opinions
more vivid, varied, confident, and enjoyable. He also outlines his style
"Nice to Haves", metaphors, similes, examples, analogies, allusions, and
rhetorical figures. Finally, he addresses the thorny problem of
dissents, extracting the best practices for dissents based on facts,
doctrine, or policy. The appendix provides a helpful checklist of
practice pointers along with biographies of the 34 featured judges.
