Dan McGuire, Associate, Dickstein Shapiro:
“No matter how effective I thought my writing was before this course, I walked away with some great, useful strategies and rules to improve my writing skills.”
Gerard Donovan, Associate, Nixon Peabody:
“I like that toolbox is very compact and useful for improving writing. I lost the copy from when I was a summer and have regretted it since.”
Leslie Ritchie Robnett , Associate, Gardere Wynne:
“I appreciate the tabbed reference guide, I’m glad we used the written materials, and think could us write in the book even more. I thought this was the most tangible writing workshop I’ve been to because the steps really give me a take-away manageable way to improve.”
Aja Sae-Kung, Associate, Dickstein Shapiro:
“The materials are thorough and well put together. The presenter is great, energetic and very knowledgeable.”
Neil Magnuson, Associate, Williams Mullen:
“I found every bit of the presentation enlightening and useful! I have a strong desire to generate memos and other legal documents that are persuasive, well- organized and technically correct. I’ll take any tips you have to this end.”
Andrew Miller, Associate, Wiley, Rein & Fielding:
“I can use these tips as soon as I get back to my desk.”
Matthew Lockwood, Associate, Willkie Farr & Gallagher:
“Stellar – interactive but focused on solid examples.”
Daniel Kanler, Associate, White & Case:
“Ross taught the course the way he wants us to write: very easily accessible, simple and interesting. Many of the writing tips are so simple, one would never think about them.”
Rachel Paras, Associate, Kelley, Drye & Warren:
“You were clear, concise, and organized. Thank you for your time.”
Chris Kocher, Associate, Goodwin Procter:
“Really great course—very helpful!”
Dayna Harmelin, Associate, Dow Lohnes:
“Energetic speaker and lots of useful tips!”
Stephanie Hankin, Associate, Morgan Lewis:
“This presentation was the most educational and helpful part of our attorney training program. I wish I had learned these things in law school or during my summer associate program. I am excited to apply these skills to my assignments.”
John Agozzino, Associate, Morgan Lewis:
“Insightful, comprehensive.”
Taryn Singer, Associate, Andrews Kurth:
“Thought it was extremely helpful. The Toolkit looks great and I am happy it was distributed.”
Neema Kumar, Associate, Winston & Strawn:
“The content is relevant, timely, and incredibly useful!”
Emily Dakin, Associate, Baker McKenzie:
“Very focused on the specialized world of legal writing in a law firm context. I want to go back and re-write every single document I've turned in to the practice and re-do them using these rules.”
Ryan Donohue, Associate, Dickstein Shapiro:
“Ross brings a real-world perspective to life as a young lawyer and as the most junior class of writers within a firm. He addresses the most common issues and provides clear, concise solutions.”
Andy Tivrell, Associate, Arent Fox:
“Directly addresses many concerns I had.”
Alaina Morgan, Associate, Nixon Peabody:
“Great tips and very relevant to practice. I want to go back and revise all my memos now!”
Jennifer Birchfield, Associate, Venable:
“Coming to this seminar, I was skeptical about its usefulness for corporate practice. I was pleasantly surprised about how much I learned and how practical your tips were. Thanks so much.”
Michelle Freeman, Associate, Andrews Kurth:
“I loved the course.”
Rob Berlin, Associate, Hogan & Hartson:
“I will definitely employ the tips in the memo I’m trying to finish right now!”
Frank McCawley, Associate, Fulbright & Jaworski:
“I thought you were incredible. Never had a better legal writing course ever. Very, very good.”
Anne Kennedy, Associate, LeBoeuf Lamb:
“I really enjoyed the presentation and found it supremely useful. Excellent advice that I haven’t found elsewhere.”
Sam Le, Associate, Wiley, Rein & Fielding:
“Excellent presentation and content. I felt you covered in three hours what we should have covered in the three years of law school. I’m so glad I attended—the tips were invaluable.”
Sean Kelley, Associate, Goodwin Procter:
“Hammered home the point of always asking yourself why. Why am I writing? Why is this important? Why does this support my main conclusion?”
Andy Torrant, Associate, Fulbright & Jaworski:
“One of the best writing seminars I’ve attended; very comprehensive and practical.”
Courtney Liotti, Associate, Dickstein Shapiro:
"I now have all the tools I need to be a great legal writer. The course was excellent and I can't wait to use what I learned."
Gregory Gewirtz, Associate, Shearman & Sterling:
"I liked everything. A ton of great points. Thank you Ross! I will benefit from what we covered today."
Adam Brown, Associate, Hogan & Hartson:
“Amazing coverage in a very short period of time! Very informative, thank you.”
Allison Powers, Associate, Morgan Lewis:
“I thought the entire program was excellent. I kept the Toolkit from last summer, and I plan to keep this one in my library.”
Barath Chari, Associate, Dow Lohnes:
“I found the course extremely helpful. It covered a lot of the issues I have the most trouble with.”
Daniel Sternfeld, Associate, Fulbright & Jaworski:
“Exceptional command of material. I enjoyed the step-by-step analysis of how to structure a memo.”
Lucille Marvic, Attorney, Surface Transportation Board, Department of Transportation:
“This course was incredibly helpful at addressing grammatical and structural issues that I face in my job every day. Thanks!”
Carolyn Martorana, Associate, Arent Fox:
“Loved relevance to our actual jobs/profession—not just straight rules.”
Scott Street, Associate, Akin Gump:
“Great organization and exercises. I used the Toolkit last summer and during the school year and it was extremely helpful.”
Michelle Holmes Johnson, Associate, White & Case:
“I found this presentation relevant and informative. I felt the same way when I attended a previous presentation.”
Aimee Logan, Associate, Cooley Godward Kronish:
“I learned a lot today. Most beneficial were structural tips that I can begin to implement right away.”
Paul Ham, Associate, DLA Piper:
“Clear, easy-to-implement tasks that we can immediately put into practice.”
Jonathan Uffelman, Associate, Dickstein Shapiro:
“I like that you gave actual tools to implement the concepts, rather than just the concepts. Concrete tools are always more useful.”
William Durbin, Associate, Winston:
“I liked the focus on words and phrases that are overused. I learned that I need to be more attentive to habits in my writing that I almost don't recognize.”
Rebecca Sendker, Associate, Baker McKenzie:
“Excellent presentation! Engaging speaker—great enthusiasm and passion for a subject that is contagious! Tips were very useful and tailored both to litigation and corporate practice areas (so no one felt left out). Thanks!”
Natalie Leiber, Associate, Fitzpatrick:
“The Toolkit is well organized and contains very useful information. It was a very engaging presentation.”
Matthew Bettinger, Associate, Fox Rothschild:
“Ross was engaging and excited about conveying his knowledge of the subject. Three hours went by very quickly. I learned quite a bit about the best means to analyze my own writing.”
Rachel Wagner, Associate, White & Case:
“Extremely practical. Liked doing the ‘practice’ examples together. Effective, engaged learning.”
Clinton Snow, Associate, Gardere:
“Excellent presentation. Thanks for the insights!”
Susan Thoresen, Associate, Oppenheimer:
“Examples used were challenging and provided a lot of opportunity to learn. Great tips for everyday writing. [The
Toolkit] will be a useful desk reference.”
John Quinn, Associate, Akin Gump:
“Excellent presentation! Very interactive and informative. Addressed many of the mistakes that plague my writing. [The
Toolkit] looks very helpful and I’m sure I will consult it often in the years to come.”
Georgia Hamilton, Associate, McGuireWoods:
“I thought it was well structured and engaging. Great work!”
Jessica Elliott, Associate, Dickstein Shapiro:
“The course offers a good chance to step back and evaluate your writing with an objective eye to find common fixable mistakes.”
Sara Church, Associate, Dow Lohnes:
“I liked the quick, digestible points that were made—we didn’t get lost in details or long explanations. I also liked the immediate practical application of the rules, with interesting, real examples.”
Lexer Quamie, Associate, Morgan Lewis:
“Very effective use of actual cases, legal briefs, and agreements.”
Thomas Harvey, Associate, Orrick:
“Great course . . . informative, sharp, and tuned in to issues I cared about.”
Ray Mack, Associate, Nelson Levine de Luca & Horst:
“Great. Everyone should attend.”
Karl Blanke, Associate, Akin Gump:
“Extremely practical. The course provided tools I can use at work today.”
Mike Ensminger, Associate, Cooley Godward Kronish:
“Definitely one of the more helpful and engaging seminars we’ve had.”
Amit Shah, Associate, Fox Rothschild:
“Good tips. I will use the material immediately.”
Laura Carter, Associate, Nixon Peabody:
“Very good, concise, exciting presentation.”
Wook Kim, Associate, Kelley, Drye & Warren:
“Excellent. This program contains practical advice for junior associates on what partners are looking for.”
Galit Avitan, Associate, Akin Gump:
“Great command and enthusiasm; very inspiring!”
Beth Rothenberg, Associate, McGuireWoods:
“Using real examples was incredibly helpful.”
Kimberly Phillips, Associate, Gardere:
“Application as very helpful! This is exactly what I will be doing.”
Milena Tantcheva, Associate, Goodwin Procter:
“Absolutely incredible, concise, helpful, enjoyable and wonderfully interactive!”
Yemi Getahum, Associate, Clifford Chance:
“Presenter clearly loves the content—livens up the presentation a lot. Extremely well informed.”
Adam Gates, Associate, Baker Donelson:
“All aspects were incredibly valuable. The information in the
Toolkit looks valuable and easy to reference.”
Virginia Nesbitt, Associate, McGuireWoods:
“Ross is very enthusiastic about language and clearly conveying ideas—a real inspiration!”
Kathleen Ceglarski, Associate, Nixon Peabody:
“Tons of great information—clear, concise, extremely helpful.”
Howard Anglin, Associate, Wiley, Rein & Fielding:
“Very helpful advice for incorporating case law into a brief. I recognized many of the errors from the briefs we use to despair at when I was clerking. I probably agonize more over this issue than any other in my legal writing; this seminar provided several elegant solutions.”
Kelly Burns, Associate, LeBoeuf Lamb:
“I found it particularly useful to rewrite sentences and paragraphs; it will hopefully help me to improve on editing my own work.”
Allison Young, Associate, Orrick:
“Very approachable and clear.”
Luisa Lopez, Associate, Venable:
“Step three was particularly helpful!”
Joshua Bartz, Associate, Dow Lohnes:
“Very good speaker—your intonation, phrasing, and body language make it very easy to maintain attention. Continue to be animated.”
Lindsay Bleier, Associate, Goodwin Procter:
“Excellent. Very helpful examples and I appreciate the examples in the binder. Excellent breadth of material.”
Myrna Salinas, Associate, DLA Piper:
“I really enjoyed how you provided concrete examples and steps to improve writing. I also really appreciated how you emphasized that writing is a skill that can always be improved. Thanks so much!”
Dominic Giuliani, Associate, Baker McKenzie:
“Fantastic! Very appropriate for this stage in my career—I only wish I received this lecture before law school.”
Christiane Roussell, Associate, Morgan Lewis:
“I liked the way Ross broke down the steps we should all take when writing. He made the information very accessible and presented it and packaged it efficiently.”
Lauren Cappeloni, Associate, Nixon Peabody:
“I liked the frequent switch between lecture and practicing. I also like the poster graphic of paragraphs. I liked the appendix part most.”
Josh Hantman, Associate, White & Case:
“The presentation was well organized, informative, and very interesting. Also, good use of examples.”
Sheila Hathi, Associate, McGuireWoods:
“I really enjoyed all of the exercises and examples. They truly helped. The presentation was also dynamic and the pace of the seminar was just right. I sincerely believe that this will improve my legal writing ability immediately.”
Colleen King, Associate, Wiley, Rein & Fielding:
“I thought the course was extremely helpful. The lists of tips will be a very useful resource.”
Sam Olive, Associate, Arent Fox:
“It really explained how to write for a law firm as opposed to law school.”
Amira Day, Associate, Orrick:
“Very helpful and sophisticated program.”
John Matthews, Associate, Dickstein Shapiro:
“Overall, the most helpful training we have received.”
Lisa Khandhar, Associate, Kelley, Drye & Warren:
“Very well organized—great tips.”
Justin Aragon, Associate, Orrick:
“This was a fantastic presentation.”
Christine Coith, Associate, McGuireWoods:
“Great examples of before and after—doing the exercises was helpful. The presentation overall was great—no real suggestions.”
Victoria L. Wesner, Associate, Morgan Lewis:
“I liked the interactive nature of this course because it is easier for me to absorb information when actively engaged rather than passively listening.”
Catherine Harlan, Associate, LeBoeuf Lamb:
“A very informative and practical course.”
Mandy Hitchcock, Associate, Goodwin Procter:
“Excellent information on all points. I will keep these tools by my computer at all times when writing and revising.”
Anna Dumais, Associate, Day Pitney:
“Very informative. Ross has obviously mastered this subject and it is great to learn from an expert.”
Kim Jandrain, Associate, Nixon Peabody:
“I liked the very specific advice—this will truly turn writing into a science. Thank you for your help!”
Mark Rosenberg, Associate, Nelson Levine de Luca & Horst:
“Excellent. Very informative and presented lots of worthwhile ideas.”
Lynn Deavers, Associate, Dow Lohnes:
“This course is fantastic at exposing the common flaws young lawyers make when writing memos for partners. An eye-opening fun look at how to quickly improve my writing! Thank you!”
Mitchell Morris, Associate, McGuireWoods:
“This is probably the best writing seminar I’ve attended. Very helpful and useful.”
Marcos de Campos Ludwig, Associate, LeBoeuf Lamb:
“I am Brazilian and my mother tongue is Portuguese—I only wish there was such a competent course for enhancing legal writing skills in Brazil!”
Valerie Webb, Associate, Arent Fox:
“Excellent focus on essential points.”
Katherine Southwick, Associate, White & Case:
“Very clear. Appreciate concrete examples of how to improve writing. Also appreciated tips in general of how good writing relates to quality of law firm experience.”
Kilus J. White, Jr., Associate, Morgan Lewis:
“Simply outstanding! This is what law school should be like!”
Matt Rash, Associate, McGuireWoods:
“The presentation is an excellent example of learning by doing and learning from others’ mistakes.”
Monica Douglas, Associate, Goodwin Procter:
“I liked the presentation’s focus on corporate as well as litigation writing techniques. It was also helpful to know what judges look for in writing. This makes the information more concrete and convincing.”
Jaime Lavin, Associate, Willkie Farr & Gallagher:
“The course addressed the most common mistakes in practice and proposed useful solutions for these hazards.”
Sarah Chopp, Associate, Clifford Chance:
“Thought the in-class examples were extremely helpful.”
Rebekah Stafford, Associate, Nixon Peabody:
“I found the presentation interesting and helpful, and I will keep the materials for reference when writing.”
Andrew Bigart, Associate, Venable:
“Helpful tips. Good examples of bad writing and how to improve it.”
Veronica Rodriguez, Associate, LeBoeuf Lamb:
“Great ‘secret’ tips you don’t get as a first year.”
Matt Astle, Associate, Wiley, Rein & Fielding:
“Good way of taking big general problems and distilling down to a few easy-to-use points.”
Amy Beckman, Associate, Orrick:
“Entertaining and informative—Thank you!”
Jodi Stanfield, Associate, Morgan Lewis:
“Probably the most valuable/relevant course of the seminar. The tips discussed are immediately applicable to the new lawyer. And will be applicable throughout our careers.”
Andrea Chase, Associate, McGuireWoods:
“I liked the specific tips. The materials in the back of the book look like they will be very helpful in the future.”
David Kaye, Associate, Clifford Chance:
“Liked it all.”
Rachel Lerner, Associate, Arent Fox:
“Well-paced and thorough.”
Elizabeth Gunn, Associate, McGuireWoods:
“After 3 years, I think I finally understand what my legal writing professor was trying to teach us about writing. Ross actually made the ideas clear and manageable.”
Vineeta Mahajan, Associate, Kelley, Drye & Warren:
“Usually I am overwhelmed when I get a writing assignment. Your course has given me concrete steps to start my projects. Thank you!”
Hema Chatiani, Associate, Nixon Peabody:
“Great course. Excellent tips. I’m actually a victim of law school verbosity. Glad to have these tips to get me out of these bad writing habits.”
Anik Guha, Associate, Orrick:
“Materials are extremely practical and useful.”
Taliah Roach, Associate, LeBoeuf Lamb:
“I like the handouts because I can refer back to them. The sample ‘good’ memos and writing lists are greatly appreciated. Thank you!”
Kevin Jones, Associate, Orrick:
“Great CONCRETE tips.”
Michael Miles, Associate, Goodwin Procter:
“Good examples. They were well thought out and had real world applicability.”
Simon Sacks, Associate, Dickstein Shapiro:
“The best course on writing I have attended. I particularly like the reference material in the back. I found the course to be empowering.”
William Burnham, Associate, DLA Piper:
“Practical. Immediately applicable.”
Jeff Hunter, Associate, Dow Lohnes:
“Writing is the most valuable practical skill for first-year associates. Since taking your course as a summer associate, I have used your strategies in my work and have seen the benefits. Now, I appreciate the advanced structural skills and hope to take my writing to the next level. Thank you.”
Lucy Schwallie, Associate, Morgan Lewis:
“Great! I wish we would have had more time.”
Leah Ziemba, Associate, Nixon Peabody:
“I think the presentation will be extremely helpful when I return to work. It was good to be reminded of all the subjects covered—too often I start with writing/ editing without realizing the end goal. Thank you!”
