Writing Resources for Legal Writers

Includes handouts on effective punctuation, commonly misused words and phrases, proofreading, topic sentences and transitions, plain English.

Handouts on legal analysis, Bluebooking, usage.
Separate sections for types of legal writing (judicial writing, scholarly writing, persuasive writing).

Free registration.
Dictionary. Tools for learning vocabulary (word lists, including ability to create your own; quizzes). Grammar quizzes. Translator for about 20 languages.

21 short handouts on topics such as possessive nouns and subject-verb agreement. Each has exercises or a quiz to help you apply the lesson.

Mignon Fogarty, a/k/a Grammar Girl, offers quick tips on word choice and usage. Browse the tips, listen to the podcast, or subscribe to the to weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Garner's Usage Tip of the Day or the less frequent Law Prose Lessons.

Rich collection of material on the writing process, usage, punctuation, and more. Confused about prepositions, verbs, or pronouns? You'll find clear explanations here.

App lets you paste in a passage to learn whether it is "flabby" (lots of passive voice, prepositional phrases, and "zombie" nouns) or "fit." Download a free add-in for Microsoft Word. View YouTube writing tutorials.

Web version of Matthew Butterick's Typography for Lawyers, 2d ed..

U.S. legal dictionaries (general and specialized), historical dictionaries (want to know how dictionaries defined your term when a statute was drafted?), bilingual and multilingual legal dictionaries.

Free registration.
Dictionary. Tools for learning vocabulary (word lists, including ability to create your own; quizzes). Grammar quizzes. Translator for about 20 languages.

Free online dictionary and thesaurus, with games, usage tips, and more.Originally based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th ed., but significantly updated and expanded with new entries and revised definitions.
A more extensive dictionary (Merriam-Webster Unabridged) is available by subscription (fee-based).

Great tool for improving vocabulary. Game quizzes you on words in context. You can create your own word lists. Online site is free.

Often has notices of conferences and job openings for legal writing faculty.

A blog from Legalwriting.net by Wayne Schiess, the director of the legal-writing program at the University of Texas School of Law

WordRake is an editing software package aimed at the legal profession. You don't have to buy the software to benefit from the writing tips or blog.