Workshops
Customized Writing Training in a Group Workshop Setting
Our interactive group workshops provide participants with writing strategies they can apply the moment they return to their desks. In our workshops, we focus on core legal writing skills and allow time for discussion of specific writing challenges. We present real-world examples in an organized, accessible way within a positive and relaxed environment. Cost-efficient and practical, the workshops can be customized to level, such as junior or mid-level associates; to a specific practice area; or to a particular department or group, such as human resources or other administrators. Benefits of group workshops:
- A detailed review of organization, paragraph, sentence structure, and word choice builds a solid foundation.
- Hands-on exercises give participants the opportunity to implement and ask questions.
- A focus on concrete, relevant strategies and tools has an immediate impact on participants work product.
- Materials serve as an ongoing reference after the workshop.
We often provide follow-up one-on-one sessions for participants in group workshops.
While most of our group workshops are offered at private firms, we regularly present pro bono programs for bar associations and and other organizations. Click here for a sampling of our recent pro bono presentations at PLI, the New York City Bar, and other organizations.
Writing For Lawyers
We offer general legal-writing workshops for attorneys in all practice areas. We also offer legal-writing programs that are customized for particular practice areas or for groups such as summer associates, new associates, or mid-level associates.
These are our core general legal-writing programs:
Writing for Lawyers: The Essentials of Effective Legal Writing
Participants in this two-hour, hands-on workshop learn practical strategies for eliminating common writing weaknesses, including ineffective organization, weak paragraph structure, and convoluted sentences. This workshop emphasizes general writing skills, but sessions can be tailored to a particular practice area. The workshop is geared toward junior or summer associates but provides a useful review for attorneys at all levels.
Writing for Lawyers II: Guidelines for Drafting Polished Legal Prose
This two-hour general legal-writing workshop moves beyond the fundamentals and teaches mid-level associates to produce polished, sophisticated legal writing. Participants learn to draft effective introductions, create emphasis and balance within sentences, and edit efficiently. This workshop also emphasizes general writing skills, but sessions can be tailored to a particular practice area.
Please contact us for outlines and fees.
Click here for a sampling of our recent presentations at conferences and bar associations.
Dianne Rosky’s legal-writing program is an essential part of our summer programming. She consistently receives high marks from our summer associates. Here’s what a few of our summer associates had to say in their reviews of her program:
“Ms. Rosky’s presentation was exceptionally helpful. I may have learned more in one hour of her session than in one year of Legal Writing.”
“This actually was one of the most helpful programs.”
“Useful tips and tricks for law firm writing made this very worthwhile.”
“I really enjoyed the simple layout of the materials and the organized manner in which they were presented. Overall, this session was the most useful.”
This is an excellent seminar. Partners and associates at every level should be reminded annually to analyze their writing against these principles and themes.
Our firm prides itself on producing superb written work for our clients. To reinforce our commitment to excellent writing, we asked Dianne to run an afternoon workshop for the firm’s lawyers. Dianne did a great job. She developed a program that was tailored to our needs and directed to lawyers at different levels and stages of their careers. Her teaching style is effective and engaging, and the workshop sparked discussion that continued long after the afternoon ended. We highly recommend her.
Writing For Litigators
Dianne is an excellent legal writing instructor, and her programs at Shearman & Sterling are always well received. She delivers a clear, concise, and practical program with writing tools and strategies that our associates find to be enormously helpful in their practice. Her individual sessions are also very positively received and associates appreciate the one-on-one attention.
Dianne’s workshop was excellent and was extremely well received by our associates. She was able to keep all participants completely engaged by making the presentation interactive. The hands-on use of examples of work product allowed the associates to be creative and to apply the writing tips that had been discussed early in the workshop. I highly recommend Dianne and believe that her workshop serves a benefit for attorneys of all skill levels.
This is an excellent seminar. Partners and associates at every level should be reminded annually to analyze their writing against these principles and themes.
We offer writing workshops for litigators at all levels of seniority. Here’s a sampling of our litigation-focused writing programs:
Writing for Litigators: The Essentials of Effective Legal Writing
This three-hour interactive writing workshop is designed for junior litigation associates. Through customized examples and exercises, participants learn strategies for improving their writing on four levels: document organization, paragraph cohesion, sentence structure, and word choice. Writing for Litigators covers general principles of effective legal writing as well as strategies specific to brief writing. Participants learn to eliminate common weaknesses in memoranda, letters, and emails. In addition, participants learn brief-writing techniques such as drafting compelling preliminary statements, citing authority persuasively, structuring arguments affirmatively, and organizing facts effectively.
Writing for Litigators II: Strategies for Better Brief Writing
Participants in this three-hour, hands-on workshop learn strategies for writing strong, effective briefs and other persuasive documents. Participants learn to create a cohesive overall structure and draft focused preliminary statements. Participants also learn to create internal organization, construct more persuasive sentences, and avoid common brief-writing weaknesses.
Please contact us for outlines and fees.
Writing For International Lawyers
International lawyers working in U.S. law firms face special writing challenges. They are held to the highest standards, but often need instruction on bridging the gap between their training and the real-world demands of practice in an American law office.
Based on our experience reviewing the written work product of international lawyers at top U.S. law firms, we have developed programs that target these lawyers’ most common writing mistakes and weaknesses.
Our international writing workshops are often customized to lawyers from a specific language background or working in a particular practice area. Our core workshop designed for international lawyers is described here:
Writing for International Lawyers: Legal English Without Legalese
Participants in this three-hour, interactive workshop learn specific strategies for improving their writing on four levels: document organization, paragraph cohesion, sentence structure, and word choice. These strategies are presented within a framework for understanding the cultural assumptions and expectations of U.S. legal readers. The workshop applies the principles of clear, effective writing to legal memoranda, letters, and emails. Participants receive practical handouts explaining mistakes frequently made by ESL writers and defining common English business expressions.
Please contact us for outlines and fees.
I attended Ms. Rosky’s workshop session and was very quickly won over. The presentation guided the participants through various do’s and don’ts on the basis of an edit of a real-world memo to a client. The feedback from our lawyers was uniformly enthusiastic. The more general pointers on drafting techniques were broadly applicable for all of our lawyers in whatever language they write; and Ms. Rosky had a good feel for helping with English language drafting mistakes that are frequently made by non-native speakers. The lawyers who benefited from one-on-one sessions were particularly happy with the approach she took to working with them on their own work product. I would have no hesitation in calling on her again, and will very likely do so.
Very good precisely the issues I’ve been uncertain about.
Writing For Administrators
You are what you write. Nowhere is this more true than in the legal world. To succeed in a law firm, administrators must write clearly and effectively. Our program teaches administrators to draft documents that boost the writer’s credibility and earn the respect of attorneys and other colleagues.
Writing for Administrators: Communicating Effectively with Lawyers
In this three-hour program, we will review specific examples of the types of documents legal administrators most often write, including memos, letters, and emails. Based on these examples, we will teach specific strategies for eliminating common weaknesses and for writing stronger, more organized documents. This workshop can be tailored to specific groups, such as human-resources administrators, electronic-discovery specialists, or recruiting and legal-personnel staff.
Please contact us for outlines and fees.
Writing For Professionals
In addition to our writing workshops for lawyers, we offer business-writing workshops for professionals and paraprofessionals who work in law firms, corporations, and other business environments. Our business-writing workshops can be customized for specific groups; we have designed and conducted programs for groups such as corporate communications and human resources.
Writing for Professionals: Essentials of Effective Business Writing
In this three-hour program, we review examples of the types of documents professionals most often write, including memos, letters, and emails. Based on these examples, we teach specific strategies for eliminating common weaknesses and for writing stronger, more organized documents. This workshop can be tailored to specific groups, such as accounting professionals, corporate-communications staff or human-resources departments.
Please contact us for outlines and fees.
Writing For Women
Legal Writing for Women: Show Confidence on Paper
For women lawyers, establishing credibility and authority is critical. In this program, you’ll learn to convey these qualities in your legal writing. Working with examples and exercises, we will learn to eliminate common habits that unintentionally convey tentativeness and uncertainty, including:
- Burying your main point
- Reporting case holdings without analyzing them
- Using passive voice, vague subjects, and qualifiers that dilute your position
You will take away concrete strategies for showing confidence and establishing credibility, including:
- Frontloading conclusions in the introduction and throughout the document
- Organizing your document to convey your big-picture understanding of the issues
- Constructing sentences that make concrete, definitive points
The program is relevant to lawyers in all practice areas, and it can be customized for specific groups as well. The program can be offered in a one- or two-hour session.
Practice Ready?
How To Get, Write And Present Your First Assignments
About the program:
In this two-hour interactive program, associates will learn concrete strategies for successfully handling their early assignments. The program is organized around the three stages of an assignment:
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- getting the “good” assignment,
- writing it up effectively, and
- presenting the results professionally.
The program provides a clear roadmap for associates to excel by taking a proactive approach to their careers.
Presenters:
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- Eve Birnbaum, Esq.
- Dianne Rosky, Esq.
- Michael Souveroff
The program was really helpful and easy to digest. The simplified tips and strategies suggested for effective writing will be useful for my future legal writing.