Judge Gorsuch might be caught in the political crosshairs right now, but the hagiography of his writing style continues apace. I’ve even joined the Gorsuch-is-great bandwagon myself in a recent post lauding four of…
Category: Opinion writing
Judge Gorsuch is a gifted writer. He’s a great writer. But is he a “Great Writer”? Part One: Four gifts
Ever since President Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch for the U.S. Supreme Court, the judge’s writing style has prompted almost as much talk as his presumed views on Roe v. Wade. For Gorsuch’s supporters, many of…
A Tale of Two Judges: Posner vs. Flaum
Belleau v. Wall is an important case handed down last month about whether requiring a convicted sex offender to wear a GPS-tracking ankle bracelet violates his Fourth Amendment rights or the Ex Post Facto Clause.…
Was FERC Off? 11 Ways to Benchslap-Proof Yourself
D.C. Circuit Judge Laurence Silberman recently benchslapped the government in the form of a one-sentence concurrence: “I wish FERC’s briefing was as clear as Judge Sentelle’s opinion.” My first instinct was to stick up…
Passive on Purpose
For as much as the legal-writing academy rails against the passive voice, few attorneys can distinguish a true passive construction from a false positive. (Don’t feel bad if you can’t, by the way, as…
The Seven Writing Strategies of Highly Effective Trial Judges
Asked to name the world’s best opinion writers, traditionalists might rattle off Lord Denning, Learned Hand, or Oliver Wendell Holmes. Modernists often prefer Antonin Scalia or Richard Posner. And the trendy might cite new…