(2-day workshop)

Words are the main tools lawyers use. Yet many lawyers still use ancient language and a style which alienates them from clients — even from judges! This workshop, refined over 15 years, helps lawyers connect to the non-legal world and overcome stilted formalism. It is an activity-based and interactive program that writers can use the next day back on the job.

Who should attend:
Lawyers, judges, articling students, law students, other employees who help prepare legal documents

Program Features:

	A written analysis and conference on the strengths and weaknesses of your writing on both text and design aspects of plain language (you submit up to 5 pages of your writing)
	Current materials and references: 150-page workshop manual, A Plain Language Glossary for Lawyers, CLARITY Deskminder, and Business Writing Journal
	Practice in writing several drafts of work-related writing; practice in applying peer editing techniques
	Updates on current formats in business writing and recent reform literature on legal writing
	Analysis of the best legal styles for different audiences
	Discussion of sophisticated syntactical and usage problems
	Focus on key topics of audience sensitivity and "translation" activities
	Team-taught by an instructor team of a writing specialist with a graduate degree in language development and years of teaching writing to adults professionals, and a lawyer with experience in teaching writing
	An intensive 14-hour learning experience with 1 1/2 hours writing on the first evening