Creative writing applied to briefs

It's brief-writing season (at least it is for my teams), so I thought this week I'd empty out a few links I saved up over the summer. Check out this one, courtesy of the California Bar's Continuing Education site. It discusses five creative writing techniques that can be applied to legal briefing.

Too many times, my students get hung up on the "Argument" section of their briefs, forgetting that most judges will read the Statement of Facts and Summary of Argument first. Failing to capture their attention at the outset can be fatal, and creatively framing the facts or issues can earn some big points. It's true that sometimes it's hard to tell a good story in a moot court brief because the facts aren't as developed as they would be in the real world. But as we all know, the facts of many other moot court problems are wonderfully fantastical. My point? Don't shy away from solid creative writing principles -- they may be easier to employ than you think.