If you wouldn't say it, why write it?

Alabama lawyer Andrew L. Brasher recently proposed ways to spiff up legal writing. Tips for More Conversational and Effective Writing, For the Defense 62 (January 2011). Brasher’s theme is “If you wouldn’t say it, why write it?” One of his suggestions is to avoid introductory “mumbo-jumbo” that wastes a valuable opportunity to get the court’s attention. He also advises against an error I see with increasing frequency in student papers: placing a comma after a coordinating conjunction.

(jdf)