Excited to share this legal-writing Venn as folks and groups mark #DataPrivacy day. This post covers first principles, context, and tips on how we can continue to recognize and mitigate identity theft risks in that part of our legal writing that makes its way into public court filings. [Spoiler: Another Michigan privacy court rule kicks…
Category: Uncategorized
Today’s reading: “Typography for judges”
Looking to amp up your briefs? Save this one-pager of observations from appellate lawyer Matthew Stiegler. This gem (article) is in the Summer 2020 issue of Judicature. And, yes, purchase, read, and dog-ear Matthew Butterick’s Typography for Lawyers!
Should an uncertified “transcript” generated by AI software and unknown online gig workers be presumed as “non-record evidence”?
The digital transcripts Against the backdrop of the continuing novel COVID-19 pandemic, the Michigan Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments of first impression. How much authority Michigan’s governor can exercise under the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act or the Emergency Management Act is the focus of In re Certified Questions from the United…
The (fixable) access to justice problem of image-only .pdfs
Ever wonder why it’s a best practice for scanned .pdf files to be text-recognized (OCR’d) before they are shared? Let’s look at these two critical considerations. (There are more but I’ll stop at two.) First. A scanned-only document displays like a picture. It’s an image that you can only look at. You can’t “use” or…
Capturing, linking, and citing a web page that displays live (and changing) data
Backstory Perma.cc, an online linking tool, reliably avoids the “link rot” perils that often frustrate future citation readers who “click” to non-operable or modified webpages. Perma.cc smartly generates moment-in-time permanent links (Pema Links) to cited webpages. These Perma Links and the captured content remain—even when the original cited webpages are later modified or deleted. There…
Creating an eReference library
I own many physical books but they’re usually not convenient for when I need to consult them. Sometimes, I may be too lazy to pull one or two off the shelf and start flipping through the pages (Black’s Law Dictionary weighs a ton; The Bluebook invites many rabbit holes when time is short). And on…
Spell check matters!
No one is perfect and mistakes happen. This space included. But typing errors are often avoidable if we strive to use the already-available tools. I need to be reminded of this just as much as the next person. The reminder to use my word processor’s spell check—or at least be sensitive to the squiggly red…
Persuasion includes digital packaging
Modern legal persuasion is no longer limited to finely tuned written words, “incorporated by reference” throwaways to a mountain of non-text-indexed “attached” exhibits, or tightly framed arguments. There’s more. “Packaging” matters in the digital world. Even your “paper” letter or brief can (and more likely will) become digital within moments. [Example: a letter written and…