The (Not Too Serious) Grammar, Punctuation, and Style Guide to Legal Writing

by Diana Simon

Professor Diana Simon of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law has written an entertaining and informative guide to grammar and punctuation for legal writing. I’ve read it cover to cover, and I loved it. It’s a reference—but it’s more. It has solid explanations (the why of grammar and punctuation)—but it has more. It recounts the stories—the real cases—that show that grammar and punctuation matter.

• The claim dismissed because of the passive voice
• The deportation case that hinged on a semicolon
• The failure of a complaint because of apostrophe errors

It’s readable, practical, and engaging. I recommend it to legal-writing faculty, practicing lawyers, paralegals, judges, judicial clerks, and anyone who cares about legal writing.

Look for my book review forthcoming in Legal Communication & Rhetoric: JALWD in spring 2023.

The (Not too Serious) Grammar, Punctuation, and Style to Legal Writing is published by Carolina Academic Press.